Victorian Labor pledges ambulance charges for patients who abuse paramedics
Labor would suspend ambulance membership for patients found to have abused paramedics, drawing support from their union and concern from a health advocacy group.
Victorian Labor has pledged to suspend ambulance membership for 12 months for patients who assault, threaten or intimidate paramedics, leaving them liable for ambulance charges if it wins re-election in the state vote on 28 November. ABC News reported the election commitment on 28 October. The proposed penalty would affect patients whom Ambulance Victoria finds to have abused its staff.
An ambulance trip could cost an affected patient more than $2,000, according to ABC News. The charge would follow the loss of membership under Labor’s proposal; it is not a penalty already in force. Ambulance Victoria would make the final decision on whether a patient’s conduct warranted suspension.
How Labor proposes to suspend ambulance membership
Premier Ben Carroll said repeat offending or a violent episode could lead to immediate suspension, ABC News reported. Labor also proposes a patient charter to be developed by the government and Ambulance Victoria. The ABC account does not specify the charter’s terms or a process for challenging a suspension. Those details would matter to patients facing a substantial bill after Ambulance Victoria assesses their conduct.
Paramedics’ support and concerns about access to care
The Victorian Ambulance Union welcomed the pledge. ABC News said the government reported that 59 per cent of the union’s Ambulance Victoria members had been threatened with violence over the past year. The figure is a government-reported measure of threats to union members, rather than a count of patients who would face the proposed penalty.
The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association supported protecting ambulance workers but warned that charging patients could deter people with serious needs from seeking help. It raised particular concern for people experiencing mental health or alcohol and drug issues. Its spokesperson also questioned how the policy would operate after serious accidents and warned that a financial penalty could deepen disadvantage.
Those concerns centre on the point at which a patient’s behaviour would lead to the loss of membership and a bill for care. Under the proposal described by ABC News, Ambulance Victoria would decide whether abuse had occurred. The proposed patient charter could therefore be significant for people whose need for treatment and conduct are assessed in the same encounter, although its terms are not specified in the ABC account.
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Sources and context
- Abusive patients to pay for ambulance care under Labor election policyABC News (ABC Australia)
- Two key unions turn on Labor, running attack ads and pulling campaign funds a month out from Victorian electionThe Guardian Australia
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.