Australia's new emergency alert will find every phone on Monday, including the hidden ones
AusAlert fires at 2pm Monday with a 10-second siren that overrides silent mode. Family violence advocates say concealed phones should be switched off.
At 2pm on Monday, every compatible phone, tablet and smartwatch in Victoria will vibrate and play a siren-like sound for about 10 seconds.
It will do it on silent. It will do it on do not disturb. There is no setting that turns it off.
The message reads: “This is a TEST of AusAlert, Australia's new emergency warning system. NO ACTION IS REQUIRED.”
AusAlert is the country's new national warning system, replacing the SMS-based Emergency Alert service that has been in place for years. It goes live on October 1.
It exists because of Black Summer. The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, called after the 2019-20 bushfires, recommended a national system, and Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said those fires exposed the limits of the old one — which depended on mobile coverage and sent messages one at a time.
AusAlert uses cell broadcast instead. A tower pushes a single message to every device in range at once, without needing anyone's phone number. It is faster, and it reaches people who are simply passing through.
Monday's test follows trials in nine communities in June. It is the last check before October, and there is a survey afterwards asking how your device behaved.
For most people it will be 10 seconds of noise and nothing else.
For some it is a serious risk.
Family violence advocates have spent the past fortnight warning about concealed phones — the second device a victim-survivor keeps hidden from a partner who monitors the first one.
“Many victim-survivors keep a secret second phone, what we call a lifeline phone,” family violence expert Naomi Pearce told the Australian Women's Weekly.
“It's how they contact support services, keep evidence and plan their escape.”
A Critical Alert will make that phone announce itself from wherever it is hidden.
It is not only phones. Speak Up Now advocate Val France told the Glasshouse Country and Maleny News that people may not realise the alert also reaches tablets, smartwatches, children's safety watches, Apple CarPlay and other in-car systems.
The only defence is to switch the device off, or put it in aeroplane mode. AusAlert advises doing that at least an hour beforehand and leaving it off for 24 hours afterwards.
Advocates are working to reach people before Monday, and say they cannot contact some of them directly, because a message from a support service is exactly the thing that gets a phone found.
The system is built to make sure nobody misses a warning. That is the whole problem.
If you or someone you know needs support, 1800RESPECT is on 1800 737 732 or text 0458 737 732. In Victoria, Safe Steps is on 1800 015 188. In an emergency call 000.