Order of St John Investiture Ceremony

It is wonderful to have you with us at Government House.

Today’s ceremony continues a connection between St John Ambulance Victoria and successive Governors of Victoria that began nearly 140 years ago.

In the 1880s, St John was still new to Victoria, and Melbourne doctor James Edward Neild, who had helped found the organisation here in the State, was doing his best to convince more people to learn first aid.

But few people were signing up, so Dr Neild sought the help of the Governor of the day, Sir Henry Loch.

In 1888, Sir Henry presented certificates to those who had completed their training, giving public recognition to the value of first aid and to those willing to learn it.

From those modest beginnings, when Victoria was still a colony, St John grew into an organisation that has served generations of Victorians in moments of need.

Of course, the care it provides is different today.

In the late nineteenth century, first-aid advice could include giving a patient a little brandy or whisky after a faint, or even tickling their nose with a feather.

Now, thankfully, the feathers have long since been put away.

Since then, advances in emergency medicine have transformed the care that can be provided during the critical period before a patient reaches hospital.

The training is more sophisticated, the techniques have improved, and tools such as defibrillators and oxygen kits are now available to trained first responders outside hospitals.

But even the best equipment depends on someone being there and knowing what to do.

In 2025 alone, St John Ambulance Victoria volunteers treated more than 10,700 people.

Most would have been strangers to those who helped them.

But every volunteer – or someone trained by St John – knows the person in front of them is somebody’s loved one.

And, in that moment, they are relying on you.

You step forward because you care, and you have the training to take charge.

That confidence comes from countless hours spent learning, practising, or teaching others – so that when an emergency comes, people know what to do.

That is what the St John Ambulance Victoria motto, ‘For the Service of Humanity’, looks like in practice.

Serving humanity means moving towards an emergency rather than away from it.

It means providing skilled care when every minute matters.

And no matter how our understanding of the best emergency response changes, it will always mean reassuring the person in front of you that they do not have to face that moment alone.

Today, we honour those who have made that choice again and again, often over many years.

To all those being invested today, this ceremony recognises your skill, your service and the trust placed in you when people are at their most vulnerable.

So, nearly 140 years after Sir Henry Loch presented those early certificates, it remains a privilege to recognise those who put the St John Ambulance Victoria motto into practice.

I congratulate each of you and thank you for being ready to act when others need you most.

Thank you.