Areas covered by the new laws

• New standards are introduced for commercial Non-emergency Patient Transport (NEPT) Providers.
• The Secretary of the Department has responsibility for NEPT licensing.
• The Act introduces specific offences for assaulting, resisting, impeding or failing to comply with the direction of an ambulance officer.
• It will be an offence for a person to call themselves a paramedic who does not have the appropriate qualification and permission of the Commissioner of Ambulance Services to do so.
• Strengthen provisions dealing with offences against the Ambulance Service.
• The penalty for false ambulance calls has increased from 10 to 100 penalty units.
• Clarify the power to force entry to premises in emergency situations to reach someone requiring emergency assistance.
• Define the role of paramedics and provide legal protection to the title and clearly distinguish between emergency response services and other forms of patient services such as non-emergency patient transport.
• Provide a power of direction for paramedics and clarifies their legal right to enter premises if they believe ambulance services are required.
• Clarifies the role of paramedics in relation to other emergency services
• Provide a licensing and regulatory framework for non-emergency patient transport.
• Expand the offence of representing a motor vehicle as an ambulance
• Prohibit the unauthorised use of Ambulance Tasmania insignia, logo or uniforms and all types of vehicles as well as persons.
• Director has changed to Commissioner of Ambulance Services.