Mike Hardwick – AEAWA Vice President
Lee Waller – AEAWA Secretary
Jon Nobel – AEAWA Transport Delegate (Metro)
Karen Gerristen – AEAWA Transport Delegate (Metro)
Amanda Howell – AEAWA Transport Delegate (Country)
Anne Briede – AEAWA Transport Delegate (Country)
To view what is occurring in your Ambulance Transport officer negotiations click here.
St John listed the ‘final revised offer’ for the 2023-2026 Ambulance Transport Officers EBA negotiations which is attached here.
The AEAWA were also provided the 31 clauses (listed below); click here to review.
The AEAWA would like all Ambulance Transport Officer and Medic members to view this offer and let us know what you think by emailing [email protected]., once it is posted on Connect. When we have received your feedback, the AEAWA Executive will formally write to St John to advise them on our answer.
As soon a response is received from St John, we will update our members. Thanks again for all of your support and patience through these negotiations, they are often long and arduous, however, we have been able to successfully negotiate this new offer.
The AEAWA Executive
St John listed the ‘final offer’ for the 2023-2026 Ambulance Transport Officers EBA negotiations which is attached here.
The AEAWA were also provided the 31 clauses (listed below) to review.
Clause 1 Agreement Title
Clause 25.X – Reasonable Overtime
Clause 11 – Part Time Undertaking
Clause 25 – Overtime Undertaking
Clause 32 – Termination by Employee
Clause 35 – Transition to Retirement
Clause 3 – Definitions
Clause 9 – Professional
Clause 10 – Casual Employee
Clause 17.1 – Travel Allowance
Clause 17.5 – On Road Tutor
Clause 17.10 – Watches/Glasses Allowance
Clause 17.11 – Uniform Allowance
Clause 17.12 – Funeral Expenses
Clause 17.3 – Specialist Vehicle Allowance
Clause 17.13 -17.24 Country Allowances
Clause 20 – Secondments
Clause 22.2 – Working with a Medic
Clause X.X – Meal Breaks
Clause 23.1 – Hours of Work (General)
Clause 23.2 – Allocated Positions
Clause 26 – Superannuation
Clause 27.1 – Annual Leave
Clause 27.2 – Personal Leave
Clause 27.7 – Public Holidays
Clause 27.14 – Special Leave
Clause 27.17/18 – Family/Domestic Violence Leave
New Clause – Cultural/Ceremonial Leave
Clause XX – Overnight Travel Meal Reimbursement
Clause XX – Shift Commencement Checks
New Clause – Working with Volunteers
The AEAWA would like all Ambulance Transport Officer and Medic members to view this offer and let us know what you think by emailing [email protected]. Once we have received your feedback, the AEAWA Executive will formally write to St John to advise them on our answer. That letter is available here.
As soon a response is received from St John, we will update our members. Thanks again for all of your support and patience through these negotiations, they are often long and arduous, however, the AEAWA believe you are worth more than this presented offer.
The AEAWA Executive
Meeting Chaired by
Natalie Adams
Meeting Time
10:00-12:00
AEAWA Attendees
Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, Jon Nobel, and Karen Gerristen.
SJA Attendees
Alan Clyne, Tony Fitzgerald, Edmund Pau, Natalie Adams, and Stephanie Freemantle
The Claims
Medic Travel Allowance
A claim for Medics to have their Home Depot listed as a Paramedic depot and not a Transport one. This is a significant difference for the travel allowance calculation as there are more Paramedic depots than Transport, so that Medic will be able to claim greater kilometers when they use the travel matrix. St John are still reviewing this and will return to the table shortly to discuss.
Specialist Vehicle Allowance
At the previous meeting Sr John stated that they were not opposed to this allowance and needed so time to look at the costings for this. The AEAWA had sent out claim through weeks ago with the allowance total, whilst another bargaining group did not. This has delayed this discussion, so it will take place at a future meeting.
Travel Allowance
The claim to increase the Travel Allowance Matrix totals were rejected by St John with the rationale that the 81c per kilometer total currently contained within the Agreement is more than the total for travel defined by the Australian Tax Office.
