Triple Zero fails to meet ambulance dispatch benchmark, again

Victoria’s 24/7 emergency call-and-dispatch service once again failed to reach a key benchmark for the most urgent and life-threatening calls requiring an ambulance last financial year.

The revelation came as Premier Jacinta Allan promised to “always back” healthcare workers as a union representing many low-paid professions demanded more significant pay hikes and ramped up its attacks on the government.

Triple Zero Victoria’s latest annual report reveals that 80 per cent of Ambulance Victoria “code 1” calls were actioned within 150 seconds in the 12 months to June 30, 2025. The agency’s benchmark is for 90 per cent of code 1 events to be dispatched in 2½ minutes.

A Triple Zero Victoria spokesperson said the benchmark itself was flawed: “The code 1 benchmark has not been met since 2010, due to the way the measure has been constructed.”

The figures were tabled in state parliament on Tuesday, almost three months after most other state agencies publicly released their annual reports.

In its report, Triple Zero said a few factors were to blame for the missed benchmark, including a “constrained AV fleet and operational capacity, typically during high ambulance demand periods and AV shift changeovers”.

The agency also stated that there had been a spike in lower-acuity calls being upgraded to code 1 – due to the patient’s condition deteriorating – and that benchmarks could also be missed when call-takers need more time to extract extra information from those phoning for help.

A Triple Zero Victoria spokesperson said lower-priority calls could be upgraded to code 1 by AV clinical staff working at its centres at any time.

There are almost 8500 calls to Triple Zero every day in Victoria. Of those, about 3000 are calls for an ambulance.

Last financial year was the first time that Triple Zero Victoria answered more than 3 million calls in a 12-month period.

The busiest month for ambulance-related calls so far was in December 2024, when there were 95,374 calls.

“We are now operating under sustained pressure, with fewer low-volume days to absorb variability or recover from high-load periods,” Triple Zero’s annual report stated.

“The most consistent demand driver [in ambulance-related calls] is Victoria’s growing and ageing population; the over-80s age group accounts for more than 20 per cent of ambulance activity.”

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said every second counted during a crisis.

“Yet again the government are failing to meet their own targets and that’s putting Victorian lives at risk,” she said.

As Allan spoke to media at the Austin Hospital to announce construction of a $275 million upgrade, the Health Workers Union held a rally outside her CBD offices.

The union is demanding annual pay rises of 6 per cent for the next two years for its members in government-funded facilities and has instituted work stoppages to put pressure on the government.

The government’s wages policy is a limit of 3 per cent per year, and the union has criticised the state for offering pay deals members believe are well below inflation.

HWU lead organiser Jake McGuinness said wages for his members had gone backwards in the last pay deal and the union’s proposal would start to undo some of this.

“Lots of our members are swapping from permanent shift to casual shift at jobs they worked for 30 years because that 25 per cent loading is the only thing keeping a roof above the head and food on the table,” he said.

“Six and six allows us to just get that little bit of an edge off.”

McGuinness has demanded Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas meet with the union, rather than Department of Health officials, and also asked the premier to meet with members.

Photos provided by the union show the impact of their work stoppages on some hospitals, with laundry and rubbish bags piling up and kitchens left with stacks of uncleaned dishes.

Allan on Tuesday said she had received advice that elective surgeries affected by strike action had been rescheduled, but there had been no bed closures.

She said the government would invest in healthcare workers because they were the “heart and soul” of the hospital system.

When asked whether this would impact the government’s discussions with the HWU, which is under administration, the premier said she expected the dispute to be negotiated in good faith.

“I would like to see this matter resolved as quickly as it possibly can, and the best way to do that is by being at the negotiation table,” Allan said.

“You can’t have the great treatment of patients without the work that the Health Workers Union’s workforce do, and we’re really grateful for that work.”

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