❓ A WA parliamentary question seeks data on emergency rescue helicopter operations, location assessments, and the operator contract. The response provides some data but refers to public sources for contract details.
AnsweredQoN 511Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the State Government’s fleet of emergency rescue helicopters and the location of these vehicles, and I ask : (a) When was the last time the Department of Fire and Emergency Services liaised with the Department of Health with regard to these helicopters; (b) What are the numbers of helicopter responses to the Mid West, Pilbara, Kimberley, and Goldfields regions over the past five years, and can a breakdown of the numbers per region per year be made available; (c) When was the last time the Department of Fire and Emergency Services gave you a briefing regarding the location of these rescue helicopters; (d) When was the last time an assessment was made over the location of these rescue helicopters; (e) What criteria does the State Government and the Department consider when choosing the location of the rescue helicopter bases; (f) When was the operator CHC awarded the contract for the operation of these rescue helicopters; and (g) How long is the contract with the operator?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
14 October 2025
Responded by
Minister for Emergency Services
Response time
8 days
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services advises:
a) September 2025.
b) Current Emergency Rescue Helicopter Service (ERHS) reporting/data tracking does not breakdown missions per region. The ERHS network reports on all missions North of the Perth Metropolitan area and greater than 50 kilometres, which covers these regions.
Financial Year
2020-21
2021-22
2022-23
2023-24
2024-25
2025-26*
EHRS Missions North of the Perth Metropolitan area and greater than 50km
103 (i)
93
86 (ii)
62 (iii)
74
12
*1 July 2025 to date 21 September 2025.
c) Briefings on various topics are provided to the Minister for Emergency Services regularly.
d) ERHS mission data per Rescue Helicopter Base is reviewed monthly by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) Aviation Services.
e) DFES selects the Rescue Helicopter Base locations based on aviation, logistics and operational requirements, using the following criteria:
f-g) This information is publicly available via the TendersWA website.
a) September 2025.
b) Current Emergency Rescue Helicopter Service (ERHS) reporting/data tracking does not breakdown missions per region. The ERHS network reports on all missions North of the Perth Metropolitan area and greater than 50 kilometres, which covers these regions.
Financial Year
2020-21
2021-22
2022-23
2023-24
2024-25
2025-26*
EHRS Missions North of the Perth Metropolitan area and greater than 50km
103 (i)
93
86 (ii)
62 (iii)
74
12
*1 July 2025 to date 21 September 2025.
c) Briefings on various topics are provided to the Minister for Emergency Services regularly.
d) ERHS mission data per Rescue Helicopter Base is reviewed monthly by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) Aviation Services.
e) DFES selects the Rescue Helicopter Base locations based on aviation, logistics and operational requirements, using the following criteria:
f-g) This information is publicly available via the TendersWA website.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.