Emergency ambulance services for community based asylum seekers with no capacity to pay are free in Victoria.
Asylum seekers on bands 4-6 of the Status Resolution Support Service
Verified asylum seekers who are on bands 4-6 of the Commonwealth Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) are included in Ambulance Victoria’s concession arrangements, meaning that they receive free emergency ambulance transport. There are currently 9 support agencies who deliver the SRSS in Victoria and 21 other nominated programs that deliver services to asylum seekers for these particular clients and who can verify a person’s situation. Where a patient under the SRSS is verified by one of the listed agencies as unable to pay, this information can then be provided to Ambulance Victoria and the fee for ambulance transport will be waived. The support agencies include:
- AMES
- Diversitat Geelong
- Kildonan Uniting Care (Shepparton)
- Life Without Barriers (trading as National Immigration Support Services)
- Mallee Family Care (Swan Hill)
- New Hope Foundation
- Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre
- Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau
- Sunraysia Mallee Ethnic Communities Council (Mildura).
Asylum seekers in the community who are not on Commonwealth SRSS and who have no capacity to pay
Asylum seekers living in Victoria who are not supported by the Commonwealth SRSS and who have no capacity to pay, have free access to ambulance services for emergency transport only. Cases need to be approved and/or verified by one of the following nominated agencies. Ambulance Victoria then provides a waiver for the emergency ambulance transport for that client.
- Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
- Australian Red Cross
- Ballarat Community Health Service Refugee Health Program
- Baptcare Sanctuary
- Barwon Health Refugee Health Program
- Bendigo Community Health Refugee Health Program
- Brigidine Asylum Seeker project
- Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Hub
- Cohealth Refugee Health Program
- Djerriwarrh Refugee Health Program
- DPV Health Refugee Health Program
- EACH Refugee Health Program
- Monash Health Refugee Health Program
- Hotham Mission-Asylum Seeker Project
- IPC Refugee Health Program
- Primary Care Connect Refugee Health Program
- Royal Children’s Hospital Immigrant Clinic
- Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau
- Sunraysia Mallee Ethnic Communities Council (Mildura)
- Swan Hill District Health Service Refugee Health Program
- Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture (Foundation House)
Asylum seekers in community detention and detention centres
Charges for asylum seekers in the Community Detention Program or for people in a detention centre (SRSS bands 1-3) will be directed to the International Health and Medical Service (IHMS) funded by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) for full fee reimbursement.
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