Telstra CEO Pay Rises 11% to $6.8m Despite Triple-Zero Outage and 1,200 Job Cuts

Telstra's Profit, Pay and Outage Fallout

Telstra closed its financial year with a 2.7 per cent rise in net profit after tax to A$2.4bn and a suite of investor-friendly moves: a 10.5 per cent dividend increase, a A$1bn share buyback, and guidance for underlying earnings of up to A$8.8bn in FY27. The mobile business did the heavy lifting, generating about 44 per cent of income and lifting revenue to A$11.37bn, while group revenue dipped 0.8 per cent to A$22.94bn.

The same result revealed that chief executive Vicki Brady's total pay rose 11 per cent to A$6.8m, even though the board cut her bonus by 20 percentage points — A$607,000 — because of the 8 July outage that blocked more than 600 triple-zero calls and disrupted rail networks and retail payment systems. Without that cut, Brady's package would have been A$7.5m. Senior executives collectively lost A$1.3m in bonus payments over the incident.

Telstra also confirmed it has reduced its workforce by 4 per cent to 29,334 employees, with redundancy payments reaching A$200m, and will lift postpaid mobile plan prices from A$65 to A$70. Brady apologised again for the outage and said the company has an initial understanding of the root cause, with an external expert completing the investigation.

What the Results Reveal About Telstra's Strategy and Risks

Why the Board Cut Bonuses but Still Increased Brady's Pay

The remuneration outcome is likely to be read as a compromise. The 20-point bonus reduction links executive pay directly to the network failure, but the overall package still rose 11 per cent because other elements of Brady's remuneration increased. For a company cutting 1,200 roles and paying A$200m in redundancies while customers lost access to emergency calling, that contrast could become a reputational issue even if the board believes the outcome balances accountability with retention.

Where the July Outage Leaves the Reliability Investment Case

Telstra's reported mobile service revenue growth of 4.8 per cent and cash earnings per share up 14 per cent were the proof investors needed after the outage, according to eToro analyst Josh Gilbert. Management guidance for up to A$8.8bn in underlying earnings in FY27 suggests it is not planning for an outage-driven customer exodus. The real test will come over the next two or three reporting cycles, when any churn among higher-value retail customers becomes visible alongside the wholesale-led SIM growth.

The AI and Wholesale Shift Beneath the Consumer Price Rise

Beneath the consumer-facing price increase from A$65 to A$70, Telstra's result shows the business tilting toward infrastructure. More than 274,000 SIM additions came mostly through wholesale deals with other telcos, and revenue per wholesale customer rose 8.8 per cent. Microsoft, Google and AWS have signed long-term contracts across Telstra's fibre and subsea assets, and the Aura network build is now more than halfway complete, with its cost creeping to about A$1.8bn. That positions Telstra as an AI-era connectivity supplier, but it also raises execution and capital-cost questions.

Job Cuts and the India Outsourcing Question

Brady denied that Telstra is deliberately replacing Australian roles with workers in India, while acknowledging the company has teams in India and the Philippines. The 4 per cent workforce reduction and A$200m redundancy bill will keep the jobs debate alive, particularly because the union and political scrutiny around a highly paid chief executive and a major public safety failure are easy to connect.

The Actions That Follow for Telstra's Board, Investors and Regulators

The results give investors, the board and industry participants specific things to track rather than a generic call to watch the stock.

• For investors: Check whether Telstra's next trading update holds churn stable after the postpaid price rise from A$65 to A$70 and whether the FY27 underlying earnings guidance of up to A$8.8bn survives any customer backlash from the July outage.
• For the remuneration committee: The A$607,000 bonus cut is small relative to Brady's A$7.5m pre-cut package. Once the external expert's outage findings are released, the board will need to show whether reliability metrics carry enough weight in future executive pay.
• For competitors: Telstra's own commentary that growth is in the value-conscious segment and the 8.8 per cent rise in revenue per wholesale customer highlight both the price differential created by the A$65-to-A$70 plan move and the importance of MVNO supply at the cheaper end.
• For enterprise buyers: The Microsoft, Google and AWS contracts and the A$1.8bn Aura network build indicate more fibre and subsea capacity for data-centre connectivity, but buyers should test Telstra's reliability commitments against the unresolved triple-zero failures.