AEAV
AEAV
AEAV
AEAV
AEAV

Ambulance Employees Australia - Victoria (AEAV)

All Updates

Letter to Ambulance Victoria regarding 10 hour rest periods

Today the AEAV wrote to Ambulance Victoria (AV), to raise concerns and...

Letter to the Minister for Health regarding Hospital Surge Support Allowance for private NEPT officers

Today the AEAV wrote to the Health Minister, Martin Foley, about the...

ESTA Initiatives Consultation Meeting

Delegate Sharyne Doensen (Tally Ho) and AEAV officials met with ESTA on...

ESTA Service Capability Review

The Minister for Emergency Services Hon. Jaclyn Symes has called for a...

Hospital Surge Support Allowance

The Victorian Government is delivering support to paramedics and frontline workers in...

Stretched to Breaking Point, then Covid-19

AEAV Secretary Brett Adie spoke to Nicole Chvastek on ABC Radio about...

COVID-19 Positive Patient Notification

AV recently announced the implementation of an automated notification system for when...

AEAV Response to draft outline for LM Single Officer and ACO Training Program 'Spares' Trial

On September 27, 2021 AEAV wrote to Ambulance Victoria’s Implementation Lead, Huw...

AV Response Psychometric Testing Overall Outcome Scores

We recently wrote to AV regarding changes to the MICA Selection and...

FTS classification re-evaluation

AEAV has been supporting members at the Financial Transactional Services (FTS) branch...

AV response regarding 'For Cause' AOD testing

Recently we wrote to AV to express our concerns surrounding the processes...

Bendigo and Kangaroo Flat Roster Change

Recently, AV wrote to staff at Bendigo and Kangaroo Flat staff with...

Covid Warning Finally Prioritises Paramedics’ Safety

Victorian paramedics’ safety will no longer be put at greater risk on...

Consultation - Roster Changes - Fact Sheet

If you are covered by the Ambulance Victoria Enterprise Agreement 2020, Ambulance...

MICA Selection Process

The AEAV have written to AV to provide feedback on changes to...

Forthcoming AEAV Member Survey

The AEAV are conducting an opinion survey of members to inform and...

AEAV email to DHHS regarding COVID-19 exposure for Paramedics

In recent days we have heard in the media of an AV...

AEAV response to Medium Acuity Transport Service (MATS)

The AEAV has written to AV to confirm that qualified paramedics who...

'For Cause' testing for AOD

Following the recent unjustified targeting of an AEAV member we have again...

Changes to Air Ambulance Victoria

On August 20, 2021 the AEAV wrote to Ambulance Victoria on behalf...

AVMA Negotiations Update

The Ambulance Victoria Management and Administrative Agreement is currently being negotiated. Discussions...

Work Stress Factsheet

Workplace stress is a serious workplace hazard that can particularly affect workers...

Raise funds for the Code9 Foundation

The Code 9 Foundation supports first responders and Triple 0 call takers...

Lack of consultation at Air Ambulance Victoria

We recently wrote to Ambulance Victoria regarding proposed changes to the branch...

AV and government “gaslighting” to deflect from real cause of demand issues

In recent weeks we have heard the same old tired story from...

AV continues conducting invasive AOD testing without disclosing reasons

Earlier this month AV targeted an AEAV member and threatened the member...

Payrises - ESTA Grandparented Employee's

The AEAV met with ESTA last Wednesday to discuss pay increases for...

Mental Health Action Plan

We recently wrote to Ambulance Victoria regarding their Mental Health Action Plan....

AEAV Bulletin - 5 August 2021

View this email in your browser eBulletin 5 August 2021...

AEAV Bulletin - 14 July 2021

View this email in your browser eBulletin 14 July 2021 On Friday...

MICA Selection & Internship Program

The AEAV will consult with members regarding the changes to MICA selection...

Proposed Medium Acuity Transport Services (MATS) Program

The AEAV met recently with AV, where they announced their intention to...

Parliamentary Secretary’s Emergency Demand Consultative and Advisory Forum

On Thursday the 29th of June 2021, AEAV along with other health...

Member wins against AHPRA

Last year AEAV supported our member Rob Paton, who had his Paramedic...

