Doctors cancel 12-hour strike as condition of interim agreement reached with Government on patient safety - put political parties on notice
AMA/ASMOF Victoria
Doctors across Victoria will not proceed with a 12-hour strike scheduled for Wednesday after reaching a 12-month interim agreement with the Carroll Labor Government that puts in place important measures to protect patient safety. Despite accepting the interim agreement, doctors have vowed to continue the fight until the Victorian State election and into 2027 and have put all political parties and candidates on notice.
Doctors were due to undertake the 12-hour stop-work action across Victorian hospitals from 7 am to 7 pm on Wednesday 21 October over the government’s failure to address understaffing, unsafe working conditions, and the threat to patient safety.
ASMOF Victoria Secretary Kevin Shi said that after nearly 15 months of negotiations, doctors had secured several important commitments from the government to protect patient safety.
“We have now secured commitments from the government that have made some improvements to hours of work and doctor fatigue.
“We have also secured proper recording and remuneration for previously unpaid overtime for Doctors in Training so we can accurately assess the full extent of the resources required to support quality healthcare for our patients across our healthcare system.
“While doctors have been extremely dissatisfied about wage erosion and the manner in which the government has handled this dispute, these are critically important improvements to doctors' conditions which will have a clear and directly beneficial impact on patient care, and our doctors were committed to locking in these gains before the State election.
“However, this falls far short of doctors' expectations, and there is much more that needs to be done. Our members are committed to ongoing negotiations as soon as possible to resolve this impasse.”
AMA Victoria President Dr Simon Judkins said that while the improvements to doctors' conditions in the interim agreement were a big win for patients, they would not fix systemic problems across the Victorian health system in the long term.
“While we welcome these important improvements to doctors' conditions which will help us protect patient safety, this interim agreement does not address the systemic problem of understaffing, and to address that we must address remuneration.
“To attract and retain the doctors we need to support quality clinical care, the Victorian Government must be able to provide a package of pay and conditions that effectively competes with other States and Territories.
“This interim agreement does not fix that problem, and this will now be the focus of our industrial and advocacy efforts.
“The fact remains, if we do not have enough doctors in Victoria, we simply cannot address understaffing, fatigue, unsafe working conditions and the threat to patient safety in the long term.
“Ahead of the Victorian State Election, we call on all political parties to put their cards on the table regarding their plans for reforming the Victorian health system and how they will address the systemic issues our members have raised.
“Our doctors remain committed to the comprehensive, long-term reform of our health system to ensure the people of Victoria are provided with the quality healthcare they need and deserve.
“Our Union’s explicit position is that this remains unfinished business and that our campaign will continue up to the Victorian State election and beyond.
“We continue to prepare the groundwork for an intensified and concerted campaign effort in 2027.”
Contact details:
Gabriella White - 0466 435 468