Thursday, 24 September 2026

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:00): (1501) My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation has had 59 meetings regarding enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations with the Department of Health in the last 13 months. Why has the government failed to put a single offer on the table for these hardworking doctors who do so much within our hospitals?

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Special Minister of State) (12:00): I thank Ms Crozier for her question. At the outset can I acknowledge the incredible work that our doctors, junior doctors, doctors in training, medical officers and specialists do right across the health system. I certainly want to acknowledge that the bargaining that is underway at the moment is an important process. I want to respect that process and not cut across that in the chamber during question time, but I do note that there have been a number of meetings with the union and the VHIA and other representatives where we have been seeking to, in good faith, come to an agreement that everybody is comfortable with. Those good faith negotiations are continuing. I certainly, as I have said in the chamber before, respect the rights of the members of the AMA and ASMOF to collectively bargain. On our side of the chamber, those are important principles, and I am not going to cut across those discussions here except to say that I am very much looking forward to these negotiations concluding in a satisfactory way for all parties.

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:02): Minister, thank you for that response. These doctors are so frustrated with what has gone on through this negotiation and bargaining process, and they feel incredibly let down by the disingenuous way in which the government has handled it. Last week, on 15 September, there was planned a 24-hour strike by doctors, and that had been in the planning for three weeks, but it was called off after the government advised it did not believe hospitals could ensure patient safety with the rostering of skeleton staff during the strike period. Do you have the same concerns about patient safety when hospitals will have skeleton staff rostered for tomorrow’s grand final eve public holiday?

The PRESIDENT: I am not too sure how that relates to the substantive, but I will call the minister.

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Special Minister of State) (12:03): I thank Ms Crozier for her supplementary question. In terms of the industrial action that she refers to, ASMOF and the AMA withdrew their 24-hour action that was due to commence last week. There is always an expectation, regardless of whether it is in respect to protected industrial action or any other event, that safe patient staffing levels are in place across our health system. I do want to acknowledge that there has been very good and constructive cooperation on the ground between union representatives and health services when it comes to industrial action. But I do not make any apology for wanting to be assured, as our patients across the state would want to be assured, that safety is never compromised.