General News
30 July, 2025
New recruits headed for Ararat
TWO new Ambulance Victoria recruits are headed for Ararat to help meet rising winter demand.
Ambulance Victoria Chief Executive Officer Jordan Emery this week welcomed 59 new graduate ambulance paramedics who are starting their careers with the organisation.
“Working as a paramedic is an extraordinarily unique experience. Very few jobs will have such a profound and deep impact on peoples’ lives,” Mr Emery said.
“Our paramedics, first responders, volunteers and support staff are our greatest strength. It is through them that we lead the way in patient care, including the nation’s best cardiac arrest survival rates.
“We now have more than 5,500 on-road paramedics delivering the very best life-saving care, everywhere, and it’s great to see more joining our ranks.”
Last financial year, Ambulance Victoria met its target to recruit 229 new graduate and qualified paramedics.
The first intake of new graduate paramedics this financial year started on 23 June 2025 and hit the road this week.
Three-quarters of the new paramedics are on their way to regional Victoria for their on-road training.
Eleven are earmarked for the Grampians Region including two in Ararat and three in Horsham.
Having completed their university degree, all new graduates start at AV with a comprehensive four-week induction and training program giving them the ‘real world’ skills they need to hit the road alongside experienced paramedics.
During this induction, recruits learn vital skills such as safely moving and loading patients to prevent injuries, aggression and assault prevention, and safely driving ambulance vehicles.
Mr Emery said Victoria has remained a leader in paramedic education since the introduction of Australia’s first ambulance officers training course in 1961.
“Ambulance Victoria has some of the most highly trained and skilled paramedics in the world,” he said.
“These graduates will continue training and development throughout their entire careers to ensure patients receive the very best, and most up-to-date life-saving care – and stay safe while they are doing so.
“I truly wish them all the best for long and rewarding careers at Ambulance Victoria.
"We receive hundreds of applications from graduate and qualified paramedics in Victoria, interstate and internally every year, and we select the best and brightest as part of a highly competitive recruitment process,” Mr Emery said.
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