ACMA Media
Release
130/2010
Page 1 of 2
20 October 2010
No moves to change emergency call numbers
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has no intention of changing
Australia’s primary emergency call number from Triple Zero.
Speaking at a Senate Estimates hearing in Canberra yesterday, ACMA Chairman
Chris Chapman said, ‘The number Triple Zero is Australia’s primary emergency
service number and should always be used in the first instance.
‘The number 112 is the GSM international standard emergency number, which can
only be dialled on a digital mobile phone. It is accepted as a secondary international
emergency number in some parts of the world, including Australia, and can be
dialled in areas of GSM network coverage with the call automatically translated to
that country’s emergency number. Importantly, 112 cannot be used to access the
emergency call service from fixed lines in Australia.’
Triple Zero has been Australia’s primary emergency service number since 1961. It
ensures that all Australians can dial one free number to access fire, ambulance and
police services in time-critical emergency situations. There is a high level of
awareness of the Triple Zero emergency service number, with recent research
commissioned by the ACMA indicating that almost 95 per cent of Australians are
aware that they should call Triple Zero in an emergency.
112 offers no benefits (such as quicker access to the emergency call service) over
Triple Zero.
The ACMA has responsibility for the designation of the emergency call number
through the Australian Numbering Plan.
‘Recent reports that the number could be changed are incorrect and irresponsible.
The Australian community can be assured that Triple Zero is, and will remain, the
number to call in a time-critical emergency situation,’ said Mr Chapman.
Every year, the operator of the Triple Zero service receives many calls which are
non-life threatening or non-time critical, such as from misdials, automatically
generated calls from incorrectly programmed fax machines or modems, callers
reporting matters that are not emergencies, and hoax and malicious calls.
The ACMA has been working with industry and emergency service organisations
over the past two to three years to reduce the number of non-emergency calls made
to Triple Zero, without compromising genuine emergency calls.
‘There has been a number of measures introduced over the last several years, and
they have included brief introductory recorded voice announcements alerting callers
that they have contacted 000 and other related aspects,’ Mr Chapman said.
Since December 2008 this has led to a 29 per cent reduction in the total number of
non-life threatening calls (that is, calls that were not passed to an emergency
ACMA Media Release
130 /2010
Page 2 of 2
service organisation). In 2009-10, there were 3.5 million of these types of calls (1.8
million from mobile phones) down from 4.9 million in 2008-09.
The total number of calls made to Triple Zero in 2009-10 was 8.8 million, a
decrease of 1.5 million from the previous year.
For more information, go to triplezero.gov.au. Information about the ACMA’s
role in regulating and monitoring the emergency call services is on the ACMA
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact: Donald
Robertson, Media Manager, on (02) 9334 7980, 0418 86 1766 or
media@acma.gov.au.
The ACMA is Australia’s regulator for broadcasting, the internet, radiocommunications and
telecommunications. The ACMA’s strategic intent is to make communications and media work in
Australia’s public interest. For more information: www.acma.gov.au.
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