Triple-0 response body condemned

Victoria’s Emergency Services Minister has finally released a report on deadly failures in the state’s ambulance call-taking system she’s had on her desk since March.

Victorian Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

The Andrews government has chosen to release a damning ­report into deadly failures in Victoria’s ambulance call-taking system two days out from a federal election, despite having received it in March.

Former police chief Graham Ashton found “continued and systematic underperformance” in his review of the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority, recommending the organ­isation be rebranded “Triple Zero Victoria” and its board be disbanded and overhauled.

At least 12 Victorians have died waiting for ambulances since October, when the government appointed Mr Ashton to undertake his review of the already ­crisis-riddled system.

Recommending ESTA be brought under government control within the Department of Justice and Community Safety, Mr Ashton found the organisation was being operated more like a corporate call centre than an “organisation delivering a critical emergency management service”.

He described a culture at ESTA that was “risk-averse”, finding time-critical decisions had to be escalated through multiple levels of leadership until they reached “a person who felt ­empowered to make a decision”.

Mr Ashton also found staff shortages and a lack of flexibility to roster on demand had caused problems during surge events.

“For example, ESTA was ­unable to meet surge demand during significant storm events in 2021 and throughout peak ­periods in the Covid-19 pandemic,” he wrote.

He found that while the “original intent of the legislation that established ESTA envisaged a “partnership model” between the agency and emergency service organisations, “it is clear that this original intent has never fully been achieved”.

“There were numerous reasons identified through consultation that may point to why, ranging from ESTA’s governance structure to the competing priorities of the sector, through to the funding model that underpins the relationship between ESTA and ESOs,” the report concludes.

“The absence of a partnership model alone does not fully explain, nor can it justify, the continued and systematic under­performance of an agency charged with connecting the Victorian community with critical services in times of an emergency.

“It is vital a new framework balances the importance of partnership with accountability. ESTA, along with ESOs, must have clearly defined roles and ­accountabilities that are meaningful and measurable.”

While the government has accepted all 20 of Mr Ashton’s recommendations “in principle”, Emergency Services Minister ­Jaclyn Symes said there was no “firm” timeline for their ­implementation.

As part of its response, the government has already announced a $333m package – which includes the hiring of more than 400 new staff – in the May budget.

Quizzed over the timing of the report’s release, less than 48 hours before national polling day and minutes after federal Labor released the costings for their election promises, Ms Symes conceded “today could look cynical, but it was not the intention”.

She said it was important that the government met with the ESTA workforce and their “industrial partners” – namely the four unions covering ESTA workers – prior to the report’s release.

The United Firefighters Union, the Communications Workers Union, the United Workers Union and the Victorian Ambulance Union each have coverage of difference parts of the ESTA workforce.