Heloteacher - no.
The downside of having a fast growing SAR/EMS industry here is that it is not as well regulated as in other parts of the world. For example operators do not have to satisfy Public Transport or Charter regulations. They can operate under the Airwork category. This allows a lot more flexibilty but also means that we have some light, VFR, non-float equipped, single engine machines flying rescue missions at night 100nm offshore.
However, I think (and hope)that there will some changes after this latest incident.
The helicopter that rescued the crew was a Queensland Government Bell 412EP, eqipped with IFR, 4 axis auto pilot, FLIR, two pilots and a highly trained rescue crew.