Aurora

Welcome to Aurora, the application from the NSW Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) that can help you if you are experiencing domestic violence or are worried about your relationship.

Please note: this application is for your use only. Try to access it when you have some time on your own and feel safe from interruptions.

If you are in an abusive relationship (or suspect that you might be), please be careful of who sees you using the app or who knows it is on your device. In particular:

- Your Google Play account will keep a history of your downloads. This app will appear in that list.

- Deleting the app does not clear it from your account history automatically.

- This app has the ability to send messages and make phone calls on your behalf. Those messages and phone calls will be logged just like any message or phone call you make. These can be deleted by going through your phone icon into 'Recents' and 'Edit'.

- If you follow any of the internet links in the information section of the app, those pages will be remembered by your phone's browser history.

- There is a topic in the What To Do information section of the app that talks about phone and IT safety and how to protect yourself from the risks above. Please read and familiarise yourself with it.

Please be cautious in using this application, especially if your partner has access to or checks your phone, messages, or internet history on your desktop or mobile device.

SMS MESSAGES

Aurora can send quick individual or group messages to a list of your friends. The app will ask you to put a number of friends into your list the first time you open the Message feature. Choose close, trustworthy friends, who have a genuine concern for you. If possible, choose friends who live nearby and that are aware of your concerns

The SMS messages that Aurora can send are:

Call me

- to let friends know that you need someone to call you right now: perhaps as an interruption, to defuse a situation at home, or because you have a more urgent need.

Come pick me up

- for when you just need to be taken out of the situation, whatever that is. This will include your location from your phone's GPS system as a map so that your friends can check on their smartphone.

Call the police for me

- to let friends know that you need emergency help, but are not able to speak to Triple Zero 000 yourself. It's important to be sure your friend is available and is able to call for you.

Custom

- This is a message you can write yourself. There may be a message or a code that you can think of which you want to send to your circle of friends quickly.

EMERGENCY CALLS

Aurora can also make phone calls for you. It won't be able to play a message, which means you'll still have to talk or make yourself heard to the person who answers the phone, but it makes getting through to some important numbers quick and easy

Helpline 1800: This will call the NSW Domestic Violence Line: 1800 65 64 63. Trained female caseworkers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

The caseworkers have experience with the special needs of Aboriginal women, women from different cultures, rural and remote areas, and same-sex partnerships (both female and male). Interpreters are also available

Call the Police: Your phone will call Emergency Triple Zero (000) after a 5 second countdown during which you can cancel the call if you have pressed the button accidentally. The phone will complete the call on its own if that 5 seconds passes. If you need to, you can press the button, put the phone down, and know that it will make the call for you. Remember, it will not play any message to the operator, it simply connects you to Emergency Triple Zero (000). If you need help immediately, you will have to speak aloud to request police