Travel Matrix
Another bargaining group have had an issue with the Travel Matrix definitions of the ‘quickest route’ by time and kilometers. At a previous meeting it was agreed that there would be a calculation table placed into the Certified Agreement. St John states it’s always been shortest distance that the calculation is performed on.
St John have stated they have not changed calculation. St John also stated that they would not apply the fastest route to calculate the difference, and will always keep the shortest distance route to apply the allowance.
Casual Time and Travel Allowance
Another bargaining group had a claim for all casuals to be entitled to access this allowance. St John have stated that casual officers will be entitled to travel for CEP, but they are not entitled to Travel Allowances as they do not have a Home Depot to calculate that from. Casuals in the current Ambulance Transport Officer Certified Agreement are exempt under the ‘Home Depot’ definition section, hence they can not claim the allowance.
The AEAWA had a claim for casual officers who attend a rostered location, and they are subsequently moved to another location should be paid this travel component. St John have agreed to this and have stated that they will pay the allowance for an officer who commences shift and is then relocated to another depot. The issue the AEAWA has with this is that the Certified Agreement does not state that an employee who commences shift and subsequently moves to another depot is entitled to claim Travel Allowance. The AEAWA want this in the Agreement, especially if St John are stating they will pay it, why not include that statement in the Agreement.
What will happen is an officer will try to claim this and it will be declined, which generally leads to a fight to get the allowance for the officer, why not bypass this process. Don’t get us wrong the AEAWA are more than happy to fight St John for an underpayment, why place officers in a financially stressful situation when a line in the Certified Agreement would solve the issue.
Country Transport Officers and Immediate Call Backs
Further discussions will occur at another meeting regarding this claim as the Country Ops team still need to review this.
Shift Commencement and Day Worked
This was a St John claim, that effectively means if you work a Saturday night shift 18:00 till 02:00 your shift will be defined as the Saturday night shift. Generally, not an issue except for if you get a higher hourly rate for a Sunday (or working into the Public Holiday) you will not get the higher rate on the last two hours (in this example) of the shift. This was rejected.
Additional Leave
A claim from another bargaining group for splitting the current six-week leave blocks into a fourweek leave (assigned as normal to a leave block) and the additional two-weeks to be able to be taken at any time (as a two-week block, two one-week blocks or ten separate days). This is not a claim for an extra two weeks, it is a claim for employees to be able to split their leave. St John have stated floating leave blocks would be a rostering nightmare but are happy to discuss this issue. The AEAWA have stated many of our members would not like this split, they don’t want to call St John constantly to access their own leave. The AEAWA admits that this may suit some but not all.
Special Leave
St John have considered the AEAWA claim and agree the max to 96 hours for an employee’s special leave bank and the negative of 48 hours. St John also agree to implementing a 96-hour cap on the hours. St John have also agreed to increasing the special leave total of officers off to 7%. St John are still thinking about the double capped rate for special leave.
Pre-Shift Checks
St John have reviewed the AEAWA claim and there is an agreement by St John that metro Transport crews do not have to roll out asap. They are a booked service, so there is time for officers to perform a vehicle check before they move out. The AEAWA claim for the Medics and Country Transport Officers are still ongoing.
Health and Wellbeing Allowance
Another bargaining group had a claim for employees to purchase this equipment rather than hiring it. St John will not support the purchase of equipment for the allowance, as employees could buy this equipment on then sell it later. Yes, we feel just as valued our employer thinks this as you do….. #trust-issues. Anyway the discussions continue.
Single Day Return Transfer Meal Allowance
St John are still in the process of costing this claim and will respond shortly.
Cleaning Allowance
St John stated they will not place this in the Agreement, but they will pay the overtime rates to clean the vehicle after the crew returns to the depot. The AEAWA stated this is ok if a crew returns to the depot 10 minutes after they knock off, then they clean the vehicle and restock it for 20-minures effectively claiming 30 minutes overtime. This in the past is claimed with no issues.
The problem is, is if a crew gets back one minute before they knock off and claim the 30-minutes this has been knocked back, as CAD knocks the crew off on knock off time, so the question is asked why the crew is claiming 30-minutes. This is in other St John Agreements, the AEAWA would like this in the Transport Agreement.
