Victoria's ambulance service will receive a massive boost, with 59 new paramedics on the road from next week - delivering lifesaving care to Victorians in every corner of the state.
Acting Premier Jaclyn Symes and Minister for Ambulance Services Mary-Anne Thomas today visited the Ambulance Victoria Capability Hub in Sunshine to meet the latest intake of paramedics before they begin their 12-month placement on Monday.
Made up of 57 Graduate Ambulance Paramedics (GAP) and two Ambulance Community Officers who completed their GAP Scholarship, the graduates will be deployed to ambulance branches across Victoria.
Across Melbourne, 14 paramedics will join branches including Richmond, Altona, Melton, Epping and Oak Park. A further 45 will be placed across regional Victoria in towns including Hamilton, Sale, Traralgon, Wodonga, Mansfield, Shepparton, Horsham, Ballarat, Swan Hill, Ararat, and Gisborne.
During this placement, the paramedics will work under the supervision of clinical instructors and alongside paramedics responding to real emergencies and developing their clinical skills.
This latest cohort of graduates builds on a massive year of recruitment, including the largest ever intake of 30 MICA paramedics, who provide advanced lifesaving care.
The Allan Labor Government has invested more than $2 billion into Victoria's ambulance services - increasing the on-road workforce by more than 50 per cent, delivering 41 new or upgraded ambulance stations and establishing a new Centre for Paramedicine in partnership with Victoria University.
Paramedics are also now getting the training and skills they need to deliver increasingly specialised levels of care, with Australia's first Paramedic Practitioners now training and more MICA paramedics being recruited.
This year's Victorian Budget 2025/26 made a range of critical investments right across the health system to get paramedics back on the road sooner, including $58.4 million to help better manage patient transfers.
This investment is critical, with the latest data showing paramedics responded to more than 95,000 Code One cases - or around 1,000 lights and sirens cases daily.
As stated by Acting Premier and Treasurer Jaclyn Symes
"We're recruiting more paramedics so all Victorians can get the lifesaving care they need, when they need it most."
As stated by Minister for Ambulance Services Mary-Anne Thomas
"We're backing our paramedics with more recruits and better training so they can do what they do best - save lives."
