Victorian Public Sector Medical Staff Workplace Systems and Employment Arrangements

In September 2023 a review of the systems of work and employment arrangements for public hospital medical staff to help identify new ways of working for doctors and inform future health system planning commenced.

The Review was chaired by Greg Smith AM, former Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission, and supported by panel members Professor Rosemary Aldrich, the Director of Population and Public Health at the Grampians Public Health Unit, and Dr Tony Kambourakis, the Director of Medical Services at Alfred Health.

A Final Report of the Ministerial Review was provided to the Minister for Health for consideration in May 2024.

Executive summary and recommendations

The Ministerial Review - Victorian Public Sector Medical Staff – Workplace Systems and Employment Arrangements Final Report addresses several workforce conditions that impact doctors’ health and wellbeing, job satisfaction and behaviours including choice of hours and location of work.

The Final Report provides important insights into the working conditions and experiences of this highly valued workforce. It also highlights the need to continue working closely with our industrial partners and representative bodies to support our medical workforce.

The recommendations address terms and conditions of employment, aiming to improve fairness and equity for doctors, ensure doctors can access rewarding careers and are better recognised for their work, skills and experience.

Government response

Recognising the vital role of the medical workforce, the Victorian Government has accepted all but one of the Final Report’s 20 recommendations either in full or in principle. Agreed recommendations will be progressively implemented, immediately through the next round of bargaining or subject to future budgets.

The Victorian Government will:

• work with industrial partners to address recommended changes to industrial arrangements, in advance of and during future rounds of enterprise bargaining involving public sector doctors.
• implement improvements to Victorian public hospital practices by leveraging off existing advisory groups within Safer Care Victoria and the Department of Health.
• continue to work closely with the Commonwealth on medical workforce matters, raising factors that may impact the efficient training of medical specialists and education of students from rural and regional areas.

The only recommendation the Victorian Government does not support is the establishment of a Doctor’s Advocate. There are several existing mechanisms that address issues of bullying and harassment for the medical and broader healthcare workforce. This includes Safer Care Victoria’s Professional Oversight Group, which is a new contact point for health services to ensure impacts of behaviours of concern are appropriately addressed.

Further work will be undertaken to explore longer term changes to the system outlined in the Final Report. The Victorian Government will also continue to engage and seek feedback from the sector to inform the development of new systems of work and employment that can be considered through future reform.