The Victorian Centre for Advancement in Allied Health: A Win for Allied Health with a Catch.

In Short:

• The Allan Labor Government announced that Monash Health has been appointed to host the new Victorian Centre for Advancement in Allied Health (VCAAH).

• It’s stated that the VCAAH will co-locate health services, academic supports, and unions with the sole focus of supporting and developing the Allied Health workforce.

• We at VAHPA have concerns with Monash Health hosting the centre, given their track record of non-compliance with enterprise agreements.

In a big win for Allied Health Professionals, the Allan Labor Government announced that Monash Health has been appointed to host and manage the new $3.4m Victorian Centre for Advancement in Allied Health.

The new centre was part of a package of Allied Health advancements created by the State Government coming out of the last round of public sector enterprise bargaining.

Core functions of the VCAAH will include:

• Improving the profile and visibility of the Allied Health workforce.

• Supporting statewide workforce planning.

• Improving Allied Health Professional practice, service design, and system policy.

• Encouraging the uptake of evidence-based clinical methods.

• Helping Allied Health Professionals develop and provide leadership across the sector.

But with Monash Health being the successful tender for the centre, it’s not all sunshine and roses.

Monash Health has a history of non-compliance with their enterprise agreements, alongside proposing recent changes to their structure that would downgrade the roles and recognition of Allied Health at Monash Health.

VAHPA fought against these negative changes, and while Monash Health did not proceed with many of them, they have still failed to implement their full allocation of Director and Deputy Director roles that were allocated to them under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Make no mistake. We’re looking forward to this centre going ahead as it will be an important resource for all Allied Health Professionals across Victoria. But with our concerns around Monash Health hosting the centre, we will monitor them and work with our members to ensure the VCAAH works for the benefit of Allied Health Professionals.