Sources reviewed 29 October 2026

Household preparedness for conflict

Keep everyday life working.

A conflict could cut power, water, phones, fuel or payments here, even with no attack nearby. This site covers what to keep at home, what to do when a service fails, and which official pages to trust.

Build your household plan Understand the context

Independent site. Not a live warning service and not affiliated with any government.

The aim is to have a fallback ready for each of these if it goes down.

What this is

A guide for Australian households on getting through conflict and long disruptions. Plenty of the practical advice is the same as for floods or fires, and where it is, the source says so. In an actual incident, do what the official instructions say.

01 / The context

What a conflict
could cut off.

War can reach civilians through cyber attacks, shipping delays and failed services, with nothing happening near you. Planning for that doesn't mean expecting it next week.

POLICY / 2026

Defence now counts civil preparedness.

The 2026 National Defence Strategy lists civil preparedness and resilience to regional or global disruption as a goal. It doesn't say what households should do.

Defence strategy →

INQUIRY / 2026

Parliament is looking at fuel and supply.

A parliamentary inquiry is looking at how government and essential goods and services, fuel included, keep going in a crisis or conflict. The page linked here is the announcement, not a report of findings.

Parliamentary inquiry →

HOUSEHOLDS / NOW

Your part is your own household.

Work out how you'd stay in touch, get essentials and look after anyone who depends on you. You don't need weapons or tactical skills, and you can ignore rumours about likely targets.

Start with the checklist →

What I couldn't findGovernment crisis arrangements and specialist incident guidance exist. In the sources I read, I found no current household wartime manual and no public list of designated blast or fallout shelters. That says what I could find. It doesn't prove none exist. Government framework →

Know who gives instructions.

States and territories run most crisis responses. Commonwealth agencies coordinate national support and security. Which instructions apply depends on what's happening and where you are.

This site isn't an alert.

It doesn't show live threats, predict attacks or tell you when to evacuate. For that, use the official channels.

02 / Your household

Your household
plan.

Start with three days of supplies, then build up. Go to a week if you can, longer if local guidance or your situation says so. These lengths are my planning choice, not an Australian wartime requirement.

People and the plan

Write down key phone numbers on paper, including a relative or friend outside your area. NSW State Emergency Service
Agree where to meet if phones go down, and who checks on the kids and on anyone who needs support.
Pick somewhere else you could stay and work out how you'd get there. Check the official instructions for the incident before you set off.
Sort out transport, food, ID and care for pets and assistance animals. NSW State Emergency Service

Essential supplies

Store drinking water: at least 3 litres per person per day (NSW RFS), plus extra for cooking, washing and pets. NSW Rural Fire Service
Keep a food stock you rotate through, including food that needs no cooking or fridge. Queensland Government
Keep a first aid kit, hygiene items, rubbish bags and infant supplies if you have a baby. Queensland Government
Keep torches, spare batteries, blankets and warm clothes where you can find them in the dark. NSW State Emergency Service

Health and power

Check your repeat prescriptions and ask your pharmacist how much spare medicine to hold. NSW SES suggests five days and Queensland a week. NSW State Emergency Service
Write down your medication doses, and work out how you'd transport or store medicines that need to stay cool. Healthdirect Australia
If you rely on electricity for medical equipment, register with your electricity provider and agree a backup plan with your clinical team. Australian Energy Regulator / Energy Made Easy
Keep power banks charged. If you use a medical battery, check it actually suits the equipment. Australian Energy Regulator / Energy Made Easy

Information, cash and paperwork

Keep a battery radio, plus local frequencies and emergency agency details written down. NSW State Emergency Service
Turn on multi-factor authentication for email, banking and any other account that matters. Australian Signals Directorate
Set aside some cash for essentials, as much as your budget allows. Shops may not be able to take it. Reserve Bank of Australia
Keep secure copies of your ID, Medicare details, insurance, prescriptions and key contacts. NSW State Emergency Service
Pack a grab bag, with a short list of last-minute items such as daily medicines and devices. NSW State Emergency Service
Check supplies, expiry dates and the plan itself at least twice a year. Queensland Government

Going past three days.

For a week, add more of what you already use: food, water, hygiene and pet supplies. Ask your pharmacist how much medicine to hold.
Beyond a week, NSW Health's pantry guide goes up to 14 days at home. That's general emergency advice, not something written for conflict.
Whatever length you pick, keep a separate grab bag. A big stock at home is no reason to ignore an evacuation order.

NSW Health pantry guide →NSW SES: five days of medicines →

Fill these in on paper

Household meeting point: ___________________________________
Out-of-area contact and number: _____________________________
Medical / pharmacy contact: _________________________________
Alternative place to stay and transport: _______________________
Local radio frequency / agency: _____________________________
Next review date: __________________________________________

In immediate danger, call 000 when safe, and follow current police, emergency service and health instructions. This worksheet is not a shelter or evacuation order.

