ADJOURNMENT
Senator McLACHLAN (South Australia) (20:04): 'For the faith in the service of humanity'. That's the motto of St John Ambulance. It's a call to action that best describes its incredible work around the world.
Perhaps a better description may be 'a global movement of volunteers dedicated to caring for those in need and empowering communities to provide care to each other as well'. As an Australian volunteer, I'm very proud of what St John is achieving around the world. In Tanzania, St John leads the way in emergency preparedness by taking first aid and first-aid training directly to the people.
In doing so, St John is building a first-aid culture in Tanzania, ensuring their communities become more resilient. Volunteers recently attended a vibrant festival at Sukuma, which had over 3,000 people attend. Volunteers also attended the National Touch Event at Itilima, which had over 2,000 people attend.
At both events, the members of the community were very interested in learning first aid. In Ghana, St John officially launched its mother and baby program. This marks a new chapter in this initiative, which is over a decade old and was originally launched in Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe in 2014, with Kenya joining in 2025.
It's tailored to the needs of the local community, and the program aims to help families better understand maternal and newborn health, including the importance of antenatal care. It also assists communities in recognising danger signs and seeking assistance as early as possible. It encourages greater involvement from fathers and grandparents, as well as other members of the community.
Local ownership and community participation will be central in its implementation and its success. In Papua New Guinea, the ambulance service run by St John has received the Excellence in Staff Development Award at the Council of Ambulance Authorities 2026 Awards. The award recognised the National Ambulance Education Centre: Building PNG's Pre-hospital Workforce initiative.
This was judged alongside leading ambulance programs from Australia and New Zealand. Papua New Guineans have been trained for the PNG to become much-needed qualified ambulance officers equipped with nationally recognised skills that align with international best practice. I extend my congratulations to all involved.
Congratulations are also should be extended to St John in Malaysia, which celebrates 118 years of service. The occasion was marked with a renewed commitment to community health care with the launch of its mobile healthcare unit, a significant step forward in expanding access to healthcare services, particularly for senior citizens, low-income families and other under serviced communities.
Back here in Australia, St John has launched Australia's smallest big thing, a new pocket defibrillator. In Australia, over 80 Australians suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital every day, 30,000 annually. This small pocket defibrillator weighing less than 700 grams is small enough to fit into a backpack and it's one of the smallest automated defibrillators available in Australia.
The new technology will save lives. It doesn't mean that we should no longer seek out first-aid training. The opposite is true.
We all still need to undergo training so we can deploy this new technology to save lives. I express my deep appreciation to all St John volunteers around the world dedicated to keeping their communities safe and in the service of humanity.