When the power goes out, first check for danger from a safe position—not by touching equipment or opening a switchboard. A whole-house outage can come from the network or the property's installation; nearby homes having power does not settle which one.
Check for hazards first
Smoke, fire, fallen wires, a damaged service connection, water near electrical equipment or a shock changes what you should do next. Keep clear. Call 000 for fire or immediate danger and report network hazards to your electricity distributor.
Report any shock or tingle from a tap, appliance or fitting to your electricity distributor immediately; for Ausgrid, call 13 13 88. Keep people away and do not touch or retest it. Do not wait for an electrician to arrive. Follow Ausgrid's shocks and tingles guidance (opens in new tab).
Seek medical assessment after an electric shock, even if it seemed mild. Call 000 for a medical emergency. See Healthdirect's electric-shock advice (opens in new tab).
Stay at least 8 metres from fallen powerlines and anything touching them. A main switch being off does not make incoming wires safe. Follow Ausgrid's emergency guidance (opens in new tab).
If someone relies on electrically powered medical equipment, follow their backup plan and seek emergency assistance if their health is at risk. Do not wait for an estimated restoration time.
Is the network reporting an outage?
Use your distributor's outage information or contact it directly. For Ausgrid faults and emergencies, call 13 13 88. Check the distributor for the address rather than assuming every boundary property has the same network.
Neighbours or streetlights can provide clues, but different properties may be on different circuits or phases. An outage may also be too recent to appear on a map.
What has lost power inside?
If there are no hazards, note whether:
- Everything is off, including lights and outlets.
- Only one room or group of outlets is affected.
- Some appliances work but others do not.
- The outage followed a particular appliance starting, rain or building work.
Read accessible switchboard labels only if the board and approach are dry, undamaged and safe. Do not remove covers or enter a flooded area.
A circuit breaker responds to excess current; a safety switch responds to an imbalance that may indicate earth leakage. A combined device does both. See circuit breakers tripping or safety switches tripping for those situations.
Do not keep resetting a tripped circuit
Do not reset anything after a shock, water exposure, damage, heat or a burning smell. Where there are no warning signs and the equipment is safe to approach, follow only the manufacturer's user instructions. If a single reset fails or the device trips again, leave it off and call an electrician.
Do not reconnect suspect equipment to reproduce a fault. A circuit staying on temporarily does not explain why it tripped.
While you wait
Use battery-powered lighting. Keep fridge and freezer doors closed, and follow food-safety advice if the outage continues. Keep away from affected equipment and tell the electrician about essential loads or access difficulties.
Never run a generator indoors or in an enclosed space. Do not connect one through a household powerpoint; supplying fixed wiring requires a suitable professionally installed arrangement.
When it is urgent and when it can wait
Call straight away, at any hour, when the outage comes with a burning smell, smoke, a bang from the switchboard, sparking, water reaching electrical equipment, a shock or tingle, or when someone in the property depends on powered medical equipment. Those are hazards first and outages second, and the electrician needs to hear about them on the call.
A whole-house outage that the distributor confirms as a network fault does not need an electrician; wait for restoration and follow the distributor's updates. A single circuit that has tripped and stayed off, with no warning signs, can wait for a planned visit if the affected equipment can be left off safely. Do not turn the wait into a series of resets.
Common misunderstandings
Neighbours have power, so the fault must be mine. Properties on the same street can be supplied from different phases or different sections of the network. Check with the distributor before assuming the problem is inside.
The main switch is off, so everything is safe. The main switch isolates the installation beyond it. The incoming service line, the meter and the network side remain live, which is why fallen wires and damaged service connections are always the distributor's hazard to make safe.
The power came back, so the fault has cleared. Restoration after a network outage says nothing about equipment that was affected by water, heat or impact during the event. Anything with a known problem stays out of use until it is assessed.
A generator can be plugged into a powerpoint. It cannot. Feeding fixed wiring from a generator through an outlet is dangerous to you and to network workers and requires a purpose-built, professionally installed changeover arrangement instead.
Who should you call?
The distributor handles network outages and network hazards. An electrician investigates faults within the installation. Damage to the property's incoming connection or private supply equipment may also involve Level 2 work and distributor coordination.
AB Electrical takes 24/7 emergency enquiries. Describe the outage and any hazards from a safe place; we confirm the ETA on the call. Network restoration and electrical repair attendance are separate matters.
When power returns
Do not reuse equipment affected by water, burning, impact or another known fault until it has been assessed. If power returns unevenly, lights behave unusually or the fault repeats, call for advice rather than assuming the problem has cleared.
Calling AB Electrical
After reporting any network hazard to the distributor, call 0405 343 343 from a safe place for a fault within the property; emergency enquiries are open 24/7 and attendance is confirmed on the call. For a planned check once power is restored, send an enquiry with your suburb, a short description of what lost power and when, and photos only if they can be taken safely without approaching damaged or wet equipment.
