The ACT Has No Government AED Registry — Here’s What That Means

If you’ve registered an AED in NSW, South Australia, Victoria or Tasmania, you’ve gone through a state-government-run pathway connected to the local ambulance service. In SA it’s mandatory. In NSW, Victoria and Tasmania it’s voluntary but state-run, via GoodSAM. In the ACT, there’s no equivalent.

The ACT doesn’t operate a government or ambulance-service-run AED registry. ACT Health doesn’t publish one. ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) doesn’t operate one. The Australian Capital Territory Ambulance Service (ACTAS) doesn’t run one. AED location data in the ACT is held by St John Ambulance ACT and the volunteer-run StreetBeat program — both non-government.

This isn’t a small administrative gap. It changes what happens when someone calls Triple Zero from near your AED, what role registration plays at all, and how Canberra property managers and community organisations should think about discoverability. This is the guide.

The plain version

There is no ACT government AED registry. Three observations:

1. Triple Zero call-takers in the ACT can’t automatically direct callers to a registered nearby AED. This functionality exists in SA, NSW, Victoria and (more narrowly) Queensland and Tasmania. It hasn’t been confirmed for the ACT in any publicly available ESA or ACTAS material.
2. AED location data sits with St John Ambulance ACT — via the national St John AED register at aed.stjohn.org.au and the St John First Responder app. The same dataset surfaces publicly on the StreetBeat platform for community-AED units installed under that program.
3. Registration is voluntary, and not legally required — there’s no AED-specific legislation in force in the ACT, and the most recent AED-related Assembly action (the 2022 Castley motion) was amended by government to remove the proposed mandate.

For ACT AED owners, the practical takeaway is that registration still matters, but it goes through a different channel and serves a different purpose than in jurisdictions with integrated government registries.

How AED location data is actually handled in the ACT

In practice, three non-government channels carry AED location data in the ACT:

1. St John Ambulance Australia AED register

The national St John AED register at aed.stjohn.org.au is the de facto ACT registry. AED owners — individuals, sporting clubs, businesses, community organisations — can register their device, with location, accessibility hours, brand and pad/battery expiry information. The Heart Foundation’s guidance specifically directs ACT and WA AED owners to this register.

The same dataset feeds the St John First Responder app, which is the free public-facing AED locator app. Trained first responders and the general public can use the app to find their nearest registered AED.

2. StreetBeat

StreetBeat (streetbeat.life) is the publicly-funded outdoor AED program run by St John Ambulance ACT, with 24/7-accessible AED cabinets installed across Canberra suburbs. As of mid-2025, 32 cabinets had been deployed with funding for further installations — sponsored by Bendigo Bank, Service One Mutual, Capital Chemist and others. The ambition is one AED in each of Canberra’s 121 suburbs.

StreetBeat is materially closing the gap on public-access AED density in Canberra. The April 2025 Canberra Times coverage noted three cabinets installed with funding committed for 28 more. It’s the closest thing the ACT has to a coordinated public-AED rollout — and it’s running through a non-government channel because the government hasn’t run one.

3. Local community registers

Some Canberra community groups, sporting associations, and large employers maintain their own AED location lists for internal use. These don’t connect to ambulance dispatch and don’t substitute for St John AED register listing — but they exist, and for organisations across multiple sites they can be useful internal operational tools.

Why doesn’t the ACT have a government registry?

Politically, the ACT has come close once. On 23 March 2022, Shadow Health Minister Leanne Castley MLA moved a motion calling for AEDs to be made mandatory in ACT government schools, workplaces, and on ACTION buses. The Heart Foundation, St John Ambulance ACT, and the Australian Red Cross supported the principle.

The Labor–Greens government amended the motion to remove the mandate, leaving only a commitment to “support government schools and agencies to increase the availability of defibrillators in their facilities.” Per Hansard from the day: “the government … is not supportive of the legislation mandate for AEDs in all government facilities.”

Adrian Watts, then CEO of St John Ambulance ACT, called the amended motion “a really soft acceptance” and noted it omitted the funding component for defibrillators in every public building. That’s where the political conversation has sat since. No subsequent ACT Bill has been tabled to mandate AEDs or to establish a government registry. The 2022 motion remains the most recent AED-specific action in the Assembly — and it was a motion, not a Bill.

The result is the registry gap. It’s structural to the ACT’s current policy position, not an oversight.

What this means for ACT AED owners

A few practical implications:

1. Register on the St John AED register, not “the ACT government register”

There isn’t one to register on. The St John AED register at aed.stjohn.org.au is where ACT AEDs go. Free, voluntary, and the primary discoverability layer ACT bystanders have access to.

For organisations registering multiple AEDs across sites, contact St John ACT directly — stjohnact.org.au — for support with bulk registration.

2. Don’t claim Triple Zero integration that isn’t confirmed

ACT AED content (including content from suppliers) sometimes implies that registering with St John means Triple Zero call-takers will direct callers to your AED. That’s not confirmed in any publicly available ESA or ACTAS material. ESA’s own AED page provides instructions on AED use only — it doesn’t reference a registry, doesn’t require registration, and doesn’t link to a responder app.

If you’re an ACT AED owner, the honest framing is: registration with St John surfaces your device on the First Responder app and in the public AED locator, which is useful for bystanders and trained first responders — but the integration with the ACT ambulance dispatch is not the same as the GoodSAM or SAAS integration in other jurisdictions.

3. Visible placement and signage carry more weight

In jurisdictions with integrated registries, registration is the primary discoverability layer — a dispatcher or responder app finds the AED automatically. In the ACT, where that automatic discoverability is materially weaker, bystander discoverability becomes the primary mechanism.

