AMAV VICDOC SUMMER 2023 - Magazine - Page 60
WORKP LAC E RELAT IO NS
THE NEW EBA:
AN EV LUTION
NOT A
REVOLUTION
—
O
ne of AMA/ASMOF
Victoria’s Workplace
Relations team core
tasks is negotiating
terms and conditions of
employment, mostly through
collective bargaining but
also through negotiations of
individual contracts. The team
has most recently completed
bargaining for our two biggest
Enterprise Agreements for
public hospital doctors: one that
covers Doctors in Training (DiT)
and one that covers Specialists.
The agreements will cover all
health services in Victoria who
directly employ their doctors.
The two agreements are
negotiated every four years
and are a result of extensive
consultation with members
and analysis of current terms
and conditions by AMAV’s
Workplace Relations team.
We use this consultation and
analysis to create a priority list
of conditions that need updating
or the introduction of new
conditions to keep pace with
current legislation and
industrial norms.
Feedback from members
during this round of bargaining
highlighted the need for improved
and more easily enforceable
conditions rather than focusing
on salary increases. For example,
we have introduced new on call
conditions for DiT’s that will see
them paid for each hour they
work during on-call instead of
a flat rate for up to 16 hours of
on-call. This will see a significant
change in on-call rostering
patterns, and we expect it to
also create better work life
balance for DiT’s.
We have also introduced a
rural attraction and retention
bonus for doctors who complete
a year’s employment in a rural
health service. While these are
cost items for the government,
for us they are fundamentally
about getting resources in the
right place at the right time. A
comprehensive breakdown of the
changes to both agreements will
soon be available on our website.
GRANT FORSYTH
Workplace Relations Director
CEO of ASMOF Victoria
If the new Agreement is
approved by the majority of
doctors and the Fair Work
Commission, the process of
transitioning to the new terms
and conditions will begin. AMA/
ASMOF Victoria and the health
services will work together to
implement the new clauses.
AMA will meet with every
health service to talk through
their implementation plans and
monitor their progress. From
experience this initial phase
can take several months. AMA/
ASMOF has recently increased
its workplace relations team
numbers with a view to having
more resources available to
implement and enforce these
agreements successfully
and proactively.
Together we bargain,
divided we beg
––
60
AMA VI C TO RIA