The answer to this question from Western Australia may be one of my shorter answers. My correspondent writes:
There are a few privately owned ambulance services and only one service which holds the contract for “000” calls in the state. My question is – if a person gets injured, whether it be trauma or medical related; at home or in public, can any Ambulance service be contacted directly to render professional service and take them to hospital?
St John Ambulance Western Australia Ltd is a Company Limited by Guarantee (2014-2015 Annual Report, p 8). It has some legislative functions as it is ‘a combat agency responsible for the emergency management activity of providing health services’ (Emergency Management Regulations 2006 (WA) r 27). According to the 2014-2015 Annual Report (p 76) “The contract for the provision of health services with the State of Western Australia was signed on 29 June 2015. The contract is for the period 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2018. This follows the expiration of the previous contract, which was for the period 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2015.”
So, as my correspondent has noted, St John is a private provider and is the provider that ‘holds the contract for “000” calls in the state’. There is however no ambulance service legislation in Western Australia so there is nothing to stop any of the other providers providing an emergency ambulance service. They may not be included in the triple zero response but they could set up a service where subscribers call their emergency number, rather than 000, and get their contracted ambulance service of choice to respond.
The limitations may be that there are conditions on the services’ authority to carry and use drugs or on their authority to operate as an emergency vehicle outside some designated area of operation. I can’t access those authorities so subject to any terms of those approvals ‘any Ambulance service [may] be contacted directly to render professional service and take [an injured person] to hospital’.
Australian Emergency Law 
The St John Corporation enjoys an open ended long standing contract with the WA State Government for over 100 years.
StJoCo also enjoys its ATO status as a Charitable Benevolence allowing generous tax concessions fom the Commonwealth not unlike the Seven Day Adventist Church. Both are businesses.
SJAWA Inc also enjoys and accepts generous contributions from various businesses such as Alliance Fuels.
This same business relies heavily on volunteer labour in regional areas. St John Holdings (the actual company name) now owns the deads to all properties that the previous St John Ambulance Brigade and Association owned. SJAWA also sells ambulances to the sub centers, however the funding they give out in a lottery is only half of the $145k cost of a basic unit.
This fine organization that was established “for the faith and service of mankind” held the State Government to ransom a few years back demanding more funding and giving a weeks notice to cease ambulance operations in WA. It should be noted that neither the state government or any other organization or company has the ability or the infrastructure to have taken over ambulance coverage. The Barnett Government paid up on the 11th hour.
Not unlike Serco, SJAWA is not subject to Freedom of Information requests into the contract due to Commercial Confidentiality as it may effect any future commercial submissions. Also it is not subject to any Royal Commission inquiry such as the Ambulance Service Victoria was as ASV is a statuary authority where SJAWA is not.
With an open contract and no one to answer to, or any threat to an opposition. No other ambulance service provider in WA will gain the 000 contract.
I have approved this comment in the spirit of free speech but I don’t necessarily endorse the comments nor do I know whether the various statements of facts or true or not. I should also disclose that I was a member of St John Ambulance (NSW) from 1979-1988 and again from 1990-1994.
Hi Lone Ranger ,
Your comment accords with what I have observed & I would be interested in further dialogue with you .We encountered disgraceful conduct by SJA paramedics & after complaining to SJA admin we were threatened by their manager .
Do the SJWA volunteers also respond to 000 calls in certain situations and in WA what is relative laws regarding private ambulance services responding under lights and sirens – are they allowed to?
Do you mean volunteers with the Ambulance Service or with Event Health Services? Certainly volunteers with St John Ambulance Country Ambulance Service (http://www.stjohnambulance.com.au/ambulance-and-health-services/country-ambulance-service) respond to 000 calls.
In WA an emergency vehicle includes ‘an ambulance, answering an urgent call or conveying any injured or sick person to any place for the provision of urgent treatment'(Road Traffic Code 2000 (WA) s 3). What is an ‘ambulance’ is not defined. There is no ambulance legislation in WA so private providers can operate. If the Department of Transport (DoT) register vehicles as an ‘ambulance’ and the private provider vehicles are so registered, then they can use lights and sirens. If the DoT don’t have a registration category or notation to identify that the vehicle is an ambulance then they can unless there is some dispute about whether the vehicle is an ambulance.
Thankyou
Is it possible to get a copy of the 000 Contract StJoCo has with the WA Gov?
Yes; see https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/publications/tabledpapers.nsf/displaypaper/3913225cb0a1e46cb24a298748257ebb0005d5a6/$file/tp-3225.pdf