A new group of graduate paramedics will soon join ambulance crews across Tasmania, with Ambulance Tasmania saying this year’s intake of new paramedics is its largest yet.
The 10 graduates are currently undertaking a six-week induction course at Cambridge.
Six will then be deployed in the south, two in the north and two in the north-west.
Ambulance Tasmania chief executive Nicole Ashworth said the graduates came from across Australia. Some were Tasmanians returning home.
“We’re really proud that they chose Tasmania as a service that they’d like to work for,” she said.
Ashworth said the service had now brought in about 55 new paramedics this year.
This includes qualified paramedics from interstate and overseas.
She said another class of qualified paramedics was still to come and described Ambulance Tasmania’s paramedic attrition as “historically low”.
Graduate paramedic Brad grew up in Ulverstone and will be based in Devonport.
“I’m stoked,” he said. “Very excited to be back there in the community that I know.”
Health Minister Bridget Archer said the group joined 54 new paramedics she had already announced this year.
“It’s a very exciting time for Ambulance Tasmania to welcome new graduates into the service,” she said.
Earlier this month, figures obtained by Labor showed an ambulance crew took three minutes or more to be dispatched 16,905 times in 2025-26, up from 13,025 the year before.
Asked about delays in getting ambulances to patients, Ashworth said the issue was being addressed and was looked at “every shift, every day”.
“There’s always a limit to ambulance resources,” she said.
“Every state and jurisdiction, they are finite and there are times where community demand will outweigh available resources.”
Ashworth said ambulances offloading at hospitals did contribute to availability.
“Transfer of care delays is something that every jurisdiction is currently focused on,” she said.
She said the service supported the state government’s transfer of care protocols and that work on those processes was underway with the department, unions and hospitals.