Ambulance Victoria staff kept in the dark on their work value

Background For many years Ambulance Victoria has used the Mercer CED Job...

ESTA UCC - July 2021

The most recent ESTA Consultative Committee was held on 27 July 2021....

Ambulance Victoria COVID vaccination message

The below message was provided to us by Ambulance Victoria to disseminate...

VEOHRC Review Update

All the submissions are now in, interviews are done and VEOHRC seems...

AVMA Agreement Negotiations

The Ambulance Victoria Management and Administration (AVMA) agreement will be negotiated over...

AEAV Bulletin - 29 June 2021

View this email in your browser eBulletin 29 June 2021 Dear...

Submission to Emergency Demand Consultative and Advisory Forum

We made this submission is in response to the Parliamentary Secretary for...

Meal Break Summary of Issues

It is essential that Ambulance Victoria recognise the importance of meal breaks...

AVMA Agreement Claim - Bullying and Harassment

The most significant issue raised during the VEOHRC review into Ambulance Victoria...

AEAV Bulletin - 18 June 2021

View this email in your browser eBulletin 16 June 2021 Dear...

VEOHRC Update and AEAV Proposed Recommendations

Submissions to the VEOHRC Review have been completed, and they will be...

Meal Break Consultation

AEAV met with AV to discuss issues about lack of staff consultation...

AVEA Implementation Working Group

On the 21st of January 2021 AV held the first meeting of...

Vaccinations - Factsheet

Ambulance Victoria staff are strongly encouraged to get a COVID-19 vaccination due...

Response from Hon Danny Pearson MP regarding ESTA staffing levels

The AEAV recently wrote to the Acting Minister for Police and Emergency Services Danny Pearson...

ESTA UCC Report June 2021

Recruitment for dispatch roles The AEAV raised the issue of recruitment for...

Letter to AV regarding vaccination rates

In light of the recent lockdown in Victoria, there has been some...

Bullying - Factsheet

What is workplace bullying? Workplace bullying is verbal, physical, social, or psychological...

Welfare Meetings - Factsheet

AEAV have been advised that Ambulance Victoria are undertaking performance management and...

Flexible Work - Factsheet

Flexible Work Ambulance Victoria Employees have several options for flexible work for...

Additional ESTA funding

The AEAV have written to ESTA to clarify how the additional staffing...

AEAV Bulletin - 28 May 2021

eBulletin 28 May 2021 Dear *|FNAME|*, With the re-emergence of strict...

ESTA Workplace Stress Survey Results - 2021

Staffing levels at the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) have been chronically...

Supporting HSR's

Health and Safety Representatives (HSR’s, OHS Representative) have a key role in...

Ambulance Victoria - manipulating reporting numbers

Ambulance Victoria (AV) has been caught out using ‘creative accounting’ to publicly...

AEAV letter to Minister regarding ESTA staffing levels

Staffing levels at the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) or Triple 0,...

AEAV letter to AV regarding meal breaks

Ambulance Victoria recently announced changes to meal break provisions for on road...

Emergency health investment welcomed – full system review required

Ambulance Employees Australia – Victoria (AEAV) welcomes Friday’s announcement of a significant...

AEAV Bulletin - 11 May 2021

eBulletin 11 May 2021 Dear *|FNAME|*, On Friday the Health Minister, Martin...

AEAV member challenges ‘boys club’ culture and wins

The AEAV recently represented a member who applied for lateral transfer into...

EBA Working Groups - Update

On 3 May 2021, the AEAV met with Ambulance Victoria as part...

ESTA HSR's and current stress

The current staffing crisis has highlighted how much ESTA staff are at...

Meal Breaks and Breaks at Hospital - Factsheet

Ambulance Victoria recently announced they had “discussed with the respective unions” a...

Submission to Financial Transaction Services change process

The period for providing feedback about the FTS change process has now...

VEOHRC Information Sessions

VEOHRC have recently run information sessions for the AEAV and members, providing...

Preference Lists Under Threat

Ambulance Victoria have unilaterally and inconsistently decided to change the rules regarding...

Delegate Training & Planning

A group of AEAV Delegates from Ambulance Victoria and ESTA gathered at...

