Doctors working in public hospitals have voted to overwhelmingly reject NSW Labor’s latest pay offer. Almost 6000 doctors, from trainees to senior staff specialists, took part in the secret ballot between August 25 and September 4, which resulted in 75% voting “no”.
Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation of NSW President Dr Nicholas Spooner called on NSW Labor not to ignore the result on September 12. He said the 3% pay offer was “comprehensively rejected” because doctors know it “goes nowhere near addressing the overwhelming crisis in the NSW Health system”.
NSW doctors are paid up to 30% less than colleagues interstate. Spooner said doctors are exhausted from chronic understaffing and therefore work conditions are “unsafe”. “Hospitals will remain understaffed, doctors will continue to face unsustainable levels of fatigue and burnout, and patient safety will continue to be put at risk.
He said this latest offer was also an attempt to “remove doctors’ right to take industrial action indefinitely” for an indefinite period, thereby stripping them of their most bargaining tool.
“Doctors will not accept a deal that undervalues their work and puts patients at risk,” Spooner said. “This was about protecting safe working conditions, preventing burnout and safeguarding the future of public healthcare.
“Unless the government returns to the table with a serious offer that addresses pay, fatigue, understaffing, and patient safety, this dispute will continue and escalate.”
ASMOF Council will now meet with members and delegates to determine next steps, while continuing its arbitration case to demonstrate Labor’s failure to value doctors and address systemic workforce shortages.
Spooner said doctors have lost confidence in this government’s ability to put public health ahead of politics. “We call on the NSW government to put patients first by addressing the serious issues with NSW public hospital doctors’ pay and working conditions.”
The ballot followed months of debate, with thousands of members joining online meetings and hospital meetings to weigh up whether to accept or reject the offer.