Today’s correspondent is:

… trying to find out what regulation or act pertains to Non-Emergency Patient Transport service providers in Queensland. Most other states have something, either under an Emergencies or Health related act or regulation. I can’t seem to find one for Queensland. The only thing in my google searches show is QAS and then some non-JAS providers.

Have you seen anything regarding this?

I’m not sure ‘most’ states regulate Non-emergency patient transport (NEPT) services.  There is specific NEPT licensing schemes in:

  • South Australia – Health Care Act 2008 (SA) s 58;
  • Tasmania – Ambulance Service Act 1982 (Tas) Part IIIA (ss35A – 35P); and
  • Victoria – Non-emergency Patient Transport and First Aid Services Act 2003 (Vic).

In Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory there are prohibitions on providing ambulance services without permission –

There is no specific regulation of ambulance services in either Western Australia or the Northern Territory.

A Boolean search on Austlii for ((“non emergency” or “non-emergency”) near (ambulance or patient or transport)) produces no results for these states nor Western Australia and the Northern Territory.  It follows that those terms are not used in any current Act or regulation in those 5 jurisdictions.

It follows that to the extent that NEPT services are regulated in jurisdictions other than South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria it is via the terms of any approval to conduct ambulance services (ACT, NSW and Qld only), the terms of any approval to carry and use drugs and in contractual terms to the extent that providers contract with government to transport patients that the government health service is responsible for.

In New South Wales (Public Health Regulation 2022); Victoria (Health Complaints Act 2016); Queensland (Health Ombudsman Regulation 2014) and South Australia (Health and Community Services Complaints Regulations 2019) NEPT officers and, in NSW NEPT providers, are required to comply with the Code of Conduct for Non-Registered Health Professionals (see Revised Code of Conduct for non-registered health practitioners in NSW (September 23, 2022)).

This blog is made possible with generous financial support from the Australasian College of Paramedicine, the Australian Paramedics Association (NSW), Natural Hazards Research Australia, NSW Rural Fire Service Association and the NSW SES Volunteers Association. I am responsible for the content in this post including any errors or omissions. Any opinions expressed are mine, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or understanding of the donors.