The Provision of Ambulance Services in Australia: A Legal Argument for the National Registration of Paramedics

This paper identifies that there is a growing private ambulance sector, notwithstanding legislative prohibitions on the provision of ambulance services that exist in nearly all Australian State and Territories. Notwithstanding these prohibitions, there appears to be no intention to prosecute private ambulance providers and, indeed, governments probably appreciate that these services fill a need and reduce the demand for non-emergency services on state run ambulance services. The paper will define what is meant by ambulance services and describes what is prohibited in each Australian jurisdiction and then argue that, to ensure that the providers of ambulance services continue to deliver a quality service to the public, there should be a legally sanctioned system to register paramedics and the use of various titles associated with the prehospital sector must be restricted.