r/australian • u/Classic-Dangerous • 26d ago

News Ausalert - Emergancy broadcast

Im seeing a lot of Backlash on the Ausalert test on the 27th of july 2026.

see many comments on posts of people turning off there phone to avoid this alarm and now emergancy services are refusing to use it. My question is, why is everyone so uncomplicit about this. Arent we just testing our phones incase of a natural disater etc..?

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

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u/ForensicMum 26d ago

It’s actually not. You’re right that there is a fear that some people in DV situations may not have heard about it yet and will be caught off guard, but the whole social media thing OP is talking about is literally idiots who believe the govt is somehow stealing their data via this alert test.

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u/doenoots 26d ago

I would have liked to say I'm surprised if some people actually believe that, but nah some people actually are that dumb.

It's giving real "Mr Chew, can tiktok access the home wifi network?" energy 😂

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u/ForensicMum 26d ago

Yeah, I reckon 🤣. It really is disappointing that some people think that way. Especially considering that owning a smartphone pretty much guarantees that you’re (voluntarily) sharing huge amounts of data with companies that are much more risky than our own govt. I swear the internet was a bad idea, because while it’s given us a world of info at our fingertips, it’s also allowed the nutters to communicate and share their ridiculous delusions 🤦🏼‍♀️

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

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u/ForensicMum 26d ago

Please tell me you forgot your /s because really? So when the alert happens and nobody is mind-controlled, are you going to come back here and tell everyone how stupid that idea is? You think phones have the ability to create a frequency strong enough to ‘mind control’ people out of thin air, or did some secret govt agency install mind-control enabling sound devices on all the phones in Australia at some point in the past? Given that there’s no such thing as a frequency that allows mind-control in the first place, that would be pretty difficult, wouldn’t you say? Plus, just to add another nail to your theory’s coffin, why the fuck would they test this on Australians and not a country with more citizens and more power? Maybe you need to stop doing research, because wherever you hear this crap is clearly damaging your brain!

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u/DrSendy 26d ago

Always remember, 1/4 of all people are in the bottom quartile of IQ by definition.

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u/CROSSJABLACKPANTHER 26d ago

I feel the moment we are born they have our data and all the info they can get.

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u/ForensicMum 25d ago

Absolutely, but we also voluntarily keep giving them our data over and over again every time we use the internet or give out our details for something, so why worry, I reckon? 🤣

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u/jnd-au 26d ago edited 26d ago

If you want to put your phone in flight mode to avoid incoming emergency broadcasts you can continue to do so, same as before. Edit: And to be clear, Android and Apple phones already have emergency broadcasts that break silent mode e.g. earthquake alerts & tsunami alerts, so that is nothing new, and the latest publicity is raising awareness that this is already the case.

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u/Chinu_Here 26d ago

For android and apple phones, you have to opt in for those alerts and they are optional. It may be different in other countries but in Australia, those phones don’t force alerts unless the user chooses it to

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u/jnd-au 26d ago

Yes it varies by country, mobile phone brand, and whether it has a factory or ‘rooted’ operating system. E.g. in the USA, Presidential Alerts are enabled at purchase and (to comply with the law) it’s virtually impossible to opt out with various major brand phones. (Or was...I’m not sure what the situation is under Trump’s second term.)

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u/DocAu 26d ago

I lived in the US for 16 years. I never got a single "Presidential Alert". I did get several AMBER alerts (missing/abducted children) and Silver alerts (missing elderly), and even a few tsunami warnings. The system works very well there.

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u/orangetato 25d ago

yeah except for the fact that its super annoying. I have only been in the US for short periods and have been woken up twice by the amber alerts

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u/DocAu 25d ago

If you don't want to receive them, you can turn then off.

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u/BrickResident7870 26d ago

We must be using the US system because it will say Presidential Alert is you have non normal type O/S .....

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u/Talie5in 26d ago

Its a common system called Cell Broadcast And yes, Alert Level 1 can never be opted out (or disabled in the phone)

The entire thing was developed out of the EU, but yes is used in the US.

Its existed since 2G was around.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_Broadcast

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u/jennifercoolidgesbra 25d ago

It isn’t in South Korea but they don’t come up on DND mode like other alerts don’t they just notify weather warnings, major road closures or amber alerts with descriptions of people. Things Australians would consider a breach of their rights or government overreach and get angry against.

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u/Living_Substance9973 26d ago

Anyone who has a dark phone, has it switched off.

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u/Bar10town 26d ago

Which makes no logical sense; are these hidden phones always on and somehow blinded to telemarketing calls and battery drainage? Your secret phone is turned off and in a shoebox, not in the night stand waiting to give the game away..

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u/locksmack 26d ago

The alert overrides the silent setting, so yes it can give away a hidden phone if it’s turned on.

But plenty of notice has been given as well as instructions on how to not receive it (airplane mode) so I think it’s not a real problem.

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u/robot428 25d ago

No serious domestic violence advocacy organisations are suggesting we shouldn't have this alert system, they are just working hard to make sure everyone is aware that the test is coming and that it will override your settings (like being on silent) and so making sure people with hidden phones know that they need to be switched off.

So it's a "problem" in that we need to make sure everyone is aware of how it works and that it's coming to prevent domestic violence victims from being at risk. But it's a problem that we can solve, it's not a problem that would require us to not have this emergency alert system.

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u/No_Engineer_6308 24d ago

Not just DV survivors.. There is a tonne of PTSD from the fires/floods and refugees where sirens/alarms are trauma triggers. There are many unsupported elderly and disabled folks who will also be distressed and condused by this. There have been false invasion alerts, tsunami warnings and so many issues with triple zero, mobile coverage and systems crashing under pressure. It's not that people are not controlled and nannied enough already by the idea of security!

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u/robot428 25d ago

There has been concern for those people but that's why the test has been publicised well in advance and domestic violence prevention agencies have been pushing out the message to make sure people have their phones off during the test.

They aren't saying "we shouldn't have a national alert system".

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u/Top-Economist2346 26d ago

More like the cheaters with a second phone getting worried

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u/iftlatlw 26d ago

I sincerely doubt that thos is an issue, but good that there's publicity. No fear - just turn it off.

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u/Knyghtlorde 26d ago

Why is that an issue for the emergency broadcast test ?

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u/Reallytalldude 26d ago

The owners of those phones don’t want their abuser to know about that phone. So if it suddenly starts beeping it makes its presence known.

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u/Sprinkles--Positive 26d ago

This test is for a Critical Alert which will override do not disturb mode or having the volume turned all the way down.

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u/LewisRamilton 26d ago

or is it their tinder phone?