Meeting Closed
Meeting ceased at 12:00
Next Meeting
Friday July 7th July, 202
Meeting Chaired By
Rene Anderson.
Meeting Conducted
10:00 – 16:00.
Committee Attendees
Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, Karen Gerristen and Jon Noble.
Committee Apologies
John Thomas, Amanda Howell and Anne Briede.
St John Attendees
Alan Clyne, Tony Fitzgerald, Rene Anderson, Edmund Pau, Stephanie Freemantle and Simon Hughes.
This meeting was scheduled for an all-day meeting as the log of claims for all parties still haven’t been presented. The AEAWA had multiple items to present for Transport Officers within the country regions.
Agenda Items
Increased Travel Allowance
The AEAWA discussed their claim which aligned with an increase of 5% across the Travel Allowance table (which was developed by the Australian Tax Office [ATO]). There was also discussion on the definition of ‘Home Depot’. This was due to Transport Officers driving past multiple depots (as there are no Transport vehicles at that location), hence they cannot claim travel.Unless there is a Transport vehicle at a location, Transport Officers can only claim travel from a Transport Depot.
St John will review the increase to Travel Allowance; however, St John did discuss the calculation they currently pay is over and above the totals stipulated by the ATO. The current definition in the Transport Certified Agreement will need to change if this claim was accepted, as this does not allow for Transport Officers to claim this allowance.
Changes to Casuals Rostered Shift
Another bargaining group presented a claim for casual Transport Officers who are moved to different locations both before their shift has commenced and after should be paid a travel allowance. There is also an AEAWA claim to have those officers compensated for moving to another location once their shift commenced. This is currently being reviewed by St John.
Duty Allowance
St John are not opposed to a specialty allowance to work on vehicles such as the MPTV, the Wheelchair vehicle and the CPAT vehicle. The AEAWA suggested the officer’s hourly rate should be the equivalent allowance to work on the vehicle. St John is currently reviewing the costings for the entire claim.
Transport Officers Progression
The AEAWA’s claim was to have a clear and defined progression for all officers. Basically, if an officer does a specific role, how do they progress to another. What do they have to do to progress, what qualifications do they need, what time limits do they need to apply for a position all need to be made available.
St John stated that they are currently looking at this and further information will be provided, they are also happy with the progression policy for the Communications Officers and want to implement something similar.
Tiered Pay Scales for Medics
The AEAWA presented the pay for our Medics. These can be seen in the AEAWA Log of Claims. St John will review these increases and place them into the overall cost of the claim.
Tiered Pay Scales for Transport Officers
The AEAWA presented the pay scales for our Transport Officers, like all of the AEAWA claims regarding pay, all pay tiers are to align in one, two, three, four and seven year increments (5% between each pay tier), with the seventh year noting seniority in the role. These can be seen in the AEAWA Log of Claims. St John will review these increases and place them into the overall cost of the claim.
Pre-Shift Checks
St John do not want officers to start early as they will not be performing emergency work. They would prefer officers to roll out to the job when they have done a full vehicle check. If the vehicle is dirty, under stocked etc, like what was discussed in the JCC St John want employees to contact dispatch to advise them they may be longer. The AEAWA raised concerns (like we did with the Paramedic EBA), that often staff feel pressured to attend the calls. Examples were given when booking times were from 05:30 in the morning, and crews who start at 06:00 were being advised to go to the scene as soon as they commenced. Crews are already late to these types of calls, as the booking time is before they start.
The AEAWA also discussed this is different for country Transport Officers, who often (due to the minimal paramedic levels in the country) attend emergency calls. Theses officers must be ready to go but are not awarded the time to properly check the vehicles.
Working with Volunteers
The surge plan was discussed for both country and metro areas. The Paramedic/Ambulance Officers Agreement has a minimum driver standard of a volunteer. This is to protect career staff and ensure those who are driving the vehicle are adequately trained to do so. If Medics, or Transport Officers are required under some surge plan to be deployed, then the individuals they are working with, must trained to drive the vehicle.
