A 10-second alarm will ring out on every mobile phone across the country on Monday as part of the nationwide AusAlert warning system.
The emergency alert will be tested on mobile phones, tablets and smartwatches before it is officially rolled out in October.
As part of the test, a loud alert will ring through every mobile phone for 10 seconds at 2pm (AEST).
What is AusAlert?
AusAlert is a national emergency warning system that sends emergency pings directly to mobile phones of residents in the area of an emergency.
It was created in response to the 2020 Royal Commission into the National Natural Disaster Arrangements.
“We’re a high tourist area, that meant during the Black Summer bushfires many people didn’t receive the emergency alert text message for several days because their telco wasn’t available to them,” Emergency Management Minister Kirsty McBain said on Wednesday.
How will the alert be sent?
Using a nearby mobile phone tower, the emergency alerts would be sent to every compatible mobile device in a specific area at the same time.
The pings will not be sent as a text message but rather a broadcast message.
Ms McBain said the alert system was built on state-of-the-art cell broadcast technology, which is being used in 35 countries including Japan, New Zealand and Canada.
She said the system would not rely on telcos, with issues flagged by previous emergency messaging systems.
Ms McBain said the current system relied on telcos, which may prevent emergency alerts from being sent to residents if there was an outage with the service provider.
“One of the issues with the current system is if a telco tower goes out, and you don’t have access to that telco provider, you don’t receive an emergency text message,” she said.
Potentially, millions of Australians and some triple-0 calls across the country were impacted on July 8 when Telstra experienced a nationwide outage.
What will the test look like?
For about 10 seconds on Monday, a siren will sound from compatible mobile phones, tablets and smartwatches across the country.
A pop-up notification will appear on screens, depending on the model, and read: “TEST MESSAGE” and “NO ACTION IS REQUIRED”.
When will the alert be sent?
The AusAlert test will be sent out to every compatible device on Monday at 2pm (AEST).
For residents in the Northern Territory and South Australia, the alarm will sound at 1.30pm local time, and West Australia residents can expect the test at noon local time.
It will run for about 10 seconds.
The AusAlert system will be rolled out from October.
Can the alerts be switched off?
The alert will run on all compatible mobile phones on Monday, even if they are switched to silent or on “do not disturb” mode.
Wesnet chief executive office Karen Bentley said the emergency alerts may impact domestic or family violence victims who should enact a “safety plan” once the system is rolled out in October.
Victims of domestic violence who rely on hidden “safe phones” have been urged to switch their phones off or keep them on aeroplane mode for the test.
Who will receive the AusAlert?
Everyone with a compatible mobile phone, tablet or smartwatch can expect to hear the alert on Monday afternoon.
While the alert test will ring out on mobile phones, not all models are compatible.
Ms McBain said compatible models include iPhone models 11 and up that operate on iOS 26.4 or later.
The alert will also operate on Android devices that run on Android 12 and onwards and Apple Watches operating on iOS 26.4 or later and models SE2, SE3, Series 6 and above.
