News

Over the past year, the Victorian Ambulance Union has received countless requests from members to conduct a vote of no confidence in the Ambulance Victoria (AV) Executive with members raising serious concerns including low morale, delays and frustrations with enterprise bargaining, and increasing and unsustainable workload.

Above all is a key concern that the Executive of AV are taking the service in a direction that the workforce does not agree with. Members are citing a distinct lack of support to frontline services, as well as inaction from AV towards hospitals to free up ramped ambulance crews, and to Triple Zero Victoria to improve call-taking accuracy. This is leading members to conclude that the AV Executive are allowing the core role of the organisation as an emergency service to suffer, and our members to be obstructed from genuine emergency work and instead used as a utility by other providers. 

The lack of support for frontline staff was exacerbated, following the public response from AV when one of our members came to harm after responding to the community for 18.5 hours straight. This has led to an overwhelming demand for a no-confidence motion to be put forward.

For this reason, the VAU State Council have approved a no confidence motion in the AV Executive. A poll by the AV membership to endorse this motion will be conducted.

Members will be asked if they endorse the following statement.

VAU members of the Ambulance Victoria (AV) workforce have lost confidence in the AV Executive and request the AV Board and Minister for Ambulance Services take urgent action to appoint new management that will be able to build and maintain the confidence of the workforce and to reaffirm AV as the provider of emergency pre-hospital health response to Victorian patients.

The results will be presented to the Minister for Ambulance Services and to the AV Board. 

The vote will be open from 23 July 2024 to 25 July 2024.