Government calls AusAlert test a 'success' despite reports many missed alert

AusAlert test a 'success' as millions of devices nationwide receive alert siren Mon 27 Jul 2026 at 5:50pm In short: The AusAlert system was tested today, with millions of devices receiving the emergency alert at 2pm AEST. Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said 94 per cent of targeted cell towers broadcast the message, but many Australians reported issues. What's next: Ms McBain said the government will conduct a deep dive into all aspects of the test, continue to refine the technology and a feedback page has been launched. The federal government has hailed the nationwide AusAlert system test a success despite reports of many people not receiving the alert. At 2pm AEST on Monday mobile phones and devices across the country lit up and chimed as the AusAlert system test took place. Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said 94 per cent of "targeted cell towers" successfully broadcast the AusAlert test messages across the country. This was above the National Emergency Management Agency's target, she said, and added the 6 per cent of phone towers which missed the alert were either offline for maintenance, being upgraded or were otherwise unusable. It is unclear how many phones received the alert in total, but Ms McBain declared the test "very successful". "So the benchmark that the National Emergency Management Agency set was for 90 per cent of towers; we've reached nearly 94 per cent of towers across the country," she said. "We've now had a successful trial and we'll continue to refine the technology in Australia and work with states and territories to make sure it is available for use for them from October onwards." In the aftermath of the test the ABC received more than 1,000 comments reporting its successes and issues. Groups reported mixed results, with some describing one out of three people at a university getting the message as well as delays leading to the alarm going off 10 to 15 minutes after the test took place. In schools teachers described the test as revealing which students had their phones in class and students huddling around their lockers to hear the sound. Commenter Robert Everett said he connected his hearing aid to his phone through bluetooth at the time of the test. "The nationwide test nearly blew my ear drums out,"Mr Everett said. "Far too loud." Even tourists Kim Magee and Chelsea Stillwell, visiting Australia from the US, got the alert. "It's like an amber alert in the states … when a child goes missing, they do it," Ms Magee said. "We've had it [alerts] for a long time," Ms Stillwell added. Some residents in remote areas reported issues however, some getting the alert late, others not at all. In the outback Queensland town of Longreach, 700 kilometres from the coastline, tourists Vanessa and Tom Ranken said their phones went off minutes after the test took place. In the Simpson Desert, Kyle Barton said he got no alert, suggesting his reliance of satellite internet as the reason. "I tested [my phone] to see if I could receive and send texts before the 2 o'clock send down," Mr Barton said. "But [at 2pm], nothing happened." Ms McBain told Australians who did not receive an alert not to worry. "This could be because you are not in a coverage area," she said. "Your software was not up to date or your device was incompatible." Residents in bushfire prone areas welcomed the alert system with NSW resident and Black Summer bushfire survivor Jenny Robb, saying the system could be "really valuable". Brett Hitchens from Machans Beach in Cairns was impressed by the AusAlert test which he said was "clear, audible and easy to recognise". His house was extensively flooded during the deluge brought by ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper in December 2023 and believed a similar warning system would have helped his family make important decisions at the time. "The first warning we had was wet feet, by the time we realised what was going on, we were wading through water everywhere," he said. "To have some sort of early warning would've been so much more useful, especially if it had some scale of severity like prepare or run for the hills." One commenter in the bushfire prone area of Repton, NSW said many residents did not receive an AusAlert message. "The last time we had to evacuate the RFS was forced to doorknock 300 residences due to poor mobile coverage," they said. "This seems to be a great example of services being designed by city-based organisations who are unaware of the configuration of telecoms in regional areas where many of the most significant natural disaster risks reside." Commenters described being startled by the alert and said it could be dangerous for people driving cars. The National Emergency Management Agency will be conducting a "deep dive" into aspects of today's test, according to Ms McBain. Ms McBain said AusAlert was a "far more effective and more resilient capability than we currently have in the system". "We'll continue to work with the technology. We'll continue to work with the telco partners and our phone manufacturers to make sure that we can hit as many people as possible," she said. "But again, I reiterate, there is no silver bullet in emergency management communication. "This is another tool in the tool belt for emergency service agencies to have during a natural disaster, but as always, people need to understand their local context." An AusAlert feedback page has since gone live for the public to access. [Image text:] Notification Centre NIS REQUIRED. !