Last week, we launched our Getting Rid of Stupid Stuff (GROSS) initiative, a globally recognised framework designed to empower health professionals to help health services:
- Identify and eliminate inefficiencies.
- Boost worker morale and productivity.
- Redirect resources to frontline care.
[More on the origins of GROSS and details of our initiative here: AMAV - Get Rid of 'Stupid Stuff' in Victorian Healthcare]
As part of this initiative, we launched a petition calling on the Victorian Government to implement GROSS across all Victorian health services. With constrained budgets and overstretched resources, every dollar and moment must be spent where it matters most - delivering patient care.
Thank you to all members who have signed and shared the petition. Your voices are making a difference.
Strong early support and media coverage
Since its launch, the campaign has gained significant traction across various platforms. On social media, members and the wider medical community have strongly endorsed the initiative, recognising it as a practical, meaningful step towards reducing unnecessary administrative burdens.
Traditional media has also taken notice, with coverage on ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast (Listen here) and in the Herald Sun (Read here).
Political momentum
The campaign is gaining political momentum, with a mention in Parliament by the Victorian Greens (Hansard, p. 52) and increasing engagement with influential stakeholders. Next week, we will meet with Shadow Health Spokesperson Georgie Crozier to discuss the initiative, and we have received encouraging signals from key areas within the Victorian Government
What now? Help us target ‘Stupid Stuff’!
The petition is just the beginning. Now, we need your help to identify and eliminate the most frustrating inefficiencies.
We are calling on members to share their real-world examples of ‘Stupid Stuff’ — policies, processes, and red tape that waste time, drain resources, and take doctors away from patient care. Submit your examples here.
So far, clinicians have identified issues like:
- Ineffective, duplicate mandatory annual training modules that doctors must repeatedly complete, often across multiple health services.
- Delays and inefficiencies due to essential patient information (results, discharge summaries) not being readily available within or between health services and general practice.
- Poor information flow, such as pathology/radiology results arriving without headers, making it unclear where tests were conducted.
- The administrative burden of managing Workcover patients, particularly regarding certificates and reports.
- Doctors in training having to repeatedly fill out new employment paperwork each time they are re-employed (often yearly or even every six months), and again when rotating to different health services—sometimes completing multiple sets of employment forms in a single year.
- Doctors and other healthcare workers having to perform administrative tasks, like sending faxes or ordering office supplies, due to a lack of administrative support staff.
- Excessive paperwork required to claim CPD allowances (whereas in other states, this is simply included in wages, removing unnecessary “busy work).
- Geriatricians being required to obtain Working With Children Checks.
- Needing to open five different computer programs just to conduct an outpatient clinic.
These inefficiencies don’t just waste time—they impact patient care. Through GROSS, we are working to eliminate them.
Act now to cut the ‘Stupid Stuff’!
- Sign the petition – If you haven’t already, sign it here.
- Share your experiences – Tell us about ‘Stupid Stuff’ that wastes your time here.
- Spread the word – Every example strengthens our advocacy. Encourage your colleagues to contribute and amplify the call for change.
For any questions about the GROSS Initiative, please contact Senior Policy Adviser, Lewis Horton, at [email protected].
Together, we can remove the frustrations that waste time and energy, allowing health professionals to focus on what matters most—patient care. Thank you for your support — let’s keep pushing for meaningful change