Where the numbers come from: Queensland says a three-day kit with at least 10 L of drinking water per person. NSW RFS says at least 3 L per person per day. NSW SES lists five days of medicines. NSW Health has pantry advice for longer. Original pages: getready.qld.gov.au/prepare/kit · ses.nsw.gov.au/plan-and-prepare/emergency-kit · rfs.nsw.gov.au/plan-and-prepare/prepare-your-family/emergency-survival-kit · health.nsw.gov.au/emergency_preparedness/planning/Pages/emergency-pantry-list.aspx

Everyday Continuity · written 29 October 2026

03 / Continuity

When a service
goes down.

Plan for the outage itself and skip guessing at targets. The steps below come from existing Australian agency guidance. I'm not saying any of these will happen.

Power & communications

Keep information and essential equipment working.

A cyber attack or a wider conflict could knock out power or phones with nothing happening near you. Whatever the cause, the basic outage safety is the same.

Use torches and a battery radio. Save your phone battery and keep contact details on paper.
Start your medical backup plan early. Registering for life support doesn't guarantee your power stays on.
Run generators outdoors only, in open air and away from doors, windows and vents. Never in a house or garage.
If the house becomes unsafe because of heat, cold or medical needs, follow official directions and go to your backup place if you can get there safely.

A phone power bank can't stand in for a proper medical backup supply. Never improvise indoor heating that burns fuel.

Water & sanitation

Follow the notice and don't guess the treatment.

Losing power can stop pumps, treatment plants and sewerage. Deliberate contamination and an ordinary outage call for different responses.

Keep drinking water stored, and set water aside separately for cooking, washing, pets and medical needs.
Read your water supplier's notice properly. A boil water notice and a do not drink notice mean different things.
Boil water when the notice says to. Boiling doesn't make chemical or radiological contamination safe.
If sewerage fails, check local instructions on toilets. Keep hygiene supplies within reach.

A household filter or boiling won't remove every contaminant. Don't use water the authorities have told you not to drink.

Food, payments & fuel

Buy a little extra, not a trolley-load.

Shipping problems, payment failures and late deliveries can reach households far from a conflict. I'm describing what's possible, not forecasting shortages.

Build up your usual pantry stock bit by bit and rotate it. Include food that needs no cooking.
Keep some cash and, if you can, more than one way to pay. The RBA doesn't set a household cash target.
Keep your vehicle ready for whatever your travel or evacuation plan needs. Follow fuel safety rules. This guide doesn't recommend improvised fuel stockpiles.
Watch for official notices about supply limits or help. Plan for baby, dietary and pet needs instead of buying everything.

Cash is a backup and shops may be closed or unable to trade. Buying more than you need can make shortages worse for everyone else.

Cyber & false information

Protect your accounts and check what you read.

A crisis brings fake alerts, phishing and doctored images. You can't control the bigger disruption, but you can control your own accounts.

Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA/2FA) and keep your devices updated. Start with email and banking.
Never share a login code or approve a sign-in you didn't start.
Look up an agency's website or phone number yourself. Don't click any provided links. Don't trust contact details in a message you didn't ask for.
Before you share something, check the original source, the date, the place and whether anyone else confirms it. A real video from years ago can still mislead.

Don't forward rumours about attacks, evacuations or shortages. This site is not a live intelligence or warning feed.

Family overseas

Follow local advice. Don't count on being evacuated.

Conflict can close routes and cut off consular help. Australians overseas need advice for where they are, and it can differ from what applies here.

Read Smartraveller's advice for the destination and subscribe to updates.
Keep travel documents valid and store copies separately. Passport rules differ by destination and transit country.
Agree how and when you'll check in with family, and keep insurer and consular numbers written down.
Follow local authorities and DFAT advice. Don't assume the Australian Government can arrange your travel or evacuate you.

Shelter instructions from another country aren't Australian policy. Don't travel into danger to reach a consular office without checking the advice first.

04 / Immediate safety

Match the advice
to the emergency.

An armed attacker, an air-attack warning and radioactive contamination call for different responses. Follow what the relevant authority is telling you at the time.

Armed attacker · official Australian advice

Escape. Hide. Tell.

For an attacker with a gun, knife or similar weapon, Australian National Security gives three steps:

Escape quickly and quietly, if it's safe.
Hide if you can't escape safely. Stay out of sight and silence your devices.
Tell police by calling 000 when safe.

Follow police instructions. Don't go closer to watch or film.

This is advice for an armed attacker. It is not a universal shelter rule for bombardment, fallout or any other wartime event.

Read the full official guidance →

Radiological incident · specialist direction

Do what the authorities direct.

