On Monday 27 July 2026 at 2pm AEST, the National Emergency Management Agency will run the first nationwide test of AusAlert — the cell-broadcast emergency warning system built in response to the royal commission into the Black Summer bushfires. Most compatible phones will emit a 10-second siren, vibrate, and display a test notification. The siren will sound even if your phone is on silent or do-not-disturb (The Guardian). Phones that are switched off or in aeroplane mode won't receive it.

The test follows community trials across nine locations in June 2026, which began at 10:30am on Wednesday 10 June and wrapped up later that month (NEMA). ABC News first reported the national test was coming in February 2026. AusAlert is set to be fully operational from October 2026.

Device compatibility and coverage gaps

The test will reach iPhones 11 and above running iOS 26.4 or later, Apple Watch SE2, SE3, Series 6 and above running watchOS 26.4 or later, and Android devices running Android 12 or later. Apple iPads won't get the alert (The Guardian). The AusAlert website describes the target devices more broadly as "most phones, and some smart watches and tablets" (ausalert.gov.au).

Queensland and Western Australia have flagged concerns that AusAlert warnings won't reach landline phones, older devices, or devices connected to satellite signals. NEMA is working on adding voice alerts for landlines, but that feature isn't ready yet. Federal emergency management minister Kristy McBain has confirmed the existing Emergency Alert system will keep running alongside AusAlert through the 2026 high-risk weather season, and states won't be forced to adopt AusAlert. They can stick with the current system if they prefer.

The safe-phone problem

The siren's ability to override silent and do-not-disturb settings is essential for real emergencies — but it has a sharp edge. Domestic violence campaigners and NEMA have advised anyone with a hidden safe phone to turn the device off for up to 24 hours after the test. The concern is specific and serious: the 10-second siren and vibration could reveal a phone that a victim-survivor has kept secret from a perpetrator (The Guardian).

Karen Bentley, CEO of women's services network Wesnet, has been central to raising the alarm. The Women's Safety Commissioner, DV Connect, and the Council of Single Mothers and their Children have all issued safety advisories ahead of the test. Advocates have specifically warned that regional women experiencing domestic violence face the highest risk of their safe phones being discovered (ABC News). NEMA has posted a safety guide at ausalert.gov.au with instructions for those who need to keep devices hidden (ausalert.gov.au).

Pat Hetherington, NEMA's interim coordinator general, is overseeing the rollout. The agency's advice is straightforward: turn the phone off if you need to. The trade-off is that a phone switched off during the test obviously won't receive a real emergency alert either, should one happen to coincide with the test window. It's a narrow risk, but a real one.

Two systems, one season

Running AusAlert alongside the legacy Emergency Alert system through the coming high-risk weather season is pragmatic, but worth a closer look. Dual systems mean dual points of failure, dual public messaging, and the real possibility of states diverging on which platform carries a live warning. If Queensland opts for Emergency Alert and New South Wales uses AusAlert during a cross-border flood event, for instance, the public experience differs on either side of the Tweed. McBain's assurance that states won't be forced onto AusAlert is diplomatically sensible and operationally messy.

The landline gap is the most concrete deficiency. AusAlert's cell-broadcast architecture is built for mobile devices — think of it like a radio tower pushing a signal to every compatible phone in range, rather than sending individual text messages. Households that rely on landlines, particularly older Australians and those in remote areas with patchy mobile coverage, won't hear a siren. NEMA's voice-alert work is in progress. Until it's delivered, the legacy Emergency Alert system is doing the heavy lifting for that cohort.

The safe-phone issue exposes a different kind of gap. Cell-broadcast systems are designed to be unignorable; that's the whole point. The same feature that wakes a sleeping resident during a bushfire evacuation also ensures a hidden phone reveals itself. NEMA and the advocacy sector have handled this reasonably well, getting advisories out well ahead of the test. But the underlying tension is structural. Any future enhancement to AusAlert, any expansion of its override capabilities, will need to account for the fact that not every phone that rings is one its owner wants the household to know about.

The test on Monday will tell NEMA whether the system works at national scale. The June community trials covered nine locations and sent both a text message and triggered the 10-second alarm (ABC News). The national test goes further, hitting every compatible device in every jurisdiction at once. Whether the siren sounds as intended across networks, whether the opt-off advice reaches enough victim-survivors in time, and whether states fall into line before October — those are the questions this test will start to answer.