What search and rescue actually is
Search and rescue is the system of trained responders, coordination centres, aircraft assets, and volunteer teams that locate and assist people who are missing, injured, or unable to self-rescue in bush and alpine environments. In Australia, much of this capability is delivered by volunteers alongside emergency services, with coordination typically led through police, which is why the first call goes to them.
If you need search and rescue assistance in the bush, call 000 and ask for police. If you cannot make contact by phone and a life is at risk, activate your Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). You should also be prepared to signal for help because a location alone does not always equal a quick visual find, especially in dense forest or broken terrain, so the team that has been sent to your coordinates still needs a way to see or hear you once they are close.
The people doing that finding are trained and experienced in navigation, search techniques, patient care in difficult terrain, and operating in challenging conditions. They may deploy on foot, by vehicle, with dogs, drones, aircraft, and specialised rescue capability, depending on what the terrain and the urgency actually call for. That response is available to anyone in Australia, including international travellers and visitors, because search and rescue does not check where you are from before it goes looking for you. What varies is not the willingness to respond, but the practical realities of location, weather, daylight, access, and medical transport arrangements, and that second part is worth understanding properly rather than assuming “search and rescue” covers you from the moment you go missing to the moment you are home.
Search and rescue responses commonly include:
- Searching for missing people
- Assisting injured or unwell people
- Supporting people who are lost or disoriented
- Assisting in wider emergencies, including severe weather and disasters
If you actually need help
If you need help, act early. People often delay until late afternoon, when fatigue, cold, and poor light increase risk, which is exactly the wrong time to still be deciding whether the situation is serious enough to call. Use the fastest reliable method available to you.
- Call 000 and ask for police if you have reception.
- Activate your PLB if you cannot make contact and a life is at risk.
- Stay together if you are in a group and avoid splitting up.
- Prepare to wait and focus on shelter, warmth, and hydration while help mobilises.
- Make yourself easier to find using light, sound, and visibility aids.
Search and rescue is free, but getting you out isn’t always
It is worth separating two things that often get blended together: the search and rescue response, and the medical transport that may follow, because they are funded and billed in completely different ways. In many situations, the search and rescue effort is government-funded and not billed to the person being rescued. However, medical transport and retrieval, including ambulance and helicopter evacuation, can sometimes create costs for individuals depending on the state, the circumstances, and whether you have ambulance cover or appropriate insurance.
Costs can be significant in some circumstances. In one widely reported 2024 case, a Canberra resident received a $45,450 ambulance bill after being evacuated by emergency helicopter from Tasmania’s Overland Track. Her private health insurance ultimately covered the bill. Costs and coverage vary considerably between states, territories and individual insurance arrangements, which is exactly why I think ambulance cover is something to sort out before a trip, not something to work out while you are still on the mountain.
Even if search and rescue teams find you, medical transport is a separate layer, so if you are bushwalking or hiking in Australia, seriously consider ambulance cover and, where appropriate, insurance that includes medical evacuation. Medicare does not cover ambulance services, and interstate arrangements can vary, so if you hike in multiple states, or travel for walks and multi-day hikes, check what your policy actually covers.
As ambulance cover can be complicated, talk to your private health insurer or ambulance subscription provider and ask direct questions about: interstate travel, emergency versus non-emergency use, air ambulance and helicopter cover, private provider rules, and out-of-pocket costs.
State ambulance service websites
- Australian Capital Territory: ACT Ambulance
- New South Wales: NSW Ambulance
- Northern Territory: St John NT
- Queensland: QLD Ambulance
- South Australia: SA Ambulance
- Tasmania: Tas Ambulance costs
- Victoria: Ambulance Victoria
- Western Australia: St John WA
If you are travelling from overseas, the same logic applies, so assume you may be responsible for medical costs in Australia. If you are visiting and planning remote hikes, arrange travel insurance that explicitly covers domestic medical treatment and medical evacuation, including helicopter retrieval, and confirm any exclusions before you rely on it.
Reducing the chance you’ll ever need this
Most rescues trace back to predictable failures: poor planning, late starts, weather misreads, navigation errors, and underestimated effort. The best way to “use” search and rescue is to avoid needing it in the first place, which comes down to building strong pre-trip and on-trail systems.
- Plan your trip carefully
- Leave trip intentions
- Estimate time and distance realistically
- Plan for weather
- Carry core navigation basics
- Carry a PLB and consider a satellite communicator where appropriate
Supporting search and rescue
Search and rescue often relies heavily on trained volunteers, fundraising, and community support, which is worth remembering given everything above is largely delivered by people giving their time. The best support is prevention: plan well, carry the right tools, and make conservative decisions so teams are not put at unnecessary risk. If you want to go further, consider donating to or volunteering with recognised local emergency services and rescue organisations in your state.
Hike with confidence, hike prepared
Search and rescue exists because people will always get into trouble in complex environments. Treat it as a backstop, not a strategy. Plan properly, carry reliable emergency communication, know how to signal for help, and strongly consider ambulance cover or insurance that matches how and where you hike. If you ever do need help, early action and good information make the response faster, safer, and more effective for everyone involved.
Images of SES volunteers and FRS firefighters training courtesy of Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.
BSAR only exists in NSW – there it’s part of the SES – and VIC where they are part of Bushwalking Victoria and organisational belong to the Search and Rescue Squad of Victoria Police.
Philipp Hammes good call. I was referring to the term more so than the organisation/s. Maybe I should drop the acronym in brackets when taking about Australia.
Trail Hiking Australia in order to be fair the whole SAR setup is already convoluted within single states and territories.
Might be fun to get an overview however average hiker doesn’t need to know – having a working phone (possibly with the emergency plus app) and a PLB/Satcom in remote areas is far more important.
Philipp Hammes the article is more about the cost of search and rescue, do people need insurance and ambulance cover, what to do in an emergency and how to be better prepared, more than it is about the definition of bush search and rescue and role of different agencies.
Yes I think its better if you drop the references to BSAR, amd just talk about Search and Rescue, especially when all the photos on both this article and the associated Facebook Post are of SES, which in VIC are 2 different organisations. There is also Police Search and Rescue squad, which are in charge of both the search and the rescue.
A very good point. I was using the acronym loosely, and wasn’t intending to reference a particular organisation. But I see how that doesn’t work. I’ve just updated the article.