Emergency warnings for bushfires, floods and cyclones about to get clearer

By Declan Gooch

The rollout of Australia's new bushfire warning system, which will be consistent across the country and provide clearer advice about how people should respond, begins today.

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Earlier this year, the bushfire royal commission heard evidence of confusion over differences between state-based bushfire warnings and recommended the creation of a national system.

Three new icons will represent each of the alert levels: Advice, Watch and Act, and Emergency Warning.

All three of those terms are already used nationally for bushfires, but it will be the first time they are applied to storms, floods, cyclones and heatwaves.

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"They thought it should be a simple system, which they could understand, and that it should be also supported by a specific call to action that would help people to know what to do during an emergency."

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"There's information [in a warning] that backs that up and provides information to people about what to do, and what we're talking about is elevating it to that higher level … so the advice becomes a lot clearer and people don't need to go digging for it."