AV has presented their draft clause regarding the RSRP model as part of the EB negotiations. To date AEAV has in good faith supported the claim made by VAU to make some amendments to the RSRP model. This is despite our concerns that neither AV nor VAU really understand the issues related to rural spares and that the requested amendments are not adequate. These concerns have been vindicated by the fact that the draft clause provides no acknowledgement of the role of spares in rural and offers no protections to ensure all paramedics are safe at work.

AEAV does understand the issues related to spares rostering and the results of the Spares Impact Survey have confirmed our concerns. In addition, the recent acknowledgement by the SA Government of the safety issues regarding single officer responding in rural areas has resulted in the recently enacted Gayle’s Law – which means paramedics can never be forced to work solo in remote areas. Victorian paramedics need and deserve the same protections, which AV are currently failing to provide. Click here for more information about Gayle’s Law.

AEAV will keep telling AV that the clause to lock in the RSRP model is inadequate and will have a limited impact on spares in rural. The RSRP model does not work for the majority of staff and this is evidenced by the fact that AV has failed to fill the positions available in the RSRP trial. So unless AEAV can instigate and coordinate significant reform, spares will continue to exist for the next 4 years with no protections locked in.

The current treatment of spares is inconsistent across rural Victoria and any ad-hoc protections are at the whim of the respective Regional Management Teams. This is not acceptable. AEAV is calling on AV to promptly resolve this issue to ensure that we end the 8 years of uncertainty for the numerous rural staff who are impacted by spare rostering and the lack of negotiated protections.