Australia’s new AusAlert emergency warning system has had a mixed debut in Tasmania today, with some phones sounding the alarm at 2pm while others stayed silent.
The national test sent a loud alert to mobile phones across the country, but it seems the system did not reach everyone.
Several Tasmanians reported their phones did not receive the alert, with the key factor appearing to be whether devices were running the latest software updates.
Calling into ABC radio, Sandford resident Tom said his iPhone 12 Pro running iOS 18.5 did not receive the alert.
Others reported receiving the alert with an unexpected “Presidential Alert” heading instead of the Australian AusAlert branding.
According to the AusAlert website, older devices or those running alternative operating systems may display an American or international alert heading instead of the Australian AusAlert because “some older devices don’t follow Australian Standards”.
Bystanders said they had come out specifically to see if their phones would all trigger at the same time.
One person in Hobart’s Elizabeth Street mall said they were expecting it to sound a little bit more frightening than it did, they told ABC Hobart.
Another said their two-year-old phone received nothing despite not being on silent or airplane mode.
Another reported the alert worked on a phone running on Wi-Fi only with no SIM card.
One said their phone went off twice, while others on both Telstra and Optus networks reported different experiences with the alert’s sound and delivery.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Kirsty McBain said a feedback survey will be available online for people to complete.
“We’ve obviously got a website, AusAlert, so people can go and provide direct feedback to that if they don’t receive the alert or they do and they want to provide some advice about how their phone worked.”
