AMA ACT President - Enterprise Agreement Update

On Monday night of this week, following a bargaining meeting earlier that day, AMA ACT received a letter of offer from Health Minister, Rachel Stephen Smith that the AMA ACT Board considered last night.

In essence, the ACT Government has offered to:

• Implement the pay increases, back pay and other changes that were previously put to the vote
• Undertake a short period of further bargaining to explore the remaining claims
• Jointly undertake with AMA and ASMOF a comprehensive review of the current Medical Practitioners EA
• Implement these matters via an ‘interim’ EA that concludes on 30 June 2025

Why is the ACT Government Doing this?

The ACT Government says they are proposing the ‘interim’ EA because there is not enough time before the ‘Caretaker’ period begins to make any further funding available through the Legislative Assembly process. ‘Caretaker’ is the period prior to an election where Government refrains from making policy decisions and, for the upcoming election,  it begins on 13 September.

Given that the ACT Government has known about our salary claims for about two years, this response is disappointing to say the least.  

Where to from Here?

First and foremost, the AMA ACT Board wants to know what members think of the Government’s offer and the simplest and quickest way to do this is by a survey.  We will do this as soon as possible.

However, if we are to make an informed decision, we will need to know precisely what the Government is offering. These are the key matters AMA ACT wants to know on behalf of our members:

• What other claims will be agreed to go into the EA?
• What does the review of the MPEA entail?

Other Claims to go in EA

The most likely additional claims to be included are simplified cashing out of ADOs , Training Time for Registrars and, 3 year contracts for interns.

The proposed clause for Training Time can be found here.

We will continue to engage on these matters with the next bargaining meeting on Monday of next week.

Review of the MPEA

We know that the MPEA is not fit for purpose with salaries, classification structures, recruitment and retention, training arrangements, rostering, oncall and overtime arrangements all problematic. No doubt you can think of many others too.

We would want all of these matters to be part of the review.

Given how slow and drawn out enterprise bargaining has been over several negotiating cycles, we would also want enforceable timeframes in place for the review.

The ACT Government has proposed that the Australian Fair Work Commission facilitates the discussions, and this seems reasonable.

Finally, we want to ensure that, if we can’t reach agreement on one or more issues, we can have a judge of the Australian Fair Work Commission listen to the evidence and decide the outcome. This is fundamental to AMA ACT being able to trust the process.

These are our demands of the ACT Government if the review was to proceed.

What Happens Next?

This EA has taken far too long, and quick and decisive action needs to be the order of the day.

We have made it clear to the ACT Government that they need to urgently come to the party and spell out the exact terms that are on the table. That way, all us - AMA  ACT members and Board – can better understand the choices we face. And the actions we need to take.

In brief, we need to understand what the ‘interim’ EA contains, including the precise details of the MPEA review, and then ask our members for their views.

For all of us, our patience is wearing thin, but we ask that you continue to engage so that we can negotiate an EA that addresses workforce sustainability and provides an attractive range of conditions for all members of our medical workforce, no matter where they are in their career.

Regards

Dr Kerrie Aust