Australian Government: Attorney-General's Department
Australian Government: Attorney-General's Department

Triple Zero (000)

Triple zero logoKnowing how to call Triple Zero (000) in an emergency can be the difference between life and death.

The Triple Zero (000) service is the quickest way to get the right emergency service to help you. It should be used to contact Police, Fire or Ambulance services in life threatening or emergency situations.

Calls to Triple Zero (000) are free and can be made from mobile, home and work telephones, and payphones.

How to make a Triple Zero (000) call

There are a few simple steps to take when making a Triple Zero (000) call:

Additional tips: other things everyone should know in an emergency

State and Territory Emergency Services Organisations

Triple Zero Emergency logoWithin Australia, the protection of life and property is a responsibility of State and Territory governments. This responsibility includes the provision of Emergency Services Organisations (ESOs) i.e. police, fire and ambulance service.

It is important to note that, in addition to the fact sheet available on this Website, a number of ESOs also provide their own information on what to do in an emergency.

Use the table below to view the ESO Websites in your particular state or territory. This information may help to save your life or property.

State/Territory Emergency Services Organisation
Australian Capital Territory Police
Fire-Metropolitan
Fire-Rural
Ambulance
New South Wales Police
Fire-Metropolitan
Fire-Rural
Ambulance
Northern Territory Police
Fire and Emergency Services
Queensland Police
Fire-Metropolitan
Fire-Rural
Ambulance
South Australia Police
Fire-Metropolitan
Fire-Rural
Ambulance
Tasmania Police
Fire-Metropolitan
Ambulance
Victoria Police
Fire-Metropolitan
Fire-Rural
Ambulance
Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority
Western Australia Police
Fire-Metropolitan
Ambulance

Triple Zero (000) Awareness Campaign and Promotional Material

The national Triple Zero (000) campaign aims to build awareness of the Triple Zero (000) number and educate the community about when to use the number.

The campaign serves to reinforce to members of the public their responsibilities when calling the Triple Zero (000) emergency number both in nominating the required emergency service and identifying the location they are calling from.

The campaign uses the Internet, newspapers, radio and television to promote messages of Triple Zero (000). In addition, elements of the campaign have been translated to reach culturally and linguistically diverse communities throughout Australia.

'Triple Zero Kids' Challenge' on-line safety game

Triple Zero kids challenge gameThe Triple Zero (000) online safety game has been produced by the Triple Zero Awareness Working Group in seven languages.

Posters

Triple Zero (000) posters have been produced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in English and a number of other languages including Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Italian, Korean, Russian, Serbian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Triple Zero poster

Print Media

Triple Zero (000) advertisements are being placed in national, metropolitan and regional newspapers in all states and territories.

Radio Announcements

Radio commercials have been developed to reinforce the Triple Zero (000) campaign message. A comprehensive radio schedule has been launched to ensure key messages meet a wider public audience.

Television Announcements

A television campaign, using four announcements, has been developed to raise awareness about Triple Zero (000). Showcasing typical call scenarios to Triple Zero (000), the announcements prompt the public to acknowledge what qualifies as an emergency and what responsibility the caller has in making a call to Triple Zero (000). The commercials highlight that the Triple Zero (000) number is solely used to connect callers to the nearest emergency service. The announcements also reinforce that when you call Triple Zero (000) you must "Stay focused, Stay relevant, Stay on the line".

The Emergency Call Service

Overview

"Australia’s primary emergency call service number is Triple Zero (000), which can be dialled from any fixed or mobile phone, and certain VoIP services. There are also two secondary emergency call service numbers: 112, which is available from all GSM or GSM derived mobile phones, and 106, which connects to the text-based relay service for people who are deaf or who have a hearing or speech impairment. All calls to the emergency numbers, whether from fixed, mobile, payphones or VoIP services are free-of-charge.

The ACMA website provides a useful overview of the Emergency Call Service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Emergency Call Service

ACMA has produced a webpage of Frequently Asked Questions on the Emergency Call Service.

Calling from a Mobile Telephone?

Triple Zero (000) is Australia's primary telephone number to call for assistance in life threatening or emergency situations. Mobile telephones contain a secondary number which can also be used.

To find out more about calling Triple Zero (000) from a mobile telephone, please visit the ACMA website.

106 Text Emergency Relay Service

106 Text Emergency logoIf you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment and your life or property is in danger, you can call police, fire or ambulance on 106 directly through a TTY (also known as a teletypewriter or textphone) or computer connected to a modem. It is not possible to contact emergency services using the Short Message Service (SMS) on your mobile telephone.

The 106 Text Emergency Relay Service provides the same service as Triple Zero (000), however it is only available for use by people who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment and use a TTY or computer with a modem to make text calls. Like Triple Zero (000), 106 should only be used for life threatening or emergency situations where police, fire or ambulance is required.

The Australian 106 Text Emergency Relay Service is the world's first national text-based emergency service and is provided as part of the National Relay Service (NRS). Australian Communication Exchange (ACE) provides the NRS 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

More information on the 106 Text Emergency Relay Service can be obtained from the Relay Service website.

