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The 2024 – 25 Victorian state budget, pitched as the Helping Families budget, was tabled in parliament yesterday. On the surface the budget appears to allocate significant funds to the healthcare sector, but the lack of detail, particularly regarding supports for Allied Health, is concerning.
Healthcare professionals are often hailed as heroes in the face of adversity; however this budget fails to adequately support them. The chronic underfunding of staffing, training, and workplace support programs leaves healthcare workers stretched thin, burnt out, and disillusioned. Without a well-supported and resilient workforce, the aspirations of the budget to deliver high-quality care are but a pipe dream.
“There is clarity in this budget around the allocation towards healthcare infrastructure, which is a welcome step towards modernisation and capacity expansion. But what we aren’t seeing is the allocation of much needed money towards address the growing workforce shortages across much of the sector and especially in relation to Allied Health,” said VAHPA Secretary Craig McGregor.
VAHPA and other health unions had a post-budget briefing session with Health Minister Mary Anne Thomas. The session was open and frank and VAHPA again sought that government honour the funding of the outcomes of bargaining as agreed in mid 2022, including for the 120 promised and much needed clinical educators and the 300 Allied Health leave relievers. It has become clear that the Allan government is unwilling to abide by this deal. This breach of trust will have significant implications for future bargaining.
The government’s primary school dental program, widely referred to as the Smile Squad, was another area of concern for VAHPA officials. The program is largely staffed by Oral Health Therapists, a strongly female workforce. This group of workers continues to be hugely underpaid, to the tune of some $400 per week, despite providing critical and high-level dental care to Victoria’s primary school kids. VAHPA is seeking to have the degree qualified, and AHPRA registered Oral Health Therapists paid AHP1 rates of pay. More news on this campaign in the coming weeks, suffice to say there is growing push among the membership for highly public industrial action in this space.
And today there is talk in the media of the possible amalgamation of some public health services. Yet health unions have not been consulted about any such plans. There is no available detail and this is especially concerning for our workforce and communities, especially in regional and rural areas. Depending on how amalgamations might be implemented, the outcomes can result in savings and a reduction in some layers of bureaucracy but create other problems for workers and patients, such as management decision making being more distant, no increase to staffing levels and access to services not necessarily improved.
Many questions to come and to be answered.