For over a year, the union has been advocating that Ambulance Victoria adopt a simple, logical reform: paramedic‑initiated mutual location swaps. When two paramedics live on opposite sides of the city but are rostered to work in each other’s region, they should be able to swap locations. Despite countless examples of paramedics living in the east but working in the west, and vice versa, AV has repeatedly refused to approve mutual swaps.
In one case, the refusal escalated all the way to the Fair Work Commission for conciliation. The outcome was a temporary secondment for one member, but no lasting solution for the other. This only highlighted the core issue: temporary fixes don’t address structural problems.
Mutual swaps offer a permanent, cost‑neutral solution that improves paramedics work–life balance and reduces travel burdens.
Through persistent UWU advocacy and negotiation, members have finally won!
AV has agreed to allow mutual swaps and is working with the UWU to formalise a clear process that all staff can benefit from. This is a significant win for union members, and a practical change that costs AV asboutely nothing but delivers meaningful improvements to the daily lives of paramedics.