While Ambulance Victoria is currently seeking a court order to prevent data such as this from being released to the media, The Age believes the public has a right to know how its taxpayer-funded emergency service is performing.
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In 2010, the Victorian Auditor-General recommended that Ambulance Victoria publicly report a comprehensive suite of response-time indicators, including response times at the 50th and 90th percentiles and a breakdown of performance by region and locality.
To date, AV has not published local area data and it has refused repeated requests for such information under Freedom of Information laws. The service says the data might be confused in media reports and undermine faith in the service, reducing membership and deterring people from calling ambulances.
If the service is under-performing, The Age believes it can only improve with transparent performance data and open debate about the factors involved.
This report should not deter anyone from calling 000 where trained staff can advise callers on first aid and how long an ambulance is likely to take.