Got a phone? Prepare for an unsolicited message
Zac de Silva |
Mobile phones around the country will blast out a 10-second siren in late July as part of a national test of Australia’s new emergency warning system.
The $132-million-dollar AusAlert system will come online in October, the federal government announced on Thursday, aiming to provide more targeted emergency warnings for bushfires, floods and other natural disasters.
It will allow alerts to be sent to almost any device with a SIM card, targeted to within 160 metres.
The system will be tested on Monday, July 27 at 2PM AEST, with an alert to be sent to all compatible mobile phones.
Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said the communications network would allow authorities to get warnings out more effectively than the current SMS-based system.
“AusAlert messages will appear differently to our current text-based message systems. They will appear on locked screens of mobile devices and exist outside of the standard text messaging app,” she told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
Local tests will also be conducted during June, targeting a range of urban, regional and remote areas around the country.
They include Majura, ACT; Launceston, Tasmania; Port Douglas, Queensland; Liverpool, NSW; Geelong, Victoria; Tennant Creek, NT; Goomalling, WA; Port Lincoln, South Australia; and a cross-border test around Queanbeyan, on the NSW-ACT border.
The system will allow two levels of warnings to be sent – a critical alert warning of imminent threat to life and property, and a priority alert for watch and act or advice warnings.
During a critical alert – which will be used for the tests – compatible phones will play a loud siren even if they’re on silent or switched to do not disturb.
Ms McBain said the sound was similar to that of an ambulance or police car siren.
“It’s an emergency siren. It’s really important, I think, that any emergency alert system carries the level of warning as needed,” she said.
Officials believe around 90 per cent of all phones will be compatible with the new system.
Over the 2026/27 summer, AusAlert will be used in conjunction with the current SMS system, which will be phased out in July 2027.
The new targeted messaging system was originally promised by the end of 2024, with an initial planned spend of $10.1 million.
Despite the overhaul now costing $132 million, Ms McBain denied there had been a cost blowout.
“I don’t see it as a cost blowout, I see it as an investment in community safety,” she said.
AAP