Here’s an update on a few of the issues AMA Victoria is working on for members, including:

• Ministerial Review delay hindering workforce progress and bargaining discussions
• Urgent review and revision of Victoria’s sentinel event framework required.
   

Ministerial Review delay hindering workforce progress and bargaining discussions

Since our last update in December 2024, AMA Victoria and ASMOF Victoria have continued to push for the release of the Ministerial Review: Victorian Public Sector Medical Staff,  which examines workplace systems and employment arrangements. Despite sustained advocacy, the Victorian Government has yet to provide a timeline for its release or any clarity on how it intends to respond to its recommendations.

Many of you wrote to your local MPs, as we urged in December, yet inquiries to the Health Minister’s office have simply been redirected to the Department of Health. The Department, in turn, has stated that the matter rests with the Government—leaving members without clear answers.

The Review was handed to Minister Mary-Anne Thomas in May 2024 but remains under embargo, preventing AMA Victoria and ASMOF Victoria from discussing its findings with members or incorporating its recommendations into enterprise bargaining discussions. The Department of Health has requested early negotiations for the next bargaining round, but without clarity on the Government’s position, there is no stable foundation for meaningful discussions.

In recent weeks, we have stepped up our engagement with politicians across the political spectrum, reinforcing the urgency of this issue and the consequences of continued inaction. While the Government has acknowledged that the Review’s recommendations remain under consideration and suggested that updates will follow, no clear commitments or timelines have been offered.

This ongoing delay is not just frustrating—it is actively hindering progress on critical workforce issues. The Review is expected to contain recommendations that address longstanding inequities, including pay disparities between full-time medical specialists and visiting medical officers, as well as structural barriers affecting the efficiency and fairness of medical service delivery in Victoria. It also intersects with proposed workforce and training reforms under the Health Services Plan, making its release essential for informed decision-making.

The Government’s failure to release the Review is negatively impacting its own bargaining process , as the commitments made for the 2022-26 Enterprise Agreement remain unfulfilled. AMA Victoria and ASMOF Victoria will continue to advocate for the immediate release of the Review and will keep members updated as the situation evolves.
 

Urgent review of Victoria’s sentinel event framework needed

AMA Victoria has been actively advocating for urgent reforms to Victoria’s Sentinel Event Framework, highlighting inconsistencies that undermine healthcare safety, transparency, and accountability. The issue has gained traction both politically and publicly, with concerns raised directly with the government and discussed in the Victorian Parliament.

Significant media attention (Calls for urgent reform of Safer Care Victoria after child deaths went unreported | Herald Sun & Children keep dying in Victorian hospitals. Coroners have questions | Herald Sun) has reinforced the urgency of this issue, revealing that hospitals are failing to consistently report potentially preventable child deaths to Safer Care Victoria. As a result, the oversight body remains unaware of critical incidents, exposing major gaps in Victoria’s healthcare safety framework. AMA Victoria has publicly called for immediate reforms, with AMA Victoria President, Dr Jill Tomlinson, stressing that no family should be left searching for answers after losing a child and that real transparency and accountability are long overdue.

At the core of the problem is a misalignment between Victoria’s Sentinel Event Framework and national standards set by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC). Nationally, Sentinel Events are defined as wholly preventable incidents causing serious harm or death, classified into ten strict categories, including wrong-site surgery, medication errors, and the discharge of an infant to an unauthorised person. However, Victoria has introduced an additional category, Category 11, which encompasses all Serious Adverse Patient Safety Events (SAPSEs) that do not fit within the national classifications. Unlike Sentinel Events as defined by ACSQHC, the Victorian Sentinel Events are not wholly preventable, yet they are still labelled as Sentinel Events under the Victorian framework.

This inconsistency has created confusion among healthcare practitioners and the public,  may contribute to the underreporting of paediatric deaths, and weakens oversight of patient safety. Some paediatric deaths may not be reported to Safer Care Victoria simply because they do not meet the Australian Sentinel Event definition, despite falling under Victoria’s broader classification. This misalignment undermines accurate reporting, reduces transparency, and prevents a clear and consistent approach to healthcare safety.

To address these concerns, AMA Victoria has called for a full review and revision of the Sentinel Event Framework to align Victoria’s definitions with national standards. While Safer Care Victoria can recommend changes, only the government can implement the necessary legislative and regulatory amendments. Without reform, gaps in reporting and accountability will persist, leaving Victoria’s healthcare system without the transparency needed to prevent future harm.

AMA Victoria remains committed to working with the government to drive these important reforms, ensuring that every unexpected child death is properly reported and reviewed. The time for action is now.