Voice over Internet Protocol

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the name for the different technologies that allow telephone calls to be made over broadband Internet connections. VoIP technology encodes voice communications into a digital format for transmission.

Some VoIP providers may not be able to provide access to emergency calls. If it's important to you that you can make emergency calls from your VoIP service, check with your VoIP provider about access to the Emergency Call Services.

Further information on the key issues to consider before changing to VoIP is available on the ACMA website.

History

In 1961 the Postmaster General introduced the concept of a single national number to provide access to emergency services organisations. The number chosen was Triple Zero (000).

To learn more about the history of Triple Zero (000), please visit the ACMA website.

Regulatory Framework

ACMA logoACMA regulates and monitors the provision of the Emergency Call Service (ECS) under Part 8 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.

It requires ACMA to make a determination placing requirements on carriers, carriage service providers and emergency call persons in respect to the ECS.

The Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2009 and the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Persons) Determination 1999 set out the responsibilities and obligations of the emergency call persons, carrier and carriage service providers in relation to the provision of the ECS.

The Telecommunications Numbering Plan 1997 , also administered by ACMA, specifies that:
a. the primary emergency service number is '000'; and
b. the secondary emergency service numbers are '106' and '112'.

More information on ACMA's role in the provision of the Emergency Call Service can be found on the ACMA website.

Emergency Call Persons

The Telecommunications (Emergency Call Persons) Determination 1999 (the Determination) , specifies the operators of the Emergency Call Services. The Determination details the national operators for these numbers.

The Determination recognises Telstra as the Emergency Call Person for Triple Zero (000) and 112. Telstra has responsibility for providing the service which answers calls to these numbers, and transfers them, with relevant associated information, to the requested emergency service organisation. More information on Telstra's provision of this service is available from the Telstra website.

ACE logo

Under the Determination, the National Relay Service (NRS) provider has the same responsibility with regard to the emergency service number 106 Text Emergency Relay Service number, for callers who are deaf or who have a hearing or a speech impairment. The provider of the NRS is Australian Communication Exchange (ACE).

Carriers and Carriage Service Providers

The Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2002 sets out the obligations on carriers to ensure that it has arrangements in place for dealing with emergency calls. The carrier must provide free access to the Emergency Call Service.

Integrated Public Number Database

The Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) is an industry wide database of all listed and unlisted public telephone numbers. It was established in 1998 and is managed by Telstra under the Carrier Licence Conditions (Telstra Corporation Limited) Declaration 1997 .

Telstra logoCarriage Service Providers have an obligation to provide listed and unlisted numbers, and service addresses, to the IPND Manager (i.e. Telstra). This information is used by Emergency Services Organisations (ESOs) for the purpose of responding to emergency calls.

This information is particularly vital where a caller is unable to confirm their location and the ESO will rely on the location details stored in the IPND.

More information on IPND can be found on the ACMA website.

Information on IPND is also available on the Telstra website.

Governance Arrangements

Emergency Call Service Advisory Committee

Since 2000, ACMA has maintained an emergency services advisory committee to provide advice on issues relating to the emergency call service. The Emergency Call Service Advisory Committee (ECSAC) is constituted by ACMA and comprises of representatives from government, emergency service organisations, carriers, carriage service providers and the emergency call persons.

National Emergency Communications Working Group

The National Emergency Communications Working Group (NECWG) focuses its attention on the development and operation of the Triple Zero (000) and 106 Emergency Call Service (ECS).

It is an operationally oriented group, comprised of senior officers of Australia's Emergency Service Organisations (ESOs) i.e. police, fire and ambulance, Telstra (as the operator of the Emergency Call Service), the major telecommunications carriers, Australian Communication Exchange (representing the deaf, and hearing and speech impaired within the community), the Australian Council of State Emergency Services and the Attorney-General's Department.

The Working Group develops national positions on, and pursues problems and issues relating to, the ESOs maximising their emergency response roles by way of the ECS. Australia's counterparts in New Zealand share a number of similar issues and are regular contributors at NECWG meetings.

NECWG aims to ensure that the ECS continues to operate and develop as efficiently and effectively as possible, to enable rapid and accurate connection and passage of requests for emergency assistance from members of the community to ESOs anywhere in Australia.

It seeks to promote the correct use of the service and to remove any impediments so that in an emergency situation, communications occur as quickly, clearly and calmly as possible.

Industry Codes, Guidelines, Specifications and Standards

Communications Alliance logoCommunications Alliance, formerly the Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF), offers a forum for the Australian communications industry to make a coherent and constructive contribution to policy development and debate. It also provides a unified voice for the Australian communications industry and to lead it into the next generation of converging networks, technologies and services.

Communications Alliance has developed a number of documents which pertain specifically to the Emergency Call Service, these include:

These and other communications industry documents can be found on the Communications Alliance website.

Discussion papers and reports

The ACMA website contains a number of discussion papers and reports relating to the Emergency Call Service.

Triple Zero kids logo