Microsoft ‘deeply sorry’ for global disruption that could have billion-dollar impact on Australia

Microsoft says it is restoring services after an outage disrupted millions of users and organisations worldwide, with Australian experts warning the economic cost could reach billions of dollars. The disruption has raised concerns about the country’s reliance on overseas technology providers and the risks for businesses and public services when a major system fails.

The outage began on Friday morning and lasted about 18 hours before services started to recover. Microsoft described it as a technical issue, not a cyberattack or an AI-related problem, and said it had addressed the underlying cause. Australian hospitals, schools, courts, government departments and businesses reported disruption; the Australian Medical Association said patient care was not affected, though some facilities switched to paper prescriptions. Experts and the Australian Computer Society called for reviews of critical systems and backup arrangements, noting that smaller businesses may have no fallback.