000 (emergency telephone number)

000 or Triple Zero is the primary national emergency telephone number in Australia and the Australian External Territories.^[1][2] Triple Zero calls are initially answered by Telstra, then transferred to state and territory emergency services organisations. The Triple Zero system is overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and is intended only for use in life-threatening or time-critical emergencies.^[3]

When called on a mobile or satellite phone, the international standard emergency telephone number 112 will be redirected to Triple Zero (000). Other numbers including 911 may be answered, though this is strongly discouraged by the government.^[4][5][6] For people with a speech or hearing impairment, 106 can be called from a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) textphones.^[7] 000 is the only emergency number that can be dialled from fixed lines including public payphones. No SIM card or calling credit is required to call emergency services, and national 'camp-on' arrangements mean that calls to Triple Zero will be passed through any available mobile network.^[8]

For non-life-threatening situations and natural disasters, the State Emergency Service (SES) number 132 500 should be called instead.^[1] For non-emergency calls to the police in Australia, 131 444 should be used.^[1]

000 was also the emergency telephone number in Denmark and Finland until the introduction of the 112 number in 1993, and in Norway until 1986, when the emergency telephone numbers diverted to 001 for fire brigade, 002 for police and 003 for ambulance. Those Norwegian emergency telephone numbers changed in 1994 to 110, 112 and 113 respectively.