Re-published 12th February, 2024.
Do you want to pursue a career with St John Ambulance Western Australia as a Paramedic? Servicing the entire western third of Australia, consisting of mainland and island coastline, Western Australia is a beautiful place to live and work.
If you want to “be part of something meaningful”, consider this blog as your sign! Continue reading to understand the requirements needed to work with St John Ambulance WA as an Ambulance Paramedic, the onboarding processes of recruitment, plus the salary you could earn once qualified.
Who are St John Ambulance Western Australia?
St John Ambulance Western Australia (best referred to as St John WA) is WA’s jurisdictional ambulance service. It provides medical support to over 2.5 million individuals annually, with its capital city, Perth, holding a population of approximately 2.1 million alone*.
*Source: For Teachers, for Students (2024)
St John Ambulance WA is proud to provide ambulance and first aid services. Employing over 1,300 paid staff and holding 4,500 volunteers, they aim to provide quality support to all communities, no matter where they reside throughout the territory*.
*Source: St John WA (2024)
Who does St John Ambulance WA employ?
St John WA employs for a number of positions throughout the state, depending on prior education and skillsets. Across 160 stations, St John WA employs and volunteers for Ambulance Paramedics, Communications Officers, Administration and Support Services, Ambulance Transport Officers, First Aid Trainers, General Practitioners, Business Intelligence and more*.
*Source: St John WA (2024)
St John Ambulance WA volunteer and APC scholarship winner, Jodie.
How to work for St John Ambulance WA
If your ultimate goal is to work as a qualified Ambulance Paramedic with St John Ambulance WA, refer to the below steps to assist
Step 1 – Review the educational requirements to work as a Paramedic with St John WA
No matter where you reside in Australia, the study requirements to become a paramedic are quite consistent. What we mean by that is that you need to complete a Bachelor of Paramedic Science (or similar) to work under the title, ‘Paramedic’. This comes with good and bad news.
The good news is that the Bachelor well and truly equips one to be a paramedic. The bad news is that it can be incredibly hard to get into. For some universities, the ATAR required is an 87 (equivalent to OP7) which leaves some students unable to apply for direct entry despite working towards this goal for years. Luckily, APC offers the opportunity for VET entry into the bachelor – keep reading to understand how this could apply to you.
Direct entry into university
As mentioned above, direct entry for some universities such as the Queensland University of Technology requires individuals to hold an ATAR of 87 to apply for study. As this number can vary annually, even bi-annually, APC encourages each individual to do their research before applying to university to ensure they are fit to their needs.
VET entry into university
VET is the abbreviation of ‘Vocational Education and Training’ and is practical skills taught through a Cert I, II, III or IV, Diploma/Advanced Diploma or Graduate Certificates/Diplomas.
APC is proud to operate within the VET sector, offering a HLT31120 – Certificate III in Non-Emergency Patient Transport, HLT41120 – Certificate IV in Health Care and our most popular course – the HLT51020 – Diploma of Emergency Health Care.
As part of our offering of the HLT51020 – Diploma of Emergency Health Care, graduates have the chance to apply for VET entry at university using their APC studies for potential credits and lessened course fees too.
APC is proud to have graduates who have since taken their Diploma to Edith Cowan University (ECU) who accept VET Entry and have RPL available. If you’d like, you can check out our page dedicated to university pathways here.
Step 2 – Graduate and become registered
Congratulations – you can now call yourself a paramedic! As you have completed your Bachelor of Paramedic Science (or similar), the next step is to register yourself with ‘the Board), otherwise known as the ‘Paramedicine Board of Australia’. This is a universal requirement across Australia, no matter what jurisdictional ambulance service you work for and mandatory for your employment as a paramedic for St John Ambulance WA.
Step 3 – Apply for a paramedic role with St John Ambulance WA
The day has finally arrived! It’s time to apply for a role. Please note that St John Ambulance offers a few roles to apply for, so make note of which suits your circumstances before directly applying through St John’s website:
*Source: St John WA (2024)
Work as a Grade 2 Ambulance Officer with St John Ambulance WA
Should you be a recent graduate of the degree, you may be offered the role of ‘Grade 2 Ambulance Officer’ during a recruitment drive. This means that you aren’t yet able to work under the title of ‘Ambulance Paramedic’ just yet, but you’re well underway to being able to.
Successful applications for the Grade 2 Ambulance Officer role will conduct the same induction as Ambulance Paramedics, with slightly different mentoring provided. Over 16 weeks, Ambulance Officers will work on-road with a paramedic, with a report later filed on their overall performance. During this, you will be on a 3-month probation to ensure compliance with the role.
All in all, you’ll work as a Grade 2 Ambulance Officer for approximately 12 months before becoming promoted to an Ambulance Paramedic.
Work as an Ambulance Paramedic with St John Ambulance WA
There are two ways you can reach this role:
- Work as a Grade 2 Ambulance Officer and completing approximately 12 months of training, as outlined above.
- By already worked at least 24 months as a paramedic for an Australian, New Zealand or London jurisdictional ambulance service.
Your experience will have equipped you well for your application, alongside your full driver’s license, Australian working rights/visa eligibility and professional registration with AHPRA since the completion of your degree in paramedicine.
Once you have been accepted into the role and completed your induction, you’ll complete a four-week on-road roster under the guidance of a qualified paramedic to familiarise yourself with the St John Ambulance WA operations. Once this is completed you’ll be rostered with junior Ambulance Officers to provide your support and guidance. Much like Ambulance Officers, you’ll have a 3-month probationary range for your role.
Other types of Paramedic roles with St John Ambulance WA
It’s important to note that there are more roles within the company offering paramedical services, some are Clinical Support Paramedics, Critical Care Paramedics, Country Paramedics and more, offered internally.
St John Ambulance WA and APC announcing our partnership in late 2022.
What is the salary of a Paramedic or Ambulance Officer working with St John Ambulance WA?
Having a supportive salary is important to many if not all. That’s why it’s so great that as an employee of St John Ambulance WA (and all other jurisdictional ambulance services) have an enterprise agreement that clearly outlines what you can expect for your salary once employed. At the date of this blog release, a three-year agreement has been signed until 2026 which offers:
- Wage increase of 5% back paid to 1 July 2023;
- Wage increases of 5% to apply from 1 July 2024; and
- Wage increases of 4% to apply from 1 July 2025
*Source: St John Ambulance Western Australia Patient Transport Services Enterprise Agreement 2023 (2024)
To review the figures, please see below:
The salary of a Grade 2 Ambulance Officer with St John Ambulance WA
As a Grade 2 Ambulance Officer, you could expect to earn onwards of $88,000.00 annually.
The salary of an Ambulance Paramedic (A1) with St John Ambulance WA
For individuals working as an Ambulance Paramedic (A1), you could be offered upwards of $104,000.00 annually.
Looking to apply?
If you’ve read this far, you’re likely excited to start pursuing your dream career with St John Ambulance WA and we’re equally excited to help!
Click the button below to further review how APC’s HLT51020 – Diploma of Emergency Health Care, a paramedic training and paramedicine course, can offer you the chance to apply for VET entry into a paramedicine degree.
