Law Professor supports AMA view of effect of Trade Practices Act on medical rosters
AMA Vice-President, Dr Trevor Mudge, said an article by a leading law professor in the latest edition of the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) supports the AMA's view that the Trade Practices Act (TPA) imposes unfair and unnecessary pressure on medical rosters.
Professor Warren Pengilley from the School of Law at the University of Newcastle writes in the MJA that: "Medical rosters are not free of trade practices problems, notwithstanding assurances by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)."
Dr Mudge said the AMA has spent years educating its members about the threats the TPA presents to medical rosters and warned that the ACCC watched eagerly for any hint of a breach of the legislation.
"We have a catalogue of predatory behaviour by the ACCC in regard to medical rosters, with there being no better example than the action against Rockhampton obstetricians last year," Dr Mudge said.
"When it comes to doctors, the ACCC approach has always been 'prosecute now and forget about asking any questions later' with unfortunate results for people and communities. Rockhampton now has inadequate private obstetric services.
"Perhaps the mountain of evidence supplied by the AMA over many years - supported by Professor Pengilley's independent evaluation and opinion - will lead to changes. We can only hope," Dr Mudge said.
In his MJA article Professor Pengilley goes on to say that:
"Neither the ACCC nor the recently convened Wilkinson Committee has applied rigorous legal principles in interpreting the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cwlth) to reach its conclusions.
"The Australian law should be changed to bring it in line with that of the United States and New Zealand."
And he concludes:
"The AMA can quite properly join others in pressing for amendments to the Trade Practices Act to bring Australian law into line with that of New Zealand and the United States. Asking for an amendment to this end is, after all, only asking that an Australian drafting error now 25 years old be corrected, and that our trading laws be brought into line with those of two of our major trading partners, whose commitment to competition law principles is certainly no less than our own."
CONTACT: John Flannery (02) 6270 5477 / (0419) 494 761