The CLP hopes new laws will protect paramedics after a surge in attacks on frontline workers

New laws to protect frontline workers have been announced just hours after a paramedic was bashed as she arrived home from work. Read what’s planned.

More than 140 paramedics have experienced serious physical or sexual violence in the Territory in the past 12 months, with a senior paramedic brutally attacked in Alice Springs on Wednesday night.

St John NT director of ambulance services Andrew Thomas said the female paramedic was returning to her home in Alice Springs at the end of her shift in a marked St John vehicle when the attack took place.

Speaking alongside new chief minister Lia Finocchiaro, who was at St John headquarters in Casuarina to announce prison sentences for offenders convicted of spitting on workers, Mr Thomas said the female victim was punched a number of times to the head and suffered concussion and soft-tissue injuries.

Mr Thomas said he would fly to Alice Springs to support the St John team in Central Australia which had been “shaken” by the incident.

“As they got out of their vehicle they were attacked by someone there,” Mr Thomas said. “The person activated their duress alarm and police were called. The person fought them off and actually drove away from the scene and got themselves to hospital and they were there overnight receiving treatment.

St John NT director Andrew Thomas

“No level of attack on any frontline worker is acceptable. This is horrendous. This was not actually a person even doing their job. This was them getting home at the end of their shift, looking to just relax after the day.

“It is unacceptable for this behaviour to occur and I really hope that changes to the laws make some level of impact.”

Mr Thomas said tough new measures announced by the CLP government would complement the Hands Off campaign already undertaken by paramedics to reduce the risk of assaults on workers.

“In the last year we’ve had over 140 instances of serious physical or sexual violence towards our staff. That equates to one incident for every operational paramedic in the Northern Territory working for St John. It’ just not okay,” he said.

Lia Finocchiaro press conference with St John NT representatives and senior minister Marie-Clare Boothby

In addition, he highlighted about 20 incidents of violence in Alice Springs towards St John staff in the past three months.

Ms Finocchiaro said despite the critically important work done by paramedics, a “permissive attitude” had allowed “violence to be perpetrated to the very people we call on to provide an enormous community service, often at our darkest hour”.

“What the CLP will move through all stages of over the next two weeks in parliament is wide scale reform to our mandatory sentencing provisions for assaulting workers,” she said.

She said minimum mandatory sentences would apply for assaults on police, paramedics, nurses, doctors, teachers, corrections officers, retail and hospitality workers, bus and taxi drivers and any other worker undertaking work in accordance with their duties.

For the first time, spitting on a worker would trigger a three-month minimum mandatory sentence.

“When it comes to assaulting our police or an emergency worker, what our legislation does is make spitting, even for first-time offenders, a minimum three-month mandatory sentence,” she said.

“This is to align spitting with what’s known as a physical harm. We know that spitting causes a lot of distress for the victim. It means a series of invasive tests have to take place and that person has to change how they conduct their life while they wait for testing results on whether or not they’ve contracted a communicable disease.”

Originally published as The CLP hopes new laws will protect paramedics after a surge in attacks on frontline workers