St John Ambulance will continue to run a volunteer-led service providing support for late-night revellers in and around Canberra's city centre after being awarded a new contract.
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Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury ended the uncertainty over the CBR NightCrew service's future, when he announced St John Ambulance had won the tender in a public process.
Mr Rattenbury said the government looked forward to working with St John Ambulance and the CBR NightCrew service.
"CBR NightCrew provides medical support and a safe space for Canberrans on a night out when they are at their most vulnerable," Mr Rattenbury said in a statement.
"During the summer months, the service responds to over 2500 incidents, reducing violent situations, sexual assault and transportation by ambulance and police intervention."
The contract guarantees funding for the service to June 2026. The government's statement did not reveal the value of the contract, which is yet to be published on the public register.
Mr Rattenbury later said the contract was worth about $1.1 million over three years, larger than the previous five-year contract.
St John Ambulance ACT chief executive Adrian Watts said the new agreement would allow an expansion of first-aid work in the community.
"We are delighted to continue delivering the CBR NightCrew service and see this as the government's commitment to delivering the same quality service to keep our city safe," Mr Watts said.
"We co-designed the CBR NightCrew project as a violence prevention strategy in 2017 with the Australian Federal Police. We simply do not accept that violence and assault are unpreventable risks. Our mission is to ensure all Canberrans enjoy a safe night out and get home safely."
The service provides first aid and other assistance to people out at night in and near Canberra's city centre.
The volunteer-led patrols begin about midnight from a tent near the bus interchange in Civic on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
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St John Ambulance has also said previously it has de-escalated more than 700 instances of violence, minimised the risk of nearly 500 sexual assaults, prevented more than 700 police interventions and prevented more than 1000 ambulance trips.
Mr Watts warned in March the service was under threat with less than three months left on its contract and the government had been slow to act to run a tender process to select a provider.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
