The owner of a designated building or facility or a prescribed building must install and maintain an Automated External Defibrillator [Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) Act 2022 (SA) ss 7 and 9]. This applies to Crown-owned buildings from 1 January 2025 and non-Crown buildings from 1 January 2026 [s 2, Sch 1].

An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is a portable device that can treat cardiac arrest by applying an electric shock to restore normal heart rhythm that has been approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration or the Minister for Health and Wellbeing [s 3].

A designated building or facility includes [s 4]:

A prescribed building means [s 5]:

The owner of a designated building or facility or prescribed building on commercial land with a publicly accessible floor area of more than 1200 square metres must install 1 AED for every 1200 square metres of publicly accessible floor area, up to a prescribed maximum [Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) Act 2022 (SA) s 7(1); Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) Regulations 2024 (SA) reg 10]. This requirement does not apply to schools [reg 11].

It is an offence for an owner of a designated building or facility or a prescribed building to fail to install or maintain AEDs as required by the Act, with a maximum penalty of $20,000 [Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) Act 2022 (SA) ss 7(2), 9(2)]. Appropriate signage must be displayed near the AED and outside, near to an entrance to the building, to clearly show that an AED is nearby [s 10].

The Act does not apply to [s 6A]:

AEDs are also required to be installed and maintained in Crown-owned vehicles used by emergency services organisations [s 8]. From 1 January 2026, this will be expanded to include emergency services vehicles owned by entities other than the Crown, and other prescribed vehicles.

The Minister for Health and Wellbeing must maintain a register that records the location of each AED installed in a building or facility under the Act and the times it is publicly accessible [s 12]. Those required to install AEDs in their building must provide this information to the Minister promptly [s 12(4)].

The register of AEDs is publicly available on the South Australian Ambulance Service website. This register should not be used to locate an AED in an emergency. In a medical emergency, call Triple Zero (000). The Triple Zero call operator can help locate the nearest AED if it is needed.

It is an offence to intentionally damage, destroy or remove an AED installed in accordance with the Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) Act 2022 (SA), with a maximum penalty of $10,000 or imprisonment for 1 year [s 16]. This does not include any damage, destruction or removal that occurs in the course of using the AED in an emergency.

For more information about AEDs in South Australia, visit the SA Health webpage on AEDs.