MEMBER for Mildura Ali Cupper has praised a new community paramedicine pilot program being delivered by Sunraysia Community Health Services [SCHS], following a visit to the new service in Red Cliffs this week.
“This program will take some of the pressure off our GPs and makes drop-in primary health care more accessible to Mildura’s disadvantaged and underserved groups,” Ms Cupper said.
“Connecting these groups with primary healthcare is incredibly important as routine health screenings can be the key to disease prevention.
“This new primary healthcare service will do its bit to reduce ambulance callouts and ED presentations in our region.”
The project sees a community paramedic at the Red Cliffs Community Centre between 10am-12pm every Monday.
They’ll see clients on a drop-in basis for their primary health care needs which can include screening, support with chronic disease, referral and advice.
“This project is not designed to take the place of our hard-working doctors, but to utilise the skill sets of community paramedics to ease the pressure on the system,” Ms Cupper said.
The clinic is based on a Canadian community paramedicine model, with SCHS showing exceptional leadership and innovation in bringing it to our region.
The SCHS pilot project is the first international demonstration site.
“It’s a different role to what people might usually expect of a paramedic in Australia, but it is commonplace for paramedics to be involved in primary care in other countries like Canada,” Ms Cupper said.
“What we have also learnt is that there are some 6,500 qualified paramedics in Australia who are not currently working for the ambulance service.
“These are vital medical skills that we could be putting to use in the primary health care space.
“This pilot program is a prime example of how our Victorian community health services like SCHS can pivot to help address our community’s biggest health challenges.”

Media enquiries: Wade Stephens 0423 905 581