Roster Changes
St John will discuss this as a travel package, with the other current items. They will also cost the travel component of the allowance.
Additional Leave
Another bargaining group discussed the ability for officers to take two weeks of their leave in small allotments. St John stated this would be very hard to schedule, as many people would most likely go for the Christmas, Easter periods. Discussions went on that many officers do not like the current leave split allocation, some like the whole 6-weeks, some want the 4-week break with the ability to break up the last 2- week period, and others want three 2-week periods. This claim was rejected by St John.
Trainer Classifications
St John presented a claim to implement a Transport Trainer and a Medic Trainer into the Agreement. The same percentage upload (for the hourly pay rate) for both officers will exist in the Agreement. They will both align to the college rate whilst working in the college. The AEAWA agreed to the implementations of the roles but need to discuss the payments around the level classifications at a further meeting.
Access to CEP
Medics are not covered in the consultation process for CEP. This needs to be changed. St John agree, and the current work being performed around the Trainer Classification, should clear this up. This detail will be made available shortly.
Medic Mentoring
Another bargaining group asked for 24-weeks mentoring with a Paramedic in metro. St John rejected this claim as they believed numerous consultations (some in Fair Work) have occurred with the current Medic pathway. St John cannot facilitate 24-weeks of mentoring. The initial mentoring period plus the 10-shifts with the CSP is appropriate.
Medic Pathway to Metro Ambulance
St John has made a lot of changes post consultation during these EBA negotiations. So, a type of pathway for these employees is currently being developed. These implementations will be discussed throughout these negotiations.
Single Day Transfers
An allowance of $33 for crews who do 400km round trips in one shift was not opposed by St John, but they will discuss this claim with the overall costings.
Cleaning Time
The Paramedic/Ambulance Officers Agreement allows for a crew to be paid double-time for 30-minutes to adequately clean and restock their vehicle after shift. The AEAWA would like this Clause to be imported into the Transport Officers Agreement. This was discussed at length, with no final answer. St John will review the AEAWA claim and come back with an answer shortly.
Reasonable Overtime
The Paramedic/Ambulance Officers Agreement has a reasonable overtime clause, this again was the result of a dispute at the Fair Work Commission, which resulted in this clause being implemented to potentially reduce officer unreasonable overtime. St John will review the AEAWA clause and return soon with an answer.
Daily Loading
Another bargaining group had a claim for extra skill requirements and responsibility of Transport Officers doing higher acuity calls. A claim for 15% daily loading was introduced if a crew attends a priority call. This claim would only be for if you attend a higher acuity community call. This claim is being reviewed by St John.
End of Meeting Discussion
St Johns now have all claims with explanations. They will perform a costing and will return to the next meeting with some further information.
Next Meeting
The next Ambulance Transport EBA meeting (Meeting 8) is scheduled for Wednesday June 28th between 08:30-16:30.
The Consolidated Log of Claims
After each EBA negotiation meeting, a summary of discussions and status of claims is listed here. To view the consolidated log please click here.
Meeting Chaired By
Rene Anderson.
Meeting Conducted
10:00 – 13:00.
Committee Attendees
Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, Karen Gerristen and Jon Nobel.
Committee Apologies
John Thomas, Amanda Howell and Anne Briede.
St John Attendees
Alan Clyne, Tony Fitzgerald, Rene Anderson, Edmund Pau, Stephanie Freemantle and Simon Hughes.
Agenda Items
Progression Claims
Talks occurred around the various pay scales for our Medic members. This classification does not progress in yearly pay scales like other classifications do. Currently the AEAWA have had numerous discussions with St John about progressing the Medics into the Paramedic stream. St John are supportive of this, however, would like to see what the pay structure will be.
The AEAWA would like the pay scales to align with the following time frames (increasing 5% in each quantum). Paid at years 1-4, and at year 7 (to designate seniority within the position). St John will cost this progression for all pay scales for all officers contained within the Agreement (all Transport Officers/Medics/MHTOs etc) and will present this in future meetings.
