Arabic version: أطباء فيكتوريا يؤكدون إضراباً في مستشفيات ملبورن الكبرى

According to ABC News, doctors will walk off the job at several major public hospitals in Melbourne on August 13 as a pay dispute with the Victorian government continues. The action is described as the first protected industrial action at Victorian public hospitals for 20 years.

The Australian Medical Association Victoria said public hospital doctors at hospitals in Parkville and Melbourne’s CBD will stop work from 12:30pm until 4pm. Workers will rally in Grattan Street. The action involves members of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation.

Hospitals affected include the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Royal Women’s Hospital, as well as other facilities. Affected hospitals have been asked to reschedule non-life-threatening appointments. Doctors working in emergency departments and other critical frontline services are not expected to take part in the work ban.

AMAV president Simon Judkins said doctors had been negotiating with the government over pay and conditions for 12 months. He said doctors in training reported high levels of fatigue and stress, while some doctors and consultants were not paid for overtime. The association said 97 per cent of union members voted in favour of the protected industrial action.

Alongside the Melbourne hospital work bans, doctors will begin statewide actions including disrupting patient billing, refusing unscheduled overtime, and declining to answer emails and phone calls from hospital management. The Victorian branch of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation is set to take industrial action ahead of the November state election.