Today’s question is
In South Australia, as in the rest of Australia now, there are certain terms that are protected in relation to the provision of healthcare, including ‘nurse’ and ‘paramedic’. Does the same apply to the term of ‘ambulance’? is there anything stopping a first aid provider from placing a large sticker on their van and calling it an ‘ambulance’?
Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland
In Victoria (Ambulance Services Act 1986 (Vic) s 39(1)(c))) a person must not:
… use the word “ambulance” (other than on a registration label) on any vehicle that is not owned or operated by an ambulance service without the written authority of the Secretary.
In Tasmania (Ambulance Service Act 1982 (Tas) s 39):
Unless authorised by the Commissioner, a person must not drive, operate or have charge of, or allow another person to drive, operate or have charge of, a vehicle, other than an ambulance, that is –
(a) marked with the word “ambulance” ; or
(b) otherwise marked or altered, or bears any inscription –
so as to imply, or lead to the belief, that the vehicle is an ambulance capable of providing ambulance services.
In Queensland (Ambulance Service Act 1991 (Qld) s 48):
(1) A person must not—
(a) without the written authority of the Minister—use the words ‘Ambulance Service’ or any similar name, title or description; or…
(c) … use the word ‘Ambulance’ on any vehicle that is not operated by the service…
Again, as noted in a comment below respect to Victoria, this restriction does not apply to St John Ambulance Australia (Qld) or to ‘the use of the words ‘animal ambulance’ on a vehicle owned or operated by an animal welfare organisation for the transport of sick or injured animals’ (s 48(2))
South Australia
The Health Care Act 2008 (SA) s 57 says:
A person must not display the term “Emergency Ambulance” on a motor vehicle driven on a public road unless the vehicle is being used—
(a) by SAAS; or
(b) by a person in circumstances prescribed by the regulations.
That does not stop the use of the word ‘ambulance’, just ‘emergency ambulance’.
The ACT and NSW
In the ACT (Emergencies Act 2004 (ACT) s 63):
A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person is not approved by the Minister …and
(b) the person provides emergency, ambulance, firefighting or rescue services.
In New South Wales (Health Services Act 1997 (NSW) s 67E):
(1) A person must not–
(a) directly or indirectly provide or take part in the provision of transport for sick or injured persons for fee or reward, or
(b) conduct for fee or reward any operations similar to the operations carried on by the Health Secretary under this Chapter,
without the consent of the Health Secretary and except in accordance with such conditions (if any) as the Health Secretary may from time to time impose.
These are not prohibitions on the use of the word ‘ambulance’ but having ‘ambulance’ on your vehicles could, I suppose, be used as evidence that you are committing one of these offences.
The Northern Territory and Western Australia
The Northern Territory and Western Australia have no relevant legislation.
Australian Emergency Law 
St John Ambulance has an exception in the legislation
What about a vehicle, in Victoria, operated by a volunteer Animal Rescue group, that has ANIMAL AMBULANCE written on both sides and across back door? Are they accidentally doing the wrong thing?
It’s correct that the prohibition on the use of the word ‘ambulance’ in Victoria does not apply to St John Ambulance nor does it prohibit the use ‘of the words “animal ambulance” on a vehicle owned or operated by a genuine animal welfare organization for the transport of sick or injured animals’ (s 39(2)).
Just wanted to give you some current information that you might not know…
There are 8 Animal Ambulance providers in Victoria that operate
All current providers use either “Animal Ambulance” or “Pet Ambulance” on there vans..
Current animal ambulance providers:
Animal Ambulance Victoria Inc
Melbourne Pet Ambulance Pty Ltd
Ready Vet GO Pet Ambulance Pty Ltd
Lost Dogs Home Pty Ltd
CRITICAL CARE ANIMAL AMBULANCE INC
Bendigo Animal Rescue Ambulance Inc
RSPCA Victoria – Animal Ambulance
Veterinary Ambulance Services Pty Ltd
Wildlife Rescue Ambulances:
Wildlife Victoria (Wildlife Ambulance)
Wildlife Rapid Response Units (Operated by Animal Ambulance Victoria Inc) – Central Victoria
Help For Wildlife Inc (Wildlife Response Unit)
If i can be of any further assistance please let me know..
