Mobile alerts, notifications and location-based emergency warning systems are now an established part of mobile government strategies in an increasing number of countries worldwide. In Australia the national emergency warning system (NEWS) was instituted after the tragic Black Saturday Victorian Bushfires of February 2009. In the first phase, NEWS has enabled the provision of public information from the government to the citizen during emergencies anywhere and any time. Moving on from traditional short message service (SMS) notifications and cell broadcasting to more advanced location-based services, this paper provides executive-level recommendations about the viability of location-based mobile phone services in NEWS Phase II. In particular the paper addresses issues to do with trust, reliability and accuracy in location-based services for mobile emergency management in Australia, the socio-ethical issues related to the deployment of blanket coverage emergency solutions on citizens, and the far-reaching implications for policy and practice.