❓ Concerns raised regarding the reliability of emergency alert systems during bushfires, particularly with the NBN rollout and power outages. The response clarifies registration processes and highlights the need for diverse information sources during emergencies.
AnsweredQoN 4527Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
(1) How does a member of the community register their land line telephone and mobile telephone to receive emergency alerts in the event of a bush fire and their property being at risk? (2) If a property owner
owns a number of properties in different locations in country Western Australia, how do they
register each of the properties to ensure they receive an emergency alert in
the event of a bush fire and one or more of their properties being at risk? (3) In light of the roll
out of the National Broadband Network (NBN) fibre to the node, and the fact that during power outages
telephones connected to the NBN network fibre to the node will not work, what
is the Government doing to review the emergency telephone alert system and to
inform people connected to the NBN that in the event of a power outage they
will not be able to receive emergency alert telephone calls and messages so
that they don’t unknowingly put themselves at risk of relying on a telephone
alert they may never receive due to a power outage?
owns a number of properties in different locations in country Western Australia, how do they
register each of the properties to ensure they receive an emergency alert in
the event of a bush fire and one or more of their properties being at risk? (3) In light of the roll
out of the National Broadband Network (NBN) fibre to the node, and the fact that during power outages
telephones connected to the NBN network fibre to the node will not work, what
is the Government doing to review the emergency telephone alert system and to
inform people connected to the NBN that in the event of a power outage they
will not be able to receive emergency alert telephone calls and messages so
that they don’t unknowingly put themselves at risk of relying on a telephone
alert they may never receive due to a power outage?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
15 November 2016
Responded by
Attorney General representing the Minister for Emergency Services
Response time
28 days
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) advises:
1. Members of the community do not need to register to receive a telephone warning. All landline and mobile telephone numbers (including silent numbers) are automatically registered based on their service address.
2. The registered service address and telephone number comes from the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND), which contains all public and private phone numbers in Australia. The owner is responsible to ensure address data is accurate and up-to-date and reflects their usual physical address.
3. The ongoing development of Emergency Alert (EA) is managed by Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) with input from each jurisdiction through the national Emergency Alert High Level Group. WA’s representative on this group is DFES. In negotiating new national contracts, EMV aim to secure a more sustainable EA service using technology that remains up to date and relevant to community use and demand. DFES recommends avoiding any over reliance on a single source of information precisely due to the rapidly changing and unpredictable nature of emergency incidents and the potential impact on communications technologies.
1. Members of the community do not need to register to receive a telephone warning. All landline and mobile telephone numbers (including silent numbers) are automatically registered based on their service address.
2. The registered service address and telephone number comes from the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND), which contains all public and private phone numbers in Australia. The owner is responsible to ensure address data is accurate and up-to-date and reflects their usual physical address.
3. The ongoing development of Emergency Alert (EA) is managed by Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) with input from each jurisdiction through the national Emergency Alert High Level Group. WA’s representative on this group is DFES. In negotiating new national contracts, EMV aim to secure a more sustainable EA service using technology that remains up to date and relevant to community use and demand. DFES recommends avoiding any over reliance on a single source of information precisely due to the rapidly changing and unpredictable nature of emergency incidents and the potential impact on communications technologies.
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