Superannuation
The AEAWA agreed to the word changing in this claim which effectively means that REST has become the default superannuation fund.
Vehicle Allowances
There was discussion about the NETS, Wheelchair Vehicle and the Multi-Patient Transport Vehicles attracting an allowance for those that are rostered to work on it. If an officer is rostered for the shift or part thereof, they will be able to claim the allowance. After numerous meetings, St John took the AEAWA’s advice incorporating a minimum of two mentoring shifts on the wheelchair vehicle into policy. This was for all officers to understand the position.
Family and Domestic Violence Leave
The AEAWA agreed to the word changing in this claim.
Medic Allowances
The AEAWA presented the Medic progression of allowances across this current negotiated Agreement.
Shift Commencement and Day Worked
There were issues with the definition of the shift start time being considered the day worked. In essence if you are rostered 18:00-02:00 on a non-public holiday and your last two hours of your shift goes into the public holiday your last two hours would not be paid at public holiday rates. The AEAWA want further discussions on this claim.
Sunday Penalty
Another bargaining representative group had a claim to increase the Sunday penalty rate. St John rejected this claim, as their employees get a better penalty than what is currently listed in the award.
Travel Allowance Formula
Another bargaining representative group had a claim regarding an apparent change in rosters that changed the travel calculations from the fastest route to the shortest route. This effectively changed the allowance rate for some officers. St John have a draft clause that will show the formula and the intention of placing the table into the PTS Agreement.
Time and Travel – Casuals
St John have a claim to remove the Time and Travel component within the Agreement for all casual officers. The theory is that casuals are not entitled to this allowance. The AEAWA rejected St Johns claim for two reasons; (1) casual employees can claim travel allowance under the Agreement attending Continuing Education Program courses as approved by St John, and (2) The AEAWA have a claim for a travel allowance for country Transport Officers.
Travel Allowance for ICBs
St John initially rejected the AEAWAs claim for the country Transport Officers to be able to claim ICBs. The AEAWA reiterated that country and metro are very different. All current Transport Officers in the country often have their shift commencement times changed for them to be able to respond to community calls. In the past officers have attended the station hours before their shift commencement to assist St John in responding to an emergency call in the community. Once at the station, that call me have been stood down. These officers should be compensated for this, as this often happens within the country regions. St John will take this away and will respond soon.
Medic Mentor Allowance
Quantum’s were provided from the AEAWA to St John. An in-principal agreement of 85% occurred and further information will be provided shortly.
Redundancies
Another bargaining representative group had a claim regarding for a redundancy package for all Transport Officers. This was rejected outright by St John as this type of situation (where the organisation would effectively terminate the Transport role would not occur, and if it did it would be out of St Johns control).
Allocated Position
An independent claim was presented to change the definition of an allocated position to a permanent position. St John explained that the glossary of the Agreement explains that an allocated position is actually a permanent position. St John believes that this definition still affords employees permanency, so they rejected this claim.
Increased in Personal Leave Entitlements
The AEAWA made a claim for Employees within the Agreement should also be afforded the two extra personal leave days which were negotiated in the last Ambulance Officers/Paramedics Agreement. St John will discuss this claim at further meetings.
Sick Days for Casual Employees
Another bargaining representative group had a claim for all casual employees to have a personal leave entitlement. St John rejected this claim.
Special leave Clause
The AEAWA presented a claim for officers to accrue special leave at double their normal rate. For example, if you work full time at 42.5 hours per week you can accrue 85 hours special leave. The full-time equivalent would be the cap (85 hours in the positive and 42.5 hours in the negative). A part-time employee working 20 hours a week could accrue 40 hours in the positive and 20 hours in the negative. St John will review the claim and will respond shortly.
Number of Positions for Special Leave
St John agreed in-principal to two additional positions for the special leave allocation. The AEAWA asked for an undertaking from St John to show how officers are allocated to these positions. The AEAWA would like to see a breakdown for the spots.
– Are they for all shifts?
– Will the days/nights afternoon etc be calculated differently?
– Are Medics/MHTOs etc in the same total?
Block Out Days
St John agreed in-principal to the AEAWA’s claim to amend the block out days to only align with the Public Holidays and not the dates that span between them.
