Since the early nineties, doctors in Victoria have been underpayed compared to their interstate colleagues. After bitter negotiations, the AMA and the Victorian government came to an agreement over a 6-28% pay rise, weighted towards registrars and consultants. Unfortunately, Victorians still can’t match up to the rest of the country.
I guess this sounds like “Poor me! I need more money.” Although a pay rise is nice, that is not the core issue here. Basically, Victorians have been discriminated against for years. Training is very fluid and nationally administered. As trainees get shifted around, you know which state gets the crap? Victoria. And where people do their training affects where they ultimately practice. So the victorian public are not getting the best of the best. They are getting some of the best (those who train here and want to stay here), and some of the rest (who are donated to Victoria from other states).
So why was the deal accepted? An offer of additional public beds and patient capacity. I think this is a nice demonstration of who the real culprits are in poor hospital access. I repeat. In order to sweeten the pay deal, the government offered them extra funding for hospital beds. This is one of the strongest indicators that the system is failing and doctors are under pressure.
Read more about the Doctors for Hospitals Campaign.
At least you have your AMA to negotiate for you. Here north of the border, the choices are between HSU (the union for cleaners) and HSU (the union for everyone who isn’t a nurse). I’d rather have a union that actually understands what my problems are.
@Hildy: You’re right. I am totally dissatisfied with the negotiating and advocating outcomes of the AMA, but at least they exist.