On Friday, 27 March 2026, from 10.00pm St John NT Ambulance Operations in the Darwin region escalated to Operational Capacity RED*.
At 00.25am, the service further escalated to Operational Capacity WHITE, meaning we were unable to provide service delivery.
The primary contributing factors were:
- All ambulances in Darwin / Palmerston exceeded 100% capacity for 5 hrs.
- 144 calls were received between midnight and 7.00am – of these 61 Triple Zero calls were abandoned (not able to be answered within 10sec, reverting back to Telstra). That is 43% of all calls unable to be answered within the required time frame.
- Multiple Priority 1 cases outstanding (x 14), with the longest pending over 5 hours. (P1 is a life threatening, event requiring a response within 8-15min in an urban setting.)
- Multiple Priority 2 cases outstanding (x 15), with the longest pending over 4 hours. (P2 is an urgent potential risk to life requiring a response within 30min.)
- Hospital delays exceeding 60 minutes for patient offload.
- 1 x Darwin crew operating 9.5 hours without a break – exceeding WHS requirements by 5hrs.
- Alice Springs Code RED from 2.18am. Due to Occupational Violence – assault to officer by patient, stood down. Reduction in crews to 1 available.
- Alice Springs: From 6.00pm – 7.00am – 14 Priority 1 cases outstanding. 5 received between 2.00am – 7.00am. All P1 cases (5) after 2.00am waited in excess of 1hr for a response.
We have been saying for months, no years, that demand growth in the Northern Territory has significantly outpaced funding, with incident volumes and Triple Zero calls increasing faster than government revenue.
As reported in ROGs:
- Incidents have increased 30% over the past five years.
- In 24/25, the NT recorded the highest number of incidents per 1,000 people nationally, at approximately 245 incidents, compared to around 164 incidents nationally.
- This represents a 49% higher incident rate than the Australian average.
- Response times have deteriorated at a significantly faster rate, the expected response time is 8 minutes, the median response rate for 24/25 was 18.3 minutes.
- Triple Zero calls have increased by 70% over the past five years.
- We answered 101,500 Triple Zero calls in 24/25.
- As demand has increased, our response rate has become slower due to insignificant staffing levels to manage demand.
For Territorians, this means that under current service arrangements with the NT Government, we cannot guarantee that we can meet the needs of loved ones, that there may be delays and that we may not be able to get to you when you need us most.
Our crews and Triple Zero call centre are being asked to achieve the impossible.
The Ambulance Service is currently sitting at OCAP Amber, with emerging system pressure due to increased demand and/or reduced resourcing.
We will be directing low acuity patients to call Health Direct, to visit a GP or to transport themselves to hospital.
St John NT has alerted NT Health to this situation this morning and thanks them for their support.
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*Operational Capacity Definitions
OPCAP AMBER – Emerging system pressure due to increased demand and/or reduced resourcing. There is potential to impact patient care delivery and staff. Management actions can be implemented within normal business operations, with notification to partner agencies for situational awareness where required.
OPCAP ‘RED’ - Significant pressure on ambulance operations with demand exceeding available resources. There is a risk of delayed responses and potential impact on patient outcomes and staff welfare. External support or escalation actions may be required to stabilise the system.
OPCAP ‘WHITE’ - Critical system failure point where service demand cannot be met despite all mitigation strategies. There is a high likelihood of harm to patients and/or staff, and significant risk to service continuity and organisational reputation. Executive escalation required.
