Cafe shuts shop early fearing impacts of national phone warning
An Adelaide coffee shop has sparked a social media outpouring after making a decision to avoid “harmful” frequencies from the new national emergency warning system test.
Popular café and retail space Grounded in Lonsdale will shut its doors from midday today, its owner saying in a social media post that he had concerns about the national emergency AusAlert test set to hit mobile phones later today.
Speaking with InDaily, the business owner said it was simply a “personal decision” to close during the AusAlert notice and that there was no intention of causing a social media stir. Grounded will reopen as normal from Tuesday morning.
The post comes as conspiracy theories circulate the internet, including concerns around the government tracking personal data, over the AusAlert national test at 1:30pm Adelaide time where it emits 10-second siren on phones s part of a nationwide trial of the new emergency system.
It is due to replace the current national warning system from October 2026, aiming to provide alerts for bushfires, floods and other natural disasters.
In a social media post on Sunday evening, Grounded requested patrons to turn off mobile phones between 1pm and 2pm to avoid the emergency alert going off in store.
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“You may not agree with the alert being a harmful frequency and that’s completely fine, we respect your choices and opinions,” the Facebook post said.
“We are not interested in having the AusAlert in our space. We hope you can respect this request.
“And yes, we will be checking.”
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The post caused controversy on social media, amassing more than 1000 reactions, 700 laugh reacts and receiving backlash from some commenters.
Some Facebook users left comments saying, “some people need to have their phone on for medical reasons”, and another commenting “your phone is continuously emitting frequencies, it’s no different with sound”.
Following the uproar, the café made a follow-up social media post late on Sunday night updating patrons it would instead be closed from 12:30pm to avoid the AusAlert entirely.
The follow-up post has since attracted more than 400 likes, including 220 laugh reacts and more than 150 comments.
“We think it is absolutely possible to disagree with someone and respect them at the same time,” the post said.
“It seems not wanting to be around the AusAlert is a rather controversial topic.
“Upon further deliberation we’ve decided simply to close a little early and head to the forest for some family time.”
A commenter said closing the store was a “smarter decision then trying to enforce things on your customers,” and that it “certainly wasn’t good vibes trying to dictate what people do with their own phone”.
The federal government insisted on its AusAlert national website that “AusAlert does not collect or store your mobile phone number or location”.
The system was created following the 2020 Royal Commission into Natural Disaster Management to patch gaps in existing emergency alerts, with the government affirming only authorised emergency service organisations and government agencies will be authorised to send the alerts.
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