We shouldn’t have to say it: Don’t hurt our crews 

St John WA is calling on the community to stand behind its frontline team, launching a new campaign in response to rising levels of violence and aggression toward ambulance crews. 

The campaign – We shouldn’t have to say it – is built around a simple premise: this is a message that should not need to be said. 

But it does. 

In 2025, St John WA crews reported 442 incidents of violence and aggression – an 11.9 per cent increase on the previous year. 

Of those incidents: 

• 35 resulted in injury to frontline team members 

• More than one in three required a Code Black, triggering an urgent police response 

• Of particular concern is a spike toward the end of the year, with 46 incidents reported in December alone. 

St John WA Chief Emergency Officer Wil White said the numbers reflected an ongoing and unacceptable risk to crews responding to patients across the state. 

“Our people turn up to help. They walk into homes, onto roads, into unpredictable situations – often at their most vulnerable moments,” Mr White said. 

“They should not have to worry about being threatened, abused or assaulted while doing their job. Any level of violence or aggression toward our crews is unacceptable,” Mr White said. 

“Even a single incident has an impact – not just physically, but psychologically, and on our ability to care for patients.” 

More than half of reported incidents in 2025 involved drugs or alcohol, and over a third required urgent police attendance. 

The increase in reported incidents may in part reflect improved reporting and awareness among staff, but the trend highlights the continued exposure of frontline crews to unsafe situations. 

The campaign is being launched alongside internal measures to reinforce safety, including updated training and support for crews to withdraw from unsafe scenes and request police assistance when required. 

At its core, the message is simple. 

“We shouldn’t have to say it,” Mr White said. 

“But we do: no one should be hurting ambulance crews.” 

St John WA is encouraging the community to support its crews by recognising the risks they face and respecting their role in caring for Western Australians.