Stop Wage Theft from Junior Doctors

The Campaign

A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. This is an idea that all Australians, regardless of background, political persuasion or profession believe in.

But Victoria’s health authorities have been stealing wages from our junior doctors to ensure they don’t get a fair day’s pay. Week in, week out, our junior doctors are working excessive hours, much of it unpaid. This must change.

Our doctors understand their work calls for long hours. But the hours are excessive and dangerous. More than 60 per cent of doctors surveyed have reported making a clinical error due to exhaustion. Our doctors are fatigued, overworked, and suffering from stress and mental health problems.

In recent years resignations for Victoria’s healthcare workers surged by 20 per cent. If health authorities don’t start to acknowledge the overtime worked by junior doctors, these doctors will continue to leave the profession in their droves and cripple the health system.

There are currently several class actions before the courts aiming to retrieve unpaid overtime for thousands of Victorians doctors - Victoria’s health services are refusing to settle these cases and insisting that doctors go through the stress of legal action.

It’s time the Victorian Government walked the walk instead of merely talking the talk. It has regularly criticised organisations and individuals for wage theft but doesn't seem to have a problem with its own Department of Health refusing to pay junior doctors for their extra hours.

A media release distributed by the Allan Labor Government in December of last year stated that “the Allan Labor Government led the nation in making wage theft a crime”, yet somehow wage theft continues within the government’s own health system.

Victoria’s junior doctors are not asking for a pay rise - they are simply asking to be paid for hours they have already worked. Surely that’s fair.

SUPPORT OUR DOCTORS

If we do not support our junior doctors, we will lose them. If we lose junior doctors, this puts even more pressure on the few that will remain.

Would you like your children’s health to be in the hands of a junior doctor who has worked dozens of hours of unpaid overtime and hasn’t slept properly for weeks? Do you want your hospital wait times to double because there aren’t enough junior doctors available in regional hospitals? Do you want to see our health system buckling under the pressure we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic?

If you answered no to any of the above questions, then tell our leaders that it’s time to stop wage theft from junior doctors!

The Hon. Mary-Anne Thomas, Minister for Health, can direct Victoria’s health services to pay up for unpaid overtime and put an end to court action right now. But she refuses to do so.

It is remarkable that the person in charge of Victoria’s health department is willing to compromise the very system she oversees by failing to support our junior doctors.

It’s time to let The Hon. Mary-Anne Thomas know that this isn’t good enough!

If you want to support the junior doctors who support our health system, then please use the below form, or copy and paste the below email and send it to mary-anne.thomas@parliament.vic.gov.au to let the Victorian Government know that the wage theft from junior doctors needs to stop.

To: mary-anne.thomas@parliament.vic.gov.au

Subject: ATTENTION THE HON. MARY-ANNE THOMAS: STOP STEALING FROM OUR JUNIOR DOCTORS

To The Hon. Mary-Anne Thomas,

As you’re no doubt aware, Victoria’s health services are currently engaged in several class actions claiming unpaid overtime for junior doctors.

In August last year, the Federal Court handed down a judgement in favour of junior doctors and their right to be paid overtime.

It makes no sense to me that the Department of Health and Victoria’s health services would need to be taken to court just to pay their employees for hours they have worked.

Junior doctors work hard in tough conditions to support our health system. How can the head of the Department of Health not want them to be paid for overtime hours they have done to ensure Victorians get the care they deserve?

I shouldn’t need to tell you that junior doctors are crucial to our health system. We need to support them - not force them to go through the stress of unnecessary legal action.

As a Victorian resident and user of our state’s health system, I’m asking you to stop condoning underpayment and order your department and health services to settle these class actions immediately.

We all want what is best for Victoria and Victoria’s health system and it’s obvious to everyone what the best option is - it’s time for you to step up as a leader and do what’s right.

It’s time to stop wage theft from your junior doctors and you can do that!

Kind regards

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Register

IF YOU ARE A DOCTOR, JOIN THE CAUSE

With the support of the Australian Medical Association and Australian Salaried Medical Officer’s Federation, junior doctors have commenced court actions against several Victorian health services for unpaid unrostered overtime.

You can register your interest on a confidential basis if you have worked as a Doctor in Training in Victoria at any time since January 2015.

By registering with the class action:

You will be supporting our campaign for change.
Your details will be kept confidential.
You will not incur costs.
Your hospital and health service will NOT be told about your registration.

The lawyers acting for ASMOF and junior doctors are Gordon Legal and Hayden Stephens and Associates. They will securely hold your details in order to understand your work and keep you updated.