Government concedes overdue disaster alert system not yet operational

Australians at threat of a disaster will have to rely on text message warnings from existing state-led services, with the federal government conceding its replacement service is not yet operational. 

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and then-emergency management minister Murray Watt pledged in May 2023 that a new, modern system would be ready by the end of last year and would be able to override phone systems, regardless of the carrier, to ensure people received warnings.  

The “national messaging system” would be capable of delivering a message to any device with a SIM card, targeting a location to within 160 metres, and overriding settings like “do not disturb” to ensure that messages were received.

“We expect that this will take around 18 months,” Ms Rowland said at the time.

“So, towards the end of 2024, this will be ready.”

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But with Cyclone Alfred headed for the mainland, the new system remains offline. 

Shadow communications minister Melissa McIntosh accused the government of having broken its promise to deliver the warning system. 

“The promised emergency text messaging service not being online in the government’s time frame is unacceptable,” she said in a statement. 

Coalition sources the ABC has spoken with were eager to stress that government ministers had been keeping their opposition counterparts briefed about preparations for the cyclone. 

They conceded they were reluctant to engage in partisan pointscoring while people were sandbagging but argued the government needed to be accountable for its earlier commitments.

The ABC sent questions to the offices of the prime minister, Ms Rowland, Senator Watt and Emergency Management Minister Jenny McAllister, who assumed that role in July last year. 

In response, a federal government spokesperson said the existing emergency warning system will continue to be used.

“The current emergency alert system was always going to be the primary messaging system for the 2024-2025 High Risk Weather Season,” they said.

“This system has been in place for many years and has been used through many natural disaster periods.

“Telephone warnings is only one channel to issue emergency warnings. Emergency services and local governments use multiple channels such as social media, applications, websites, radio, television, and local government dashboards.”

Speaking in 2023, Senator Watt insisted that “every single minute” counts in an emergency and the faster information was shared to Australians and first responders, “the more lives can be saved”.

“I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve been to disaster communities who say — and one of the biggest complaints is — they just don’t get emergency warnings fast enough,” Senator Watt said.

“That is what this National Messaging System is designed to fix. 

“We’ll be able to override phone systems, no matter what phone carrier you’re with, no matter where you are, to make sure that you get the emergency warning that you need to give you the power to make decisions about your safety and your family’s safety.”

In the same budget, the government committed funds for a so-called public safety mobile broadband (PSMB) system to allow for “seamless communications between various agencies and between various states”. At the time, the government noted it was an area where a royal commission has said reform was needed.

It remains unclear when that will be delivered, with the government spokesperson confirming a federally-led taskforce had been established and was working with states and territories. 

A reliance on the Defence Force

The lack of new alert system comes as the Queensland and New South Wales governments formally requested Australian Defence Force (ADF) support.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government agreed to the requests on Wednesday.

He said the ADF had helped provide sandbags and had pre-positioned two heavy-lift helicopters in Queensland and northern NSW. 

The ADF has increasingly been tasked with responding to natural disasters in recent years. 

The 2022 floods in the NSW Northern Rivers prompted new warnings about an “over-reliance” on the ADF to respond to natural disasters.

By some estimates, more than half of the ADF’s members had been used in some capacity to respond to domestic emergencies in the few years prior to 2023.

The federal government agreed with Defence that it had to be the option of “last resort” when disaster struck.

It identified one alternative — bolstering Disaster Relief Australia, a veteran-led not-for-profit that offers assistance to communities in preparing for, and responding to, natural disasters.

More than $38 million in federal funding is being poured into DRA, with the aim of bolstering its volunteer ranks by 5,000.

So far that target hasn’t been reached, with DRA reporting volunteer numbers of about 4,200 as of the middle of last year. The group says it is on track for 7,500 by 2026.

DRA doesn’t aim to fill the role defence has played as disasters play out — like rescuing people stranded on rooftops during floods.

But it has said it can help take pressure off the ADF in the aftermath of a crisis, as communities begin the months-long effort to rebuild.

Government says Northern Rivers recovery still underway

In the aftermath of the Northern Rivers floods, $150 million in federal funding was pledged for recovery and resilience projects in the region.

The funding was to be provided to the New South Wales government and was allocated across 36 different projects.

It includes projects like upgrading drains and pumps, improving roads and bridges, and work on evacuation routes and procedures across the region.

The federal government said of the 36 projects funded, 14 have now been completed.

A government spokesperson said work on the rest is continuing.

“The reconstruction required across the Northern Rivers will take time but we are doing everything we can to speed up this process, including providing a nearly $900 million advance payment to NSW for disaster recovery,” they said.

“We will continue to work with the NSW Government and local community to complete the remaining works.

“We have also delivered an additional $90 million to the Resilient Homes Program bringing the total program value to $880 million, for home buybacks and upgrades.”