Regards
Shaun
Hi Michael,
What about s48 of the Ambulance Service Act 1991 (Qld) re: the word Ambulance on vehicle?
Good call, I missed that. I’ll change the post.
Hi Michael,
In a similar vein and maybe a little from left field, can the word ‘Practitioner’ be used indiscriminately or are there requirements that need to be satisfied before it may be used? There appears to be a difference in how the term is used within Nursing compared to Paramedicine.
The answer to this question, as with most questions, depends on context. There is no prohibition on the use of the word ‘practitioner’ – I can call myself a practitioner of reiki, a practitioner of the ‘dark arts’, an allied health practitioner etc. ‘Practitioner’ is not protected but when linked with some other words, it is. Protected titles under the Health Practitioner Regulation national law (s 113) include the following:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner, Aboriginal health practitioner, Torres Strait Islander health practitioner, Chinese medicine practitioner, Chinese herbal medicine practitioner, Oriental medicine practitioner, medical practitioner, medical radiation practitioner, midwife practitioner and nurse practitioner.
So ‘nurse practitioner’ is a protected title (as are the titles ‘nurse, registered nurse … [and] enrolled nurse’) so it makes sense that nurses choose to call themselves ‘nurse practitioner’. In paramedicine the only protected title is ‘paramedic’. ‘Paramedic practitioner’ is not listed as a title in the profession but there would be nothing to stop a paramedic describing him or herself that way if they wanted to, and given paramedic is a protected title, only a paramedic could use that description. But it certainly makes sense that in common practices nurses call themselves ‘nurse practitioner’ but paramedics as a general rule do not because that reflects the protected titles in the National Law.
Wow. Thanks Michael I wasn’t expecting such a quick response . Your comments have been really helpful. Thanks. again. Steve
now in qld we have a charity ‘ambulance wish qld’. How is this acceptable under the legislation?
According to the website (https://ambulancewishqld.org.au/about-us/);
“Ambulance Wish Queensland is Palliative Care Queensland (PCQ) Signature Program, providing Queenslanders living with a life-limiting illness, access to specialist transport and clinical care required to fulfill their last wish and create memories forever.
Inspired by two Hervey Bay paramedics who fulfilled a patient’s wish to visit her favorite beach, AWQ is the first program of its kind in Australia. Launched by PCQ in July 2019, AWQ is modeled after the Netherlands’ charity program, Stichting Ambulance Wens. The program is supported by the Queensland Government and Queensland Ambulance Service, but it relies significantly on donations, sponsorships, fundraising, and in-kind contributions…”
The Queensland legislation quoted above says a ‘person must not— (a) without the written authority of the Minister—use the words ‘Ambulance Service’ or any similar name, title or description;… ‘ This service is not using the term ‘Ambulance Service’. Whether ‘Ambulance Wish’ is a ‘similar name, title or description’ could be a matter of debate; but given this program has the support of QAS and the Queensland Government it may well be that the MInister has approved the title or would, if anyone were to try and argue the point.
The legislation also says ‘A person must not— (c) without the written authority of the Minister—use the word ‘Ambulance’ on any vehicle that is not operated by the service …‘ The photos on the website show the vehicles have ‘Ambulance Wish’ on them so there would be an argument whether that can be read as two words, one of which is the prohibited word ‘ambulance’ or should be read as a phrase ‘Ambulance Wish’; if the latter is the correct reading, there is no breach. In any event the Minister may have given written authority for the use of the term.
The law is not self executing so even if it is arguable that the title ‘Ambulance Wish’ is a breach of the Act no-one is going to have that argument unless someone attempts to bring a prosecution for breach of the Act. The government is clearly not going to do that as they support the program and if anyone else did, no doubt the government would step in to terminate the prosecution (DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS ACT 1984 (Qld) s 10(1)(c)(ii)). And if anyone thought it was a potential problem (eg if a public servant reads this blog and thinks ‘that could be an issue’) then the Minister could give the necessary authority if he or she has not already done so.