Public Sector Allied Health Professionals will no doubt be aware that the new Enterprise Agreement (voted up but yet to be formally approved by the Fair Work Commission) is structured in order to provide AHPs with the option of developing vocational skills in four primary areas of expertise: managerial, clinical, educational and research.
Developed concurrent with the new Enterprise Agreement, by VAHPA and the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Allied Health Workforce Enhancement Plan. This initiative is a significant one for Allied Health in Victoria and works to give life to the recently negotiated ‘area of expertise’ structure.
The four principal elements of the Workforce Enhancement Plan are:
- An Allied Health Leadership and Mentoring Panel, designed to facilitate the creation of a genuine community of leaders in Allied Health across the educational, managerial, clinical and research streams and to support the development of Allied Health leadership across the career continuum.
- Creation of 10 EFT of new Grade-3 Allied Health Clinical Educator positions, designed to meet a portion of the current demand for rigorous and comprehensive clinical education of Victoria’s Allied Health students in the clinical setting.
- Creation of 10 EFT of new Grade-4 Allied Health Researcher positions, designed to improve the delivery of Allied Health practice through translating favourable research outcomes into clinical practice. Researchers are to be based within the clinical setting.
- An Allied Health Leadership Education Program. This program is to operate along the lines established by the Department’s flagship Leadership, Innovation, Networks and Knowledge program. The aim is to facilitate a shift in the relevant AHPs from localised and professional-based thinking to strategic and organisation systems thinking.
This is a very exciting initiative for Allied Health in Victoria. We look forward to providing you with further details, as we are able to release them.