Even if your phone is switched off or on silent, there's no way to avoid it.
A loud alarm will blare from almost every phone in Australia in five months as a new emergency system is rolled out, scrapping the old SMS alerts and providing a lifeline for people caught up in life-threatening situations.
AusAlert is the nation's latest emergency warning system, which will send urgent messages to compatible phones within up to 160m of an impacted area.
"It will alert people to the type of hazard that they are facing, its severity, whereabouts and importantly what action to take," Emergency Management Coordinator-General Brendan Moon said.
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The system will consist of two notifications: a critical alert that will sound a loud siren from the phone; and a second message that will detail priority information.
The $132 million system is slated to replace the current state-based SMS emergency alerts, and a nationwide test of the program is scheduled hit phones across the country on July 27 at 2pm.
The system will officially launch in October.
"AusAlert messages will appear differently to our current text-based message systems," Emergency Management Minister Kirsty McBain said.
"They will appear on locked screens of mobile devices and exist outside of the standard text messaging app."
The system will prioritise natural disasters, however, notifications can also be sent to alert people nearby to other life-threatening situations, such as serious public safety incidents or terrorism.
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The technology is already used by more than 30 countries for emergency warning communications.
The government says the system will be more reliable, accurate and efficient than the current SMS alerts.
All phones made in 2019 onwards will be compatible with the system, with testing on older phones ongoing.
Localised tests are set to begin from June 10 in some areas before the nationwide launch in October.
The rollout of AusAlert comes in response to the 2020 Royal Commission into National Nature Disaster Arrangements, with the commission ruling that emergency warning systems, including mobile alerts, are critical during disasters.
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