ARPANSA works on radiation emergency preparedness. Depending on the incident, authorities may tell people to shelter, evacuate or take other protective steps.

If told to shelter, go indoors and follow the instructions you're given.
Use official health advice on food, water, ventilation and when it's safe to leave.
An ordinary building isn't a blast shelter, and there's no fixed number of hours after which you can leave.

Do not self-dose with iodine. ARPANSA says to take potassium iodide only when public authorities advise it. It doesn't protect against radiation in general.

ARPANSA preparedness →Potassium iodide advice →

What about air attacks and public shelters?

I haven't included an air-raid procedure or a list of shelters, because I couldn't verify either from official sources. A basement, underground car park or old wartime shelter isn't automatically a designated or suitable shelter. If an official attack warning goes out, follow its instructions for your location. Don't head for a shelter you've assumed exists, and don't treat overseas advice as an Australian order. In immediate danger, call 000 when safe.

05 / Information

Don't rely on
one source.

A phone alert is one channel, and it can fail. Keep a way to get official information that doesn't need your usual apps or home internet.

Line up a few ways to get information.

Current official instructions

Check police, emergency service, government and health sources for your area. Weather warning apps aren't a complete wartime warning service.

Radio and offline details

Write down local radio frequencies, agency websites and household contacts. A battery radio works without your home internet.

People you trust

Agree on check-ins, especially for anyone living alone or needing help. Check a message before you pass it on.

Offline kit guidance →Verification guidance →

AusAlert: what we know.

Official material puts the launch of Australia's cell-broadcast warning system in October 2026. NEMA describes states and territories coming on in phases, with the existing SMS system running alongside.

I haven't confirmed that every state and territory is live yet. Check current official information and whether your phone is compatible. If danger is obvious, act. Don't wait for an alert.

NEMA: AusAlert →Phased adoption statement →

Immediate danger · Australia

000

Police, fire or ambulance. Call when it's safe to. For non-urgent information, use your emergency agency or utility, not Triple Zero.

06 / Quick answers

Quick
answers.

Short answers to common questions, with where each one comes from.

How much water do I need per person per day?

At least 3 litres of drinking water per person per day, according to the NSW Rural Fire Service. Add water for cooking, washing and pets. Queensland's guidance is at least 10 litres per person for a three-day kit.

NSW Rural Fire Service Queensland Government

How many days of supplies should I plan for?

Start with three days, then build up. Queensland's kit is for three days, and NSW Health's pantry guide goes up to 14 days at home. The three, seven and 14 day lengths on this site are my planning choices, not an Australian wartime requirement.

Queensland Government NSW Health

How much medicine should I keep at home?

Ask your pharmacist. NSW SES suggests five days of medicines in an emergency kit and Queensland's checklist suggests a week. If you rely on electricity for medical equipment, register with your electricity provider and agree a backup plan with your clinical team.

NSW State Emergency Service Queensland Government Australian Energy Regulator / Energy Made Easy

Does Australia have a public list of bomb or fallout shelters?

I couldn't find one. In the sources I read, there is no designated national blast or fallout shelter network. That says what I could find, not that none exist. A basement or underground car park isn't automatically a suitable shelter.

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet ARPANSA

Should I take iodine tablets in a radiation emergency?

Only if public authorities tell you to. ARPANSA says to take potassium iodide only when advised, and it doesn't protect against all radiation or radioactive substances.

ARPANSA ARPANSA

What should I do if an armed attacker is nearby?

Escape, hide, tell. Escape quickly and quietly if it's safe, hide if you can't, and call 000 when it's safe to. This is advice for an armed attacker. It is not a rule for bombardment, fallout or other wartime events.

Australian National Security

Is AusAlert live in every state and territory?

I haven't confirmed that. Official material puts the launch of the cell-broadcast warning system in October 2026, with states and territories joining in phases and the SMS system running alongside until at least July 2027.

National Emergency Management Agency Minister for Emergency Management / NEMA

Is this an official government site?

No. It's an independent educational site, not affiliated with or endorsed by the Australian Government, and not medical, military or personal emergency advice. Not a conspiracy site either. In an incident, follow current official instructions. As of now, we can still trust our government

07 / Sources

Where the advice
comes from.

Policy statements, incident instructions and practical planning advice are different things. Each source below has a tag saying what it covers, so general emergency advice doesn't get mistaken for a wartime order.

20 official sources

Show

How this was put together

I wrote this on 29 October 2026 from the sources listed here. Nobody is monitoring them for changes, so check the linked pages before relying on anything. Where I've used general emergency advice, the entry says which state it came from and what it was written for. Checklist items without a source are my own suggestions. A policy announcement isn't evidence that anything is ready. There is no live threat data, no tactical advice and no shelter locations here.