Interchanging Between Consenting Officers
Another bargaining representative group had a claim for officers who are permanent at two locations could effectively swap their locations on a permanent basis. An example was provided – if an officer at Joondalup moves to Kelmscott and the Kelmscott officer moves to Joondalup, they could just swap positions.
The AEAWA are not supportive of this as the list system would effectively be bypassed. In essence the officer next on the list at Joondalup could have been waiting for that spot for years would now have to wait again as someone not even on the list would take the position before them. The list system is the only fair and transparent process officers have left, and the AEAWA
would not support this being further undermined.
Align Clause Provisions to Paramedic Agreement
The AEAWA have a claim for the clause for filling an allocated position to be imported from the Ambulance Officers/Paramedic Agreement. The Clause will be presented at the next meeting.
Fatigue Management Policy
The AEAWA had been advised that St John have been implementing a Fatigue Management Policy. If this policy is agreed by the AEAWA, the claim would be to place this policy into the Agreement.
Meeting Closed
The meeting concluded 12:30
Next Meeting
The next Ambulance Transport EBA meeting (Meeting 7) is scheduled for Wednesday June 7th between 08:30-16:30.
The Consolidated Log of Claims
After each EBA negotiation meeting, a summary of discussions and status of claims is listed here. To view the consolidated log please click here.
Meeting Chaired By
Natalie Adams.
Meeting Conducted
10:00 – 11:30.
Committee Attendees
Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller and Jon Nobel.
Committee Apologies
John Thomas, Amanda Howell, Karen Gerristen, and Anne Briede.
St John Attendees
Alan Clyne, Tony Fitzgerald, Natalie Adams, Edmund Pau, and Stephanie Freemantle.
Agenda Items
Agreement Title Change
The naming of the Ambulance Transport Officers Certified Agreement has been agreed to be changed to the Patient Transport Services Certified Agreement. This change is to reflect all officers contained within the Agreement (now that Mental Health Transport Officers and Medics are listed within it).
Agreement Leave Changes
The term ‘leave’ across the Agreement is often incorrect or inconsistent with the intent of the clause. St John is proposing changing some of these definitions to align with the intent of the various clauses. The AEAWA are happy with this initially, however, we will need to go through the Agreement and review the intended changes to ensure officers are not disadvantaged by the proposed changes.
On Road Tutor and Mentoring Feedback
Feedback from the last meeting after the AEAWA had raised concerns about the mentoring timeframe, St John has agreed to change the length of the tutoring period from 15 shifts to 20. There will be the ability to sign off the mentoring period at 15 shifts if both the mentor and the mentee are in agreeable. If further mentoring shifts are required, then this can be extended to 20. St John stated that the tutor allowance will be applied to 85% of the ATO2 pay scale which will be $26 per shift.
Casual Hours Per Quarter
To view Clause 10 click here. Basically St John wants the ability to have their casual employees performing a minimum of 85 hours annually. They would also like them to work a minimum of 21.25 hours per quarter. The AEAWA initially opposed this as it meant that a casual officer could effectively be terminated for going away for a few months. St John have stated it is not their intent to do so and have drafted a Clause to stipulate how those shifts could be achieved.
Job Share
An Independent Bargaining claim for job share to be assigned at different rates was rejected by St John. This claim was for job sharers to do a 80/20, 70/30 or 60/40 split rather than the usual 50/50 split that is in the current Agreement.
Travel Allowance Matrix
There was a discussion around the calculation between the shortest route and the fastest route. St John stated that they found no evidence that the fastest route to shortest route was changed during the last Agreement.
Travel Allowance and Preferred Positions
An Independent Bargaining claim that if your name is placed on the depot list for a vehicle, you should still receive travel to that location was rejected by St John.
Time and Travel – Casuals
St John wants to remove the Home Depot classification for casual within the Certified Agreement, the rationale being that they do not get paid travel, and do not have a permanent location, so this section does not relate to them. The AEAWA rejected this St John claim for two specific reasons. Firstly, there is a pending AEAWA claim for an ICB allowance for casual officers, and secondly, casual officers are paid travel for attending CEP. The question was asked if St John removed the ‘home depot’ component for casuals, what location would those officers claim from. St John will review this claim and provide an answer at the next meeting.
