News

A large number of members have been exercising their rights under clause 45.1 of the Ambulance Victoria Enterprise Agreement 2020 (Agreement) and refusing to work unreasonable overtime. However, the use of this clause has exposed the lack of a proper process within Ambulance Victoria (AV) to ensure members are able to refuse overtime as per the Agreement.

Yesterday the VAU was contacted by the new Chief Operations Officer Libby Murphy who advised that the Ambulance Victoria (AV) would implement a new process to assist members in getting off shift on time. AV have advised the following:

On 10 January 2022 new end of shift rules will be implemented. Priority 0 warnings will be applied to shorter shifts, including 10 hours, in addition to the existing 12 hours and greater shift rule. All 14 hour shift crews will be placed out of service at shift’s end and they have completed any case they are on.

The VAU have already provided feedback on the specific need for strategies to assist MICA in finishing shift on time (given so many MICA cases are Priority 0) and the need for these arrangements to extend to NEPT crews. Further work will be done in this space.

This is a positive step forward and one that we welcome. However, like all matters in ambulance, once they hit the operational environment, the good intentions are truly tested.

So please use these arrangements and inform the union of any difficulties. None of these improvements happen overnight and it’s important to keep shaping these protections so that they work well and allow you to finish your shift on time.