Faster Emergency Care For Victorians

The Allan Labor Government will always back Victoria’s hardworking ambos.

That’s why the Victorian Budget 2026/27 delivers a $50.7 million boost to Ambulance Victoria.

This investment means faster emergency care for Victorians and more paramedics back on the road sooner.

Connecting Victorians to the right care

Every day AV’s expanded Secondary Triage team of paramedics, nurses and mental health specialists handle almost 20 per cent of the total calls to Triple Zero Victoria.

They help Victorians who don’t need an ambulance connect with the right care.

This can be self-care advice or safely re-directing one in five calls to alternative care options such as the Virtual ED.

An extra $28.6 million will continue to boost the service – freeing up Triple Zero call takers and ambulances for the sickest Victorians.

Improving call taking and dispatch

$9.7 million will improve how Triple Zero Victoria calls are triaged, reviewed and classified.

This work is making sure the most time critical emergencies get an ambulance immediately.

A further $2 million will ensure AV’s clinical triage team can continue to support frequent Triple Zero callers.

By making sure they are getting care that meets their needs, it frees up call takers to respond to incoming calls.

Safely managing lower urgency cases from frequent callers includes:

• Completing welfare checks
• Connecting them to alternative care services such as the Virtual ED or Urgent Care Clinics
• Helping organise alternative transport where it is safe to do so.

Getting paramedics back on the road sooner

A $10 million investment will continue an existing pilot underway to improve ambulance transfer times during peak periods in EDs.

It includes spaces with additional staff and equipment in EDs so multiple ambulances can offload patients at the same time.

This frees up paramedics to get back on the road, and patients are assessed and receive care sooner.

Labor is delivering new solutions for faster, world class care. Jess Wilson’s Liberals go to war with paramedics.

We've built or upgraded 50 ambulance stations and grown the on-road workforce by more than 50 per cent.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Ambulance Services Harriet Shing

“Our hardworking ambos are some of the best anywhere in the world and we will always back them.”

“We’re making sure the sickest Victorians get the emergency care they need, when they need it.”

“Victoria’s Code 1 ambulance response times are continuing to improve and are now amongst the fastest in Australia, but there’s always more to do.”