The Australian Warning System education initiative provides crucial information on hazard icons, warning levels, and actions (External link) for emergencies.

It covers bushfires, floods, storms, and extreme heat with three warning levels. Featuring ABC’s Justine Clarke and Bluey’s Melanie Zanetti, the initiative includes videos, story books, and more, developed by Emergency Management Victoria.

There's a range of materials to help you get to know our warning signs, including three picture books and videos about the warning signs and learn what they do to keep us safe.

You can find these materials from ausws.emergency.vic.gov.au/index (External link)

Australian Warning System

There are three warning levels:

  • ADVICE warning symbol is yellow. It means an incident has started. There is no immediate danger. Stay up to date in case the situation changes.
  • WATCH AND ACT warning symbol is orange. It means there is a heightened level of threat. Conditions are changing and you need to start taking action now to protect you and your family.
  • EMERGENCY WARNING warning symbol is red. It is the highest level of warning. You may be in danger and need to take action immediately. Any delay now puts your life at risk.

The warning levels are the same for bushfires, floods, storms and extreme heat.

a yellow, orange and red icon make up the 3 australian warning levels

Stay informed

One of the most important things you can do is to stay informed. Vic Emergency has up to date information and warnings across the state.

Download the VicEmergency app from Apple's App store (External link) or get it on Google Play (External link). You can also visit the website emergency.vic.gov.au (External link)