Travel Allowance for ICBs
St John initially rejected this claim. The AEAWA reiterated its importance to the casual transport officers in the country regions who drop everything to come to work for emergency calls. St John will provide their response for the next meeting.
Watches and Glasses Allowance
A claim for an increase of 5% to this allowance was accepted in principle by St John.
Superannuation
St John stated that there will be minor changes to the Agreement regarding an employees nominated superannuation fund. The current practice is that St John does align with the current ATO requirements. St John states that they do contact all new employees to ensure they have a nominated super fund and if not they are placed into the default fund (REST).
Uniform Allowance
To view Clause 17.11 (Uniform Allowance) click here. St John agreed to this claim which was imported from the Paramedic/Ambulance Officers Certified Agreement. St John stated that they would supply any uniforms etc for new or current positions, however, understand that if an employee does need to purchase specific clothing for a position they would appropriately cover that costing.
Family and Domestic Violence Leave
To view the Clause (Family and Domestic Violence – Paid Leave) click here. The AEAWA agrees in principle to this clause.
Meal Break Claims
Some discussion occurred around this clause, specifically the locations where crews can take a break were discussed. The Ambulance Officers/Paramedics take their breaks at Hospitals or Depots etc. The AEAWA identified the following areas that need to be taken into consideration for the defined location.
• adequate toileting facilities
• access to Tea/Coffee
• access to a microwave to reheat food
• access to an area to buy food
• safe and clean environment
• area to sit and eat/drink
The AEAWA understand that for Ambulance Officers and Paramedics we take patients to hospital, so can have a break whilst there post call, Transport Officers predominately take patients home from hospital, so may not be at a suitable location to have that break. In essence St John does not want a crew to be driving 20 minutes to a suitable location to then commence their meal break. The AEAWA are happy to further discuss this matter at upcoming meetings.
The Spoilt Meal Break was also discussed with a proportionate allowance applied if crew cannot complete that break. St John will review the percentage per hourly rate that the Ambulance Officers/Paramedics currently receive and do a costing to apply the Spoilt Meal Break allowance to those within the PTS Agreement. St John also discussed the ability to increase the lunch time window over to what is currently in place so that crews can actually have the break. They do not want to just pay the allowance all the time, as they want their crews to have access to
downtime.
Medic Mentor Allowance
St John has asked the AEAWA for this appendix. The AEAWA stated that as it is dependent on the hourly rate that is contained in a pending claim, it’s very hard to enter discussions on this claim before agreeing to a pay scale implantation for Medics. The AEAWA did suggest that the pay quantum for this claim would be at the Agreed Transport Level 5 pay scale; (85%) of that daily rate as is with the Ambulance Officers/Ambulance Paramedics Certified Agreement.
Night Shift Allowance
The AEAWA want to include a Night Shift Allowance for all officers contained within the PTS Agreement who successfully complete a full night shift. This allowance will be the same as the current Ambulance Officer/Paramedic Agreement.
Tiered Pay Scales (Mental Health Transport Officers)
The AEAWA presented a clause to pay MHTOs a 5% pay increase per level. That is a Medic who does not move into the paramedic stream and remains a Medic will progress through pay points 1-5 in which a 5% pay increase will occur each year of employment.St John will review this claim and respond shortly.
Grandfathering the Agreement
To view Clause 22.2 – Working with a Medic click here. This was agreed to by St John.
Shift Commencement and Day Worked
To view Clause 23 – Hours of Work and Shifts click here. This Clause was presented with an amendment written as 23.1(c) for any shift which is worked past midnight (therefore on 2 days), the day the shift commences will be considered the day worked. The AEAWA understands the intent of the Clause, however we have asked for feedback to be provided at a later date.
Meeting Closed
The meeting concluded 12:30
Next Meeting
The next Ambulance Transport EBA meeting (Meeting 6) is scheduled for Wednesday May 24th between 09:30-12:30.