Paramedics welfare sacrificed to achieve AV targets

Often meaningless operational KPIs have stripped away the resilience and capability of...

AV and ESTA have seen the crisis coming

The current crisis in emergency health care is not a surprise to...

Vaccinations - leave access for side-effects

The AEAV have written to the Minister for Health to seek availability...

Clean Up AV Suggestion Box

The Clean Up AV campaign is preparing their submission to the VEOHRC...

ESTA Staffing review - delay, delay and more delay

STAFFING AT ESTA IS TOO LOW AND THE ESTA STAFFING REVIEW PROCESS...

AEAV AOD Submission

After extensive consultation with members, the AEAV has released 18 recommendations for...

Financial Services Redesign - Update

The biggest questions coming out of the Financial Services Redesign are about...

AV Psychosocial Survey results - 2019

A strong focus of AV’s response to the media when questioned about...

VEOHRC Review Update

Nearly 2000 people have filled in VEOHRC surveys outlining their experiences with...

Explainer Ketamine Video

Check out our handy explainer video about the risks of occupational exposure...

ESTA Manual Operations

ESTA had scheduled a CAD upgrade, that requires reverting to manual operations,...

OHS forms for Ketamine Exposure

It’s important to protect yourself in the event of occupational exposure, so...

What will improve Ambulance Victoria culture?

Ambulance Victoria employees have been sharing pictures on social media to highlight...

Vaccine Rollout

Since news of the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccines, representatives of...

Bullying and Harassment Survey Results

In November 2020, the AEAV commenced a survey of Ambulance Victoria staff...

ESTA Staffing Review Update

The AEAV has been at ESTA sites Tally Ho and BalSECC to...

AV delays Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) protection

It seems AV are delaying the introduction of protections for members using...

Financial Transactional Services Review

Ambulance Victoria are currently consulting with staff around the redesign of Financial...

FWA Changes Are Not The Full Picture

AEAV has been in consultation with AV regarding a proposed change to...

Ketamine Incidents

Environmental/occupational exposure to Ketamine happens and the consequences can be catastrophic if...

COVID Vaccinations

Since news of the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccines, representatives of...

ESTA Staffing Review Update

The AEAV has been at ESTA sites Tally Ho and BalSECC to discuss the staffing review with members and get feedback on our proposed recommendations.

The Staffing Review process has been delayed as a result of ESTA not providing data in a timely manner. The delay provides us with the opportunity to add additional recommendations to our submission.

As a result of feedback and some more suggestions from members, we have amended some recommendations and added some others. These are available HERE.

The amended timetable for the staffing review is:

Deadline for submissions 23 April 2021.

Deadline for response to submissions 30 April 2021.

Meeting to consider submissions and questions from chair Tuesday 4 May

Meeting to discuss responses and initial views from chair 18 May

Meeting to discuss further views 25 May

Submission from chair to CEO early June 2021.

If you have feedback about the recommendations or questions about the review, please contact the AEAV office at 03 9287 1713 or [email protected]

ESTA Staffing Review Update

The AEAV has been at ESTA sites Tally Ho and BalSECC to...

FWA changes are not the full picture

AEAV has been in consultation with AV regarding a proposed change to the wording of rural ‘spare’ FWA contracts. AEAV has informed AV that we cannot and will not endorse the proposed amendments as the AEAV does not believe the contract should be ‘buttered up’ to make it look better than it actually is.

The proposal is to remove wording which was causing concern amongst staff. The AEAV does not support the removal because the new FWA template does not accurately reflect the conditions on which a rural paramedic can have their roster changed without mutual agreement. AV has confirmed that Clauses 37 and 43 of the 2020 EA will remain the overriding principles and the exclusion of the disputed clauses is for cosmetic reasons only.

The relevant clauses of the 2020 AV Enterprise Agreement are:

37.1 Resources will be allocated to meet service demand. Employees will be required to perform all work they are competent to perform and accept the requirement for flexibility in relation to work arrangements and mobility between work locations to meet the Employer’s operational and service delivery requirements.

43.2 The Employer can change a roster on 28 days’ notice to the affected employees or a lesser period by agreement with the employee or in the case of an unforeseen or urgent circumstance.

