Twitter Alerts — Helping to Keep Aussies Safe

Twitter Alerts

Twitter set up Twitter Alerts back in September 2013 to help public safety organisations (e.g. police, fire services, etc.) get information to citizens quickly. Now, it has eight countries participating in the scheme, including the US, Australia, the UK and Japan.

Twitter Alerts in Australia

Twitter Alerts launched in Australia in December 2013, in preparation for the bushfire season. Currently, 17 organisations are enrolled in the Australian program:

NSW Rural Fire Service

NSW Police

Victorian Police

Queensland Police

Western Australia Police

South Australian Police

Australian Government’s travel advisory

Department of Health

Fire & Rescue NSW

Country Fire Service South Australia

City of Brisbane

City of Sydney

The Australian Red Cross

TasALERT

County Fire Authority (CFA)

Tasmania Police

Queensland Fire & Emergency Services

How it works

Enrolled organisations can write special, critical Tweets that reach all their subscribers via push notification or SMS messages to make sure they receive the alert instantly. It’s been designed for use by emergency services and other organisations who need to provide critical information, fast.

Twitter notes that many government departments used Twitter in the past to communicate safety information quickly — Twitter Alerts were developed to embrace this use of Twitter, adding in the essential push notifications/SMS messages feature.

Salsa’s take

Twitter is a great example of a website/app that has completely changed the way we interact with each other. Salsa suggests you sign up for Alerts in your area (use the links above) and if you’re in government/emergency services enroll your organisation in the Twitter Alert program.