For six years, St John Ambulance ACT’s CBR NightCrew has provided a safe space for young people in distress. The charity will continue running the NightCrew St John Ambulance for three more years, under a new $1.1 million contract with the ACT Government until June 2026.

The CBR NightCrew helps vulnerable young people, such as those who have drunk too much or taken drugs. It operates in Civic on Thursday (daylight saving months only), Friday, and Saturday nights. The program operates a safe space tent behind Platform 5 of the Civic bus interchange on Mort Street, equipped with chairs for people to rest, water for hydration, advice and assistance for safe transport options, basic First Aid, and mobile phone charging, so that people can contact friends or arrange a lift home. Roving teams of volunteers move around Canberra City to help those in need.

St John Ambulance ACT and the Australian Federal Police designed the NightCrew in 2017 to help prevent violence.

“We simply do not accept that violence and assault are unpreventable risks,” Adrian Watts, the charity’s CEO, said. “Our mission is to ensure all Canberrans enjoy a safe night out and get home safely.” 

St John Ambulance states that the NightCrew has helped more than 9,100 people, and averted nearly 800 serious incidents. It has reduced incident referrals to the police by 56 per cent and ambulance callouts by 69 per cent, and saved $2.3 million from reduced assaults – or, as Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury explained, fewer trips to hospital and fewer police interventions.

“St John’s has got a terrific record of operating this service,” Mr Rattenbury said.

He had been out with the NightCrew twice and seen first-hand the “very practical difference they make on the ground”, ensuring that people who find themselves in a rough spot do not end up in a worse one.

“Unfortunately,” Mr Rattenbury said, “people do go out on a Friday or Saturday night, sometimes overconsume, find themselves in a situation, get separated from their friends – all the things that can happen on a night out on the town.”

The NightCrew, Mr Rattenbury said, is “a safe point of contact, intervening to help people potentially avoid a situation becoming a lot worse… Where someone might have misjudged, had one drink too many, there is a set of guardian angels there for them.”

The community trusted the NightCrew, Mr Rattenbury said. “They’re not the police; they’re not a formal government agency… People see the NightCrew as someone they can turn to when things get a little bit out of hand, or when they’re having a bad night of it…”

“St John Ambulance is run by the community and for the community, and that is why we are trusted and respected across the ACT,” Mr Watts said. “Our champions include the AFP, ACT Emergency Services Agency, night club operators, and the people we treat.”

Josh Yeend, a NightCrew team leader, said interacting with people was his favourite part of the job.

“You meet so many different people out there, both on the volunteer end, and also the people who are out there enjoying their time, having a great night – and when they’re not, you are there for them when they need it. It’s a great experience to be there for them and to hear their stories, what brought them to that point.

“In some case, they just had a messy night, and it’s not their fault, and something’s just going wrong. In other cases, it’s maybe a repeated behaviour. Being that ongoing support for them, referring them to other services and encouraging them to seek help outside what NightCrew does is really rewarding.”

Mr Yeend joined NightCrew two and a half years ago. He was studying alcohol and other drugs counselling at the Canberra Institute of Technology when he applied, and thought it would be an opportunity to upskill and get experience on the ground.

The NightCrew is St John Ambulance’s best subscribed volunteer service anywhere in Australia.

“You might be a young nursing student or a young paramedic student, and you want some hands-on experience,” Mr Watts said. “We have applications rolling in all the time, so we’ve always got inductions coming through and more people wanting to join the service.”

Mr Watts welcomed the ACT Government funding. “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.”

Now their funding is secure, Mr Watts said, St John intends to expand the service. This includes providing better and more enhanced training for when hard drugs become decriminalised in the ACT next month.

“We’ve been here for 140 years in Australia, and things have changed quite a few times in that time,” Mr Watts said. “They’re going to change again over the next few years in the ACT. We don’t quite know exactly how they’re going to change. But we know we’re going to be here and to change with it and support the community.”

For more information, visit stjohnact.org.au/community-programs/cbr-nightcrew

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