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English language videos

Emergency Alert campaign video

This video has open captions for the Deaf and hearing impaired.

Video Transcript

Video: Our commercial opens in an urban domestic setting. We watch a family engaged in a group activity. In the immediate foreground, and out of focus, a Telstra home phone sits on a table. We barely notice it.

Video: Suddenly, a flashing light sweeps across the room drawing our gaze. Above the phone a bright flashing light has appeared.

Video: A close-up on the phone gives us another perspective. It’s an emergency warning light in miniature hovering just above phone.

Voiceover: During times of emergencies...

Video: We cut to a new scenario across town; an Asian family business. We can see an elderly man in his sixties working in the background with his grandson, a mobile phone in the foreground.

Voiceover:     … such as bushfires and extreme weather events…

Video: We cut in closer on the mobile phone as a new flashing light appears.

Voiceover: … your landline or mobile phone…

Video: We can see that the flashing light has caught the attention of the elderly Asian man and his grandson. They stop what they are doing and approach.

Voiceover: … may now be used…

Video: Another scene and another phone. This time it’s a Telstra wall phone in a kitchen. The light appears on this phone as well.

Voiceover: … to deliver a critical warning.

Video: Out of the kitchen window we can see a middle-aged woman look up from her gardening.

Video: From an alternative angle we see the same woman pick up the phone. The light blinks out she puts it to her ear.

Voiceover: This ‘Emergency Alert’…

Video: The woman listens carefully to the Emergency Alert message.

Voiceover: … phone or…

Video: We cut to a Farmer by his tractor. He has received his Emergency Alert by text message.

Voiceover: … text message…

Video: We see tight close ups of people responding to the Emergency Alert message. A man's hand tuning in a car radio.

Voiceover: … is another way for authorities to inform you…

Video: A tight close-up of a laptop computer as mother and daughter look at a website.

Voiceover: … on what you may need to do.

Video: Back at the Asian family business we see the elderly man turning up his radio.

Voiceover: If you don’t understand the message…

Video: We see his grandson explaining the situation to him.

Voiceover: … ask a family member, friend or neighbour for assistance.

Video: Back at the original family's house, we see the father rounding up the kids.

Super: ‘Emergency Alert. Be warned. Be informed.’

Voiceover: For more details visit emergencyalert.gov.au

Super: ‘emergencyalert.gov.au’

Emergency Alert DVD - captioned video

Video Transcript

Emergency Alert provides emergency authorities with an enhanced ability to warn the community in the event of an emergency. These emergencies include bushfires and severe weather events. It is another tool that emergency services can use to issue emergency warnings. The system provides a national capacity that will be customised by each participating State and Territory to meet their individual requirements.

Emergency Alert is operated and activated by authorised personnel from emergency services organisations. It allows for localised, community based warnings to be issued per area or geographic region. It can also be broadened to send alerts on a large scale depending on need.

Emergency Alert messages will be sent via telephones based on the physical location of your landline and mobile phones via the registered address.  

Landline telephones will receive a voice message while mobile phones will receive a text message.  There is no cost to receive the message, you do not need to register and you cannot opt-out. Even if you have a silent number you will still get an alert and it doesn’t matter which phone company you are with.

It is important that you and your community do not rely on receiving an alert.  You must still be proactive, prepare yourself and have an action plan in case of an emergency.

If you live in an area where you believe there is a mobile phone “black spot” you should seek advice from your phone company on what options are available to improve your mobile phone coverage.The system will send alerts to both landlines and mobile phones, so if you live in a mobile phone “black spot” area or where there is potential for loss of power during an emergency, you should ensure you have a landline telephone to receive the message.  This telephone should not be cordless but one with a cord connected to the handset.

The alert you receive will be written and spoken in English so it is important that everyone in our community recognises it.

Television, radio and print advertising will be translated into a range of languages as will frequently asked questions which will also be available to download from the Emergency Alert website.

When you pick up your landline phone you will hear the Standard Emergency Warning Signal, which sounds like this followed by the words ‘Emergency, Emergency’.
If you do not understand the message or its content, you should ask a family member, friend or neighbour for assistance.

If you have caller ID on your landline the number displayed will be 0444 444 444.  This number will also be the sender of the mobile phone text message. This is a one way number – it does not receive incoming calls or text.

If you miss the call, or your child or someone else answers the phone when it rings, there is currently no option to call back. This will be introduced at a later stage.

The alert, along with giving you information about the current situation and telling you what actions you need to take, will also refer you to other sources such as  radio and websites to confirm the message has come from an authorised emergency services organisation.

While each State and Territory controls the warning system, the Commonwealth controls the database that holds people’s phone numbers and can geographically identify them. When providing the database to issue alerts the Commonwealth removes the names associated with the phone numbers and addresses. This guarantees that agencies will not have access to names or any other details associated with the telephone number at any time. This safeguards a person’s privacy.

If your children have mobile phones, they too will receive the alert. It is important to explain to them what to do if they receive an alert. If your child receives this alert when they are at school, they must follow the emergency management arrangements currently in place at their school.

The same applies if you receive an alert on your mobile phone while at work. Telephone based emergency warnings do not replace existing workplace emergency arrangements.  You must follow current emergency management arrangements at your workplace and school.

So how does the system work?

Emergency Alert is a secure network requiring login passwords from authorised emergency services representatives.

There are four stages for issuing an alert:

The emergency services organisation identifies an area or boundaries on a map

The system calculates the number of landlines and mobile phones available in that area
The message relating to the emergency situation is constructed

After going through the required approval processes within the emergency services organisation itself, the alert is sent to all phones (both landline and mobile) within the selected areas on the map

The system is set up to make three attempts at delivering the message.
The landline will ring for 45 second before it hangs up.

It recognises fax machines and will not try to call them repeatedly and if you have an answering machine there is no guarantee that a message will be left on it. The same thing applies to Voice Over Internet Protocol. VOIP, as its known, allows you to use your computer's network connection as a telephone service.

There is no guarantee that you will get an emergency alert on your VOIP phone.

Telephone Typewriter services, or TTY, are not supported, as the primary data source for the system does not capture information about which telephone numbers are linked to a teletypewriter.

The system will have the capability to send 500 text messages per second and 1,000 voice messages per minute.

Emergency Alert is able to send alerts  to prepaid mobile phones, however it is important you ensure that the address listed for your phone is the correct address. You should contact your service provider to update your address.

It is important that you and your community do not rely on receiving an alert.  
You must still be proactive, prepare yourself and have an action plan in case of an emergency.

Emergency Alert.  Be warned. Be informed. For further information on the system

visit emergencyalert.gov.au