Australia to Replace Emergency SMS Alerts With Loud Phone Alarms by 2026

The nationwide platform will send prominent, location-based alerts to mobile phones, even if set to silent.

A supplied image shows CFA firetrucks near an out of control bushfire in the Grampians National park, Victoria on Dec. 23, 2024. AAP Image/Supplied by CFA

Mobile phones across Australia will soon emit a loud emergency alarm—even on silent—under a new nationwide alert system set to replace SMS warnings by October 2026.

The platform, known as AusAlert, will use cell-broadcast technology to send urgent, location-based warnings to compatible phones within a defined danger zone, down to a radius of about 160 metres.