AusAlert
Every compatible phone in Australia receives one test alert. What to expect, and what it means if yours stays silent.
On Monday 27 July 2026, every compatible mobile phone in Australia will receive a test alert from AusAlert, the country's new emergency warning system, at the same moment: 2:00 pm AEST (ACT, NSW, QLD, TAS, VIC), 1:30 pm ACST (NT and SA), and 12:00 pm AWST (WA).
This is not a real emergency. The test confirms that the cell broadcast system works nationwide before the full launch on 1 October 2026, ahead of the 2026-27 high risk weather season.
Community tests ran across 9 locations between 10 and 21 June 2026: Duffy (ACT), Launceston (TAS), Liverpool (NSW), Geelong (VIC), Port Lincoln (SA), Cooya Beach, Newell and Wonga Beach (QLD), Tennant Creek (NT), Goomalling (WA), and a Queanbeyan (NSW/ACT) cross-border test. NEMA reports all nine completed successfully.
When the test alert arrives, your phone will:
The siren and vibration stop after about 10 seconds, and you can dismiss the message like a normal notification. On some older devices or alternative operating systems, the heading may read "Presidential Alert" or "Extreme Threat Alert" instead of "AusAlert". The message content is the same, and it is still the test.
No action is required from you. Do not call 000. This is a test.
The test alert sounds even on silent or Do Not Disturb and cannot be opted out of. If you keep a phone hidden for safety reasons, official advice is to turn it off or switch it to aeroplane mode before your local test time and leave it off for at least an hour.
News coverage estimates the test will reach about 23 million phones, roughly 90% of mobiles in Australia. The official compatibility list:
| Platform | Minimum Version | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone | iOS 26.4+ | iPhone 11 and later |
| Android | Android 12+ | Phones, tablets and smartwatches |
| Apple Watch | watchOS 26.4+ | SE2, SE3, Series 6 and later |
| iPad | Not supported | iPads do not receive emergency alerts |
A SIM card is not required. Devices do not need an active phone plan. From 30 June 2026, all devices imported into Australia must comply with Communications Alliance standard AS/CA S042:2025.
Feature phones (dumb phones): basic handsets are not on the official compatibility list and will not receive AusAlert cell broadcasts, including the national test. They are not left without warnings: the existing Emergency Alert system sends location-based SMS (from +61 444 444 444) to any phone that can receive a text, and it remains in operation alongside AusAlert with no announced retirement date. On 27 July, silence from a feature phone is expected, not a fault.
If your phone doesn't receive the test alert, possible reasons include:
NEMA used feedback from the June community tests to troubleshoot and improve the system, and is expected to review the national test results the same way. During real emergencies, AusAlert will run alongside other warning channels (TV, radio, state emergency apps, sirens) so no single system is a single point of failure.
AusAlert does not provide a developer API or public data feed. If you're building an application that needs real-time emergency incident data, EmergencyAPI provides a REST API aggregating 34 government feeds from all 8 Australian states and territories.
During the national test, EmergencyAPI will continue operating normally. Our data comes directly from state emergency services feeds, not from the AusAlert cell broadcast system. The two systems are complementary: AusAlert pushes alerts to phones, EmergencyAPI provides structured data for applications.
AusAlert's official pages do not document its message format, though industry reporting says it uses the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP). For how CAP-AU structures Australian emergency data, see our CAP-AU Developer Guide.
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