It should not be relied upon in emergency and the service only applies to Western Australia. If you have a speech or hearing disability the triple zero service (000) can be accessed via the National Relay Service, call TTY 106.

About the National Relay Service

Using SMSAssist©

People who are deaf, hard of hearing or unable to speak clearly can use SMSAssist© to contact the police for:

• requesting police attendance
• reporting matters to police

A police operator will then send a reply.

What is SMS text messaging?

SMS stands for "short message service" - a service provided by mobile phone networks that enables users to send a text message to another mobile user. In the case of Police SMSAssist©, the police send and receive messages via a computer.

Why has WA Police Force introduced SMSAssist©?

Research has shown that many people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired use SMS to contact family and friends. As the level of mobile phone ownership amongst this community increases, the WA Police Force has seen this as an excellent opportunity to provide access to non-emergency police services via SMS.

Who can use SMSAssist©?

SMSAssist© is for people with communication disabilities (deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired) ONLY. This applies even if your disability is temporary or only occurs at certain times e.g. when you become stressed. SMSAssist© is exclusive to those with a communication disability.

Should I register?

We strongly urge eligible people to register for this service. When you register, you will help yourself and the police.

You will provide police with various personal details that will help you and the police if you contact them. If you provide your name and address for instance, police will automatically know who you are when you use SMSAssist©. This will not only save valuable time and text space, it may also help the police to assist you should your message be suddenly cut off.

You choose how much information to provide to the police.

How do I register?

SMS Assist – Registration Request

What kind of information will help police?

To help police answer quickly, it is important that you provide the following information:

• Where you are messaging from (eg, street name, popular place, church, library, museum, shop name, etc). This way, police know where you are and can send help quickly if it is required.

• Where any incident has taken place. This is only needed if the place is different from where you are messaging.

• Why you need police help (give a few details of what has happened).

• Your name - if you are not registered. Enter text as follows:
  
  • Type "MN" (My Name) to save typing "my name is"
  • Type your family name in uppercase
  • Think about saving this as a message template

Example:
A man stole a handbag& ran 2wards train stn

Example:
On Murray St Mall

Example:
I am at Ntrance 2 Aust Post in Forrest Pl Perth

As you can see from the text count, it is possible to put a lot of important information within the 160-character limit. The sample message above used only 109 letters and spaces.

Note: The success of this service depends on the accuracy and details of the information you provide. Please follow the above instructions carefully, especially in relation to giving your exact location.

More information:

Contact us on 131 444

Email us