AusAlert warning a risk for women experiencing domestic violence

The National Emergency Management Agency has warned that AusAlert messages sent out today as part of a nationwide emergency-alert test could have an impact on the safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children.

Those who keep a hidden phone because of domestic and family violence are being advised to turn the device off or place it in aeroplane mode at least one hour before the test (2pm AEST on July 27).

Data shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have admitted to hospital after family-violence assault at 27 times the rate of non-Indigenous women in 2023–24.

Graphic courtesy of Ngaarda Media

And recent ABS police data from 2024 shows women accounted for between 59 and 72 per cent of recorded First Nations assault victims in jurisdictions with available data. Between 67 and 74 per cent of First Nations assault victims were recorded in family and domestic violence-related incidents.

AusAlert is set up to address inconsistencies in current emergency-warning systems, especially in remote and regional areas, to deliver faster information to people in danger.

But the hidden-phone warning shows that emergency systems can create unintended risks when they do not account for the realities of coercive control and family violence.