Emergency Alert. Be Warned. Be Informed.

Frequently asked questions

What is Emergency Alert?

Emergency Alert is the national telephone warning system.

It is one of many ways emergency services such as police, fire and emergency services, can warn a community of a likely or actual emergency.

Emergency Alert is not used in all circumstances. Whether emergency services decide to issue telephone warnings through Emergency Alert will depend on the nature of the incident.

The warning system sends voice messages to landline telephones and text messages to mobile telephones within a specific area defined by the emergency service organisation issuing the warning message, about likely or actual emergencies such as fire, flood, or extreme weather events.

You should not wait to receive a warning message before you act.

When is Emergency Alert used?

Whether emergency services decide to issue telephone warnings through Emergency Alert will depend on the nature of the incident.

Emergency Alert is not used in all circumstances. In an emergency you should use a range of information sources and check them continuously to stay aware of local conditions. These information sources may include radio, television and state or territory emergency services websites.

You should not wait to receive a warning message before you act.

What will the warning message say?

The warning message will provide information on the current emergency, what action to take and where to find further information.

Why didn’t I get the text (SMS) message?

 

You may not have received the text message on your mobile telephone for a number of reasons including:

• your text message inbox was full
• the emergency services chose other ways to warn people who may be in the affected area at the time of the emergency
• your mobile telephone was switched off or was not in a mobile telephone coverage area
• the last known location of your handset was not within the warning area at the time of the emergency
• you have not updated your registered service address.

 

 

Will the messages be received by mobile phones on the 4G network?

Yes.

Emergency Alert can send text messages based on both the registered service address of a mobile phone and the last known location of the handset at the time of the emergency. This includes visitors and people travelling in the area.

The location based service relies on each carrier to detect and locate every mobile phone with a last known location within the warning area set by the emergency services.

Since January 2014, Telstra has provided the location based service across its networks, including 4G.

Previously, this was only available on Optus and Vodafone’s 2G / 3G networks however, both networks now provide the service on their 4G networks.

This includes Telstra, Optus and Vodafone’s wholesale partners who resell the carriers’ 4G networks.

All 4G mobiles revert to the 2G/3G networks when outside 4G coverage.