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Emergency Services To Use GPS To Find Triple 000 Callers

The GPS service will link to the mobile device of the caller.

Emergency services will soon be able to use GPS to find a Triple Zero caller on a mobile phone.

The Turnbull Government will issue a Request for Tender (RFT) to deliver the new and improved service, following an Expression of Interest (EOI) process in 2016.

The 'next generation Triple Zero Emergency Call Service' will use integrated location services that are accurate up to five metres. The new service will speed up response time and can be used when the caller is unable to provide details of their location.

A 2015 official review of the National Triple Zero Operator system found almost two-thirds of calls to the service come from mobile phones.

The same review found location technology could be delivered through existing smartphone applications, but expressed concerns similar systems operating overseas are not reliable.

The EOI identified Advanced Mobile Location (AML) technology as the best way to provide location-based data, automatically sending the caller's whereabouts to emergency services.

According to the Turnbull Government, AML technology includes built-in privacy safeguards to ensure only emergency services responding to a Triple Zero call can access location data.

The government also says a condition of the tender is the Triple Zero service must be based in Australia.

Until the new system is implemented, emergency services recommend using the Emergency+ app, which provides location coordinates that can be read out to Triple Zero operators.

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