Meeting Chaired By
Natalie Adams
Meeting Conducted
10:00 – 11:30.
Committee Attendees
John Thomas, Lee Waller, Jon Nobel and Karen Gerristen.
Committee Apologies
Mike Hardwick. Amanda Howell and Anne Briede
St John Attendees
Alan Clyne, Tony Fitzgerald, Simon Hughes, Rene Anderson, Natalie Adams and Stephanie Freemantle.
Clauses presented by St John
Shift Worker Definition (Clause 3), Annual Leave (Clause 27.1), Casual Employee (Clause 10), Family and Domestic Violence – Paid Leave (Clause 27.17 & 27.18), Overtime (Clause 25), Termination of Employment (Clause 32)
Shift Worker Definition (Clause 3)
The clause presented can be viewed here. The discussions around the table related to the Public Holiday component and if the definition change from employee to shift worker would be beneficial or a detriment to our members.
There was also discussion on whether these changes are inconstant to those contained within the National Employment Standards (NES). Some more small wording changes mat be required, St John will review these and check against the NES to ascertain if there are inconsistencies.
A question was asked “is the intent of this clause is to give everyone four-weeks leave and an extra week to a defined shift worker as this definition is listed within the NES”. To which St John stated “yes”.
Annual Leave (Clause 27.1)
The clause presented can be viewed here. Discussions took place around currently if an employee takes sick leave on annual leave, if they provide a medical certificate, they can have that time taken out of their sick leave. St John wanted to effectively end this component within the Agreement.
It was raised at the initial presentation of this clause that these changes are more restrictive that what is written within the NES. St John had listened to this feedback and have amended the original wording.
The AEAWA will review these changes and formalise a response.
Casual Employee (Clause 10)
The clause presented can be viewed here. Changes to Section (f) when initially presented locked Ambulance Transport Officers into doing a set number of hours per quarter. The AEAWA opposed this wording as it effectively meant that a long-term employee who wanted to go on holidays for a long period of time would have been terminated under this proposal.
St John agreed to this and have made an amendment to their initial wording. The clause added the statement ‘Unless otherwise agreed”. The AEAWA are understanding that St John require an active casual workforce to maintain current and future contracts but are hesitant with this amendment.
Further discussions will take place around what could be contained within this new wording. Do staff have to apply? will some get the leave and others are declined? How many employees will St John allow at one time to be accepted?
Family and Domestic Violence – Paid Leave (Clause 27.17 & 27.18)
The clause presented can be viewed here. Discussions commenced on the inconsistencies with this clause to what is stipulated within the NES, particularly around Section (c). This section forces the employee to have a discussion with their manager. This wording is not contained within the NES and therefore it is the AEAWA’s opinion that this should not be a requirement.
Overtime Undertaking (Clause 25)
The clause presented can be viewed here. A Section in this new wording stipulated that an employee working over a 12-hour shift would receive overtime. As many members within the Transport team work 8 hours per shift, the question was asked will they receive overtime?
The answer was “yes” as their overtime is aligned to Clause 27 and will not be altered. Thes changes were required by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for consistent wording throughout other industry Agreements. This change was a FWC requirement to change,
Termination of Employment (Clause 32)
The clause presented can be viewed here. Clause c has been amended also to align with other industry Agreements and was also a FWC requirement. The AEAWA had no concerns with this.
Other presented Clauses
On-Road Tutor Clause
St John had prepared an amendment to the on-road tutor clause. The time equivalency to be able to be a tutor has decreased from three-years to two-years. St John have also agreed to increase the current tutor allowance from $19.07 per shift to $26.00.
This was worked out by St John increasing the ATO2 base rate by 85%.
Further discussions occurred around tutoring and that there is no specific section that students can ask for more time to be mentored. The current tutor feedback form does not allow this request and many members do not feel comfortable approaching management to ask for more assistance.
St John will look at this form and are happy to include a new section for this request. St John will discuss this with the college and will review this and will provide feedback shortly.
Superannuation Default Fund
The fund St John are aligned with is REST, but any employee can change this to one they see more suitable for them. The AEAWA have no