Triple Zero Victoria (TZV) strives to dispatch ambulances for Code 1 emergencies within 2.5 minutes in at least 90% of cases.

However, during the 2024-2025 period, the service managed to meet this target only 80% of the time for the most critical emergencies.

TZV has cited “longstanding structural issues” in the performance measurement methodology, noting that the target has been unmet since 2010.

Last year, the call-and-dispatch service handled over three million calls, averaging about 8,500 daily.

In light of these challenges, Deputy Premier Ben Carroll defended the agency and appealed to Victorians to use Triple Zero responsibly.

“Sadly there are way too many calls that are nuisance calls, that are unwarranted calls,” Carroll said.

“We’ve all got a role to play in making sure that we do not do any unwarranted calls or even worse, nuisance calls to Triple Zero that tie up resources and simply waste taxpayers funds.”

In February 2025, TZV received almost 500 nuisance calls in a 24-hour period, according to the annual report.

“When you look at more than three million calls a year, you see the workload of Triple Zero, They do an outstanding job. That’s why they’ve had more funding, more resources and more staffing,” Carroll said.

“We’re continuing to make sure they’re fully staffed, we’re doing everything we can to make sure they’re responding, and they are, but we’ve all got a role to play in making sure Triple Zero is there for emergencies.”

TZV cited a constrained Ambulance fleet and operational capacity as part of the reason it failed to meet the target, according to the annual report.

The report also said performance data was skewed due to cases where patients who were initially triaged as lower-priority were escalated to Code 1.

In December 2024, a record-breaking 95,374 calls were made to TZV.

“The most consistent demand driver is Victoria’s growing and ageing population; the over 80s age group account for more than 20 per cent of ambulance activity,” the annual report read.

The release of the annual report comes as healthcare workers across the state remain embroiled in a bitter pay dispute with the government.

More than 10,000 workers from more than 80 healthcare services walked off the job yesterday in a Health Worker’s Union-led strike that caused thousands of elective surgeries to be cancelled.

Workers are seeking a six per cent wage increase in a dispute Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas today said the government was “really focused on resolving”.

“I have met with the union, we’re working hard right now to resolve the dispute,” Thomas said.

“I look forward to us being able to do that and getting in place a fair EBA for the hard-working members of the HWU.”

The union has rejected two wage offers from the government since August 2024, which it claimed were both “below-inflation” increases.