National Messaging System

The National Messaging System (NMS) is an upcoming Australian cell broadcast emergency population warning system^[1] that is slated to replace the current location-targeted, SMS-based Emergency Alert system.^[2] It is currently expected to be in operation by late 2024.^[1]

The existing Emergency Alert Australia system, established in 2009,^[3] is a location-based SMS (LB-SMS) system^[4] and can also call landlines with automated alerts.^[3] The system was used in the 2019-20 Black Summer Bushfires, with 492,938 landline calls and 4,194,576 text messages sent to residents in affected areas.^[5]

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements in 2020 found that emergency warning systems were effective tools for governments to use to alert citizens of threats.^[1] However, it found that limitations with Emergency Alert meant it was unable to reach everyone facing an "emerging or imminent threat", and that the underlying LB-SMS technology was considered outdated.

For landlines, automated audio alerts failed to be delivered when:

• the landline telephone was in use when the alert was issued (i.e., engaged)
• the landline telephone was not answered
• there was a power outage and a cordless telephone was being used
• the landline telephone was outside the warning area but still in an at-risk location
• the landline telephone was not registered under the correct address.

Text messages failed to be delivered when:

• individuals' message inboxes were full
• the mobile phone was switched off or outside of a mobile coverage area
• the last known location of the mobile phone was outside the defined warning area when the alert was issued but still at risk
• individuals had not updated their address
• the mobile phone had moved into a warning area after the alert had been issued and sent to devices
• the mobile phone was in a mobile coverage blackspot.

The commission also found that the state-based nature of Emergency Alert meant that it was possible for residents living near a state's border to receive an emergency alert sent by the system from the other state, as those residents' landlines may be connected to the network of the other state. For instance, New South Wales border residents could receive an alert issued by Queensland authorities because their proximity to Queensland meant that they were connected to the telephone network in Queensland.

It was found that a review of new and emerging telephony technologies for use beyond 2023–24 to improve the issuing of emergency alerts nationwide, including for those with a disability and/or are culturally/linguistically diverse had been commissioned by the Department of Home Affairs through Emergency Management Australia. The Commission recommended that the review, funding and upgrade of Emergency Alert be considered a priority to ensure it used the best available technology to improve the way warnings are issued, and to better cater to those with a disability and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.^[5]

After receiving $2.2 million in funding from the 2021 budget,^[6] in August 2021, the Australian Government issued a tender for proposals from suppliers for a cell broadcast-based emergency warning system,^[7] with implementation slated for January 2022, and a three-year contract starting the same year.^[4]

The NMS will utilise cell broadcast technology, which allows messages to be broadcast directly from a radio cell tower to all devices in the vicinity, rather than disseminating alerts through text messages to devices in a specified location as with the current Emergency Alert system. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says the technology will allow for "near real-time", simultaneous messaging to all devices in a specified area and is unconstrained by telecommunications network congestion, a problem which arose with the current system. Messages would have a character limit of 1395 characters, and would be able to have a priority level specified that would differentiate the way messages are displayed on receiving devices.^[1]

Devices receiving alerts under the new system would display an on-screen message that cannot be easily dismissed. The technology would allow for multilingual messaging, but it is not clear yet how this functionality would be utilised by the NMS and what languages messages would be offered in. Location targeting under the new system would allow an area as small as a one-kilometre radius to be defined, and would also enable messages to be sent to individual local government areas (LGAs).^[8]