Emergency alerts - voice or text messages

Emergency Alert is another way to warn the community in the event of an emergency such as floods, bushfires and severe weather events. The system is operated by emergency management agencies who decide if a warning needs to be issued, the area to be warned and the content of the message. 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.

In the case of an emergency, you may receive a voice message on your landline or a text message on your mobile phone. Emergency Alert is a telephone warning system that emergency services can use to send alerts to communities via landline telephones based on the location of the handset and to mobile phones based on the billing address.  If you receive an emergency alert and want more information, follow the instructions in the message or find your local emergency service on this website.

Once a decision to warn communities in an emergency has been made, the emergency services organisations will determine what method will be used, for example, radio, web or TV and whether a telephone alert needs to be issued. A telephone alert is just one way to warn a community and it will not be used in all circumstances.

More information

Emergency alerts for Queensland published on the Disaster Management website

Disasters and Alerts page

www.emergencyalert.gov.au/