With an increasing number of extreme weather events occurring across Australia, and many parts of the country again facing an elevated fire threat in the 2026-27 summer, ABC Emergency Broadcasting and other ABC teams are ready to provide timely and comprehensive information to communities.
ABC Emergency Broadcasting is the only dedicated unit of its kind in the country. It works closely with ABC Local Radio and ABC NEWS teams to deliver coordinated coverage of severe weather events that pose a risk to lives or property, such as bushfires, floods andcyclones.
The team of 18 operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to ensure accurate and actionable information reaches communities before, during and after emergencies.
Currently it’s working on the Queensland storms and floods, which have resulted in multiple floodwater rescues. Recently the team has also kept audiences up-to-date on the 100 km/h-plus winds in SA, which resulted in power outages and 60 SES callouts, and severe weather impacts in NSW to Sydney’s northern beaches and the Riverina.
Emergency broadcast activations have jumped in recent years, rising from 191 in 2020-21 to more than 650 a year each of the past three years.
Donna Field, ABC NEWS Head of Regional, Rural and Metro News: “We expect the 2026-27 summer to be at least as busy as the past three, with a strong El Nino pattern causing below average rainfall and high fuel loads.
“Public reliance on ABC Emergency Broadcasting continues to grow and the whole of the ABC is ready to help Australians stay informed and safe in times of crisis.”
In 2025-26 the ABC responded to 356 fires, 241 severe weather events, 35 floods, nine cyclones and nine other events across every state and territory. WA had the most with 175, followed by Queensland (142), NSW (132), Victoria (83); Northern Territory (43), Tasmania (33), South Australia (32) and the ACT (10).
The EB team produced more than 210 hours of rolling emergency radio coverage and more than 1000 emergency-related social media posts.
Significant events included the Victorian fires in January, which claimed a life, damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and caused widespread outages. The ABC provided 28 days of EB coverage, including at the peak of the fires more than 60 hours of continuous rolling broadcasting. In Marchthe NT experienced some its worst-ever flooding and later that month Tropical Cyclone Narelle hit Queensland, the NT and WA.
ABC Emergency Broadcasting works with external agencies such as the Bureau of Meteorology and the state fire, health, emergency and police services, many of which list ABC Radio as an official emergency broadcaster.
The ABC also works with sector bodies representing community and independent media so smaller outlets and their audiences are better placed when emergencies strike.
Through a syndication arrangement with AAP the ABC distributes emergency-related digital articles free of charge to 40 selected local digital news providers, with the aim of removing barriers to critical information during emergencies.