That means:

• Place the AED where it’s visible from public-facing entries. A glass entrance with the AED cabinet visible from the footpath is more useful than the same AED in a back-of-house corridor.
• Sign it well. The ARC AED symbol, directional signage from the building entry, and where appropriate a public-facing sign indicating an AED is on the premises.
• Where building security permits, 24/7 access. Outdoor-rated cabinet (IP55+), externally mounted. This is exactly the model StreetBeat is rolling out across Canberra suburbs.

4. WHS duty still applies — the Compliance Code framing

The absence of a government registry doesn’t change the underlying WHS duty under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (ACT). The First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice, approved as a notifiable instrument in September 2020, applies the standard Safe Work Australia model — AEDs are discretionary, risk-assessed against three trigger factors: electrocution risk, ambulance delay, and large numbers of members of the public.

For ACT workplaces with any of those factors, the case for installing an AED isn’t legally compelled — but it’s defensible under the umbrella duty of care.

For Commonwealth workplaces (a meaningful share of the ACT workforce), the regulator is Comcare under the federal WHS Act, not WorkSafe ACT. Comcare’s guidance recommends AED training and accessibility but doesn’t mandate installation. The duty framework is similar in substance.

How the ACT compares to other jurisdictions

Factor	South Australia	NSW	Victoria	Tasmania	ACT
AED-specific Act in force	Yes	No	No	No	No
Government AED registry	Yes (SAAS)	Yes (GoodSAM via NSW Ambulance)	Yes (GoodSAM via Ambulance Victoria)	Yes (GoodSAM via Ambulance Tasmania)	No
Registration mandatory	Yes	No	No	No	No
Triple Zero integration	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not confirmed
Volunteer responder layer	n/a (mandatory installs)	GoodSAM Trusted Responders	GoodSAM Trusted Responders	GoodSAM Responders	St John CFR / StreetBeat (community-driven)
De facto registry operator	SAAS	NSW Ambulance	Ambulance Victoria	Ambulance Tasmania	St John Ambulance ACT (NGO)

The ACT is the only jurisdiction in this comparison without a government-operated AED registry. The gap is partially filled by St John ACT’s national register and the StreetBeat program — but neither is integrated with the ESA/ACTAS Triple Zero call-taking system in the way SA’s SAAS register or NSW’s GoodSAM integration is.

ACT-specific things worth knowing

• Light rail. All light rail vehicles in Canberra carry an AED on board (per the 2022 Hansard exchange).
• ACTION buses. No AEDs as standard fitment. The Castley motion goal of requiring AEDs on ACTION buses was rejected.
• ACT public schools. As of October 2020 (the most recent published figure cited in Hansard), 38 of 89 ACT public schools had AEDs on site. No universal coverage commitment. Independent and Catholic schools fall outside this dataset and are individually responsible.
• Commonwealth-tenanted buildings. Comcare-regulated. No federal AED mandate. Landlords leasing to Commonwealth tenants should treat AED provision as a building-grade decision, not a tenancy obligation.
• StreetBeat is the most active rollout. It’s the program that’s actually putting publicly accessible AEDs across Canberra suburbs in 2025–26. Worth supporting and worth knowing about for organisations operating in Canberra.

Practical approach for ACT AED owners

1. Install a TGA-approved unit. IP55+ for any external placement. Mount 1.2–1.4 m from the floor, visible and accessible. Not locked.
2. Register with the St John AED register (aed.stjohn.org.au). Free and the de facto ACT registry.
3. Don’t rely on Triple Zero integration in messaging. Frame registration as discoverability via the St John First Responder app and the public locator — not as a dispatcher-direct pathway.
4. Sign it well. ARC AED symbol, directional signage from main entries, public-facing sign where the premises front a pedestrian thoroughfare.
5. Where building security allows, 24/7 access. Outdoor cabinet (IP55+) for any external placement.
6. Maintain per manufacturer instructions. A monitored package removes the under-maintenance risk.
7. Consider supporting or collaborating with the StreetBeat program if your building is in a Canberra suburb without a publicly accessible AED. It’s the most active community-AED rollout in the territory.

Where SafePulse fits

We install AEDs in commercial buildings, sporting clubs, body corporate complexes, hospitality venues and not-for-profit organisations across the ACT. Each install is a TGA-approved Mindray unit, IP-rated cabinet, mandatory signage, an 8-year warranty and registration with the St John AED register. The Smart Install package adds AED Alert 2.0 monitoring — daily status reporting, live tamper alerts, GPS theft tracking — particularly relevant in Canberra where the absence of an integrated government registry shifts more responsibility onto the operational layer.

If you’re scoping AED provision for an ACT site or portfolio, see our ACT AED solutions or send us the site details and we’ll come back with a scope.

The bottom line

The ACT doesn’t have a government AED registry. It doesn’t have an integrated Triple Zero AED dispatch pathway equivalent to SA’s, NSW’s, Victoria’s or Tasmania’s. What it has is the national St John AED register, the St John First Responder app, and the StreetBeat program — all run by St John Ambulance ACT and community partners, not government.

For ACT AED owners, that means register with St John, place the device for bystander discoverability, sign it well, maintain it on schedule, and treat the operational layer as carrying more weight than it would in a GoodSAM jurisdiction. The legal duty under WHS law applies, the political pressure for an ACT government registry is real but currently dormant, and the practical gap is filled by non-government channels — imperfectly, but better than nothing.

If an ACT government registry materialises in future (and the 2022 political conversation suggests it’s not impossible), this article will need updating. Until then, the St John AED register is the answer.