On behalf of Australia’s councils, ALGA attended a special exercise from 22-23 May in Adelaide to prepare for an extreme space weather event.
Hosted by the Australian Government, Exercise Aurora 2024 was developed to allow Australia – and local governments – to plan for future space weather events, such as a geomagnetic storm that occurred on May 11 this year.
These types of solar activities have the potential to disrupt communications across the nation for differing lengths of time.
ALGA attended the event to remind emergency agencies, and other levels of government, that during a communications black-out, councils can be a key player in messaging, support, and coordination of emergency services, including through local radio.
A detailed plan, based on the exercise, is being developed between the Bureau of Meteorology, Geoscience Australia, and the Department of Home Affairs.
More information on the historic space weather gathering can be found here.