Emergency alerts are designed to support community safety - however, family and domestic violence (FDV) experts say without adequate consideration, they may put the most vulnerable members at risk.

 On July 27, the Australian Government will send out a test alert to every phone in the country via AusAlert, a new national warning system designed to facilitate outreach during local and national emergencies. 

When the alert is sent, all devices that are switched on, even those that are on silent, will vibrate and play a siren-like warning for around 10 seconds. 

 Murdoch University lecturer Dr Nicola Stokes from the School of Law and Criminology said her research had shown that FDV isolated a person from friends, family and the services that may be able to assist them – a hidden phone was often their only lifeline. 

“Access to a hidden phone may be their only private means of checking in with family, contacting a support service, seeking legal advice or asking for help in an emergency,” Dr Stokes said. 

However, a hidden phone is only useful as a safety measure while it remains hidden. If it unexpectedly makes a sound, vibrates or lights up, an abusive partner may discover it. This could lead to increased surveillance, further abuse or other forms of retaliation.

Dr Stokes said current official advice was to switch any hidden devices offor place them on aeroplane mode before the scheduled test time and to leave it that way for at least one hour. 

However, she said victim-survivors needed to be part of the planning of national alerts from the beginning. 

“This advice closely reflects what the women in my study told me. They were frustrated by systems that failed to understand the realities of FDV and coercive control,” Dr Stokes said. 

“They wanted clear and timely information, but they also wanted the autonomy to decide how best to manage their own circumstances and safety.” 

Dr Stokes said the most critical element of protecting FDV victim-survivors was giving advanced notice – allowing time for those who may be in danger to seek specialist safety advice and how to manage the hidden phone before the alert occurs. 

In order to optimise the reach for this messaging, consultation with victim-survivors and specialist FDV services prior to national tests was critical. 

“Reaching everyone who may have a hidden phone will be extremely difficult. Without sufficient notice and clear, practical guidance, some people may feel they have no option but to stop using or give up the device because they fear what could happen when it is discovered,” Dr Stokes said. 

“FDV support services need sufficient time and appropriate information to reach people safely. Refuges, counsellors, legal services, health professionals and, where appropriate, police and courts may all have a role in communicating the warning. 

However, they need to be involved in planning the communication strategy rather than approached only after safety concerns emerge. 

The broader lesson from her research, Dr Stokes said, was that a system would be unable to support people experiencing FDV unless it understood the nature of FDV and the circumstances in which victim-survivors were living. 

“Emergency alerts are valuable, but their planning must also account for the risk created when a hidden safety device is exposed,” she said. 

“Early consultation and clear communication can preserve the life-saving purpose of the alert while giving people experiencing abuse an opportunity to take steps to protect themselves and those around them.” 

Support services:

• 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) - national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service
• 13 YARN (13 92 76) - national crisis support line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples