Inverted & Co:
MED 1 is NOT an exemption from F&D or any other Regs; only a Mercy Flighty can be, and they are as rare as rocking horse poo (despite what the media keep sprouting) due to the paper blizzard that follows a Mercy Flight declaration. I cannot recall the last time I heard a Mercy Flight being declared.
MED 1 gives a medical flight priority in routing and minimum holdups in terminal areas, THAT'S ALL. A MED 2 does much the same, with less priority in competition with say, POL 1, MED 1 etc.
The ATSB report into the Capricorn Rescue crash at Malborough should give all Aeromed operators pause. Outside a Mercy Flight declaration, Aeromed has NO special exemptions, nor should it. The same criteria in F&D, W&B, Wx & Altn etc still apply.
Maybe things are different in a regulatory sense over the Tasman - but I doubt it.