43.3 The Employer can change start and finish times, without agreement subject to 28 days’ notice to the affected employees and consultation so employees have the opportunity to raise issues with their personal and family circumstances.

Removing this wording from the FWA contract has no effect on the right of AV to change your roster times and location as specified above. The EA is the underpinning rules of your employment and will remain so. Although the incidence is rare, it is still a right that AV has, irrespective of the wording in the FWA. Members can still lodge a grievance if the change does not suit personal and family circumstances.

The AEAV believes that members should be fully informed and AV should not succumb to pressure from external parties to incorrectly inform staff that the only time your roster can be changed is by mutual agreement. This is simply not the case and as your Union it is our responsibility to ensure that you are informed.

The advice from AV is that after considerable pressure they are going to amend the FWA template anyway, despite their initial intention to ensure that staff are fully informed.

This highlights the issues around rural ‘spares’ which have been ignored for 10 years. The AEAV has ensured that the rules around rural ‘spare’ will be addressed over the next 12 months. To have your say on the rural ‘spare’ issue contact us at [email protected] or call us on 9287 1713.

FWA changes are not the full picture

AEAV has been in consultation with AV regarding a proposed change to...

Covid Vaccinations

Since news of the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccines, representatives of the United Workers Union have been in regular contact with Federal, State and Territory governments to ensure our front-line members, like those working in Ambulance, are part of the dialogue. As the AEAV is part of one of the biggest union’s in the country and is the biggest union for ambulance employees your voice is heard on this issue.

At an initial meeting with the Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on 13 January 2021, UWU, along with the Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation and other health unions identified many questions about the approval process, the efficacy of the vaccine, and of the roll out that AEAV members require answers to.

Since then, your union has had a detailed technical briefing with the Chief Medical Officer at a federal level and continuing to be involved in discussions with Department of Health officials in each state and territory as the roll out commenced this week.

Some of the information regarding this is available on the UWU website. https://www.unitedworkers.org.au/vaccine/. The landscape is changing day to day and any updates will be provided via this link.

You will see that there are references to “ambulance subgroups” being part of group 1a. While where possible all Ambulance employees will be part of group 1a, priority is being given to those who work in the areas responsible for responding to hotel quarantine or international border entry as these have been identified as high-risk areas.

The roll out of the vaccine is being managed by the Federal Government and state Departments of Health are working to operationalise this happening. Ambulance services are part of this picture but are not in control of dictating the priority areas.

The limitations around transporting the Pfizer vaccine also pose logistical issues for Ambulance members in more remote areas of Australia. These issues are being worked through with each state jurisdictional service.

All ambulance staff should be prepared that while there are no mandatory directives around the vaccine in the broader community, PPE will continue to be part of business as usual.

If you have specific questions which are unable to be answered from the information contained at https://www.unitedworkers.org.au/vaccine/ please don’t hesitate to contact the AEAV office at 03 9287 1713 or [email protected]

Covid Vaccinations

Since news of the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccines, representatives of...

Ketamine Incidents

Environmental/occupational exposure to Ketamine happens and the consequences can be catastrophic if...

Ketamine Incidents

Environmental/occupational exposure to Ketamine happens and the consequences can be catastrophic if you work for Ambulance Victoria. The smallest detected amount in your system can severely damage your career and your mental health.

AV have made no effort to this point to understand how occupational exposure occurs, however they have been very quick to deem everyone with a non-negative test result guilty of using Ketamine. This is a risk to your health and safety and AV have a responsibility to mitigate that risk.

Ambulance Victoria’s zero-tolerance drug policy has resulted in Paramedics being stood down for extended months at a time, pending a half-baked investigation. The levels detected are generally below internationally acceptable levels and are indicative of occupational exposure, not ingestion.

Given that the source of the miniscule test results has not been identified by AV we are encouraging staff to take action to protect themselves. In any situation where you are in contact with an open ampoule or vial of Ketamine you should complete the following steps:

Document the exposure via an incident report (estimated completion time less than 5 minutes)

If a colleague is present, record them as a witness

Contact the Union to discuss any other steps you may need to take

We also encourage you to download our ketamine poster with a QR code to a shortened online incident report form, and put it up in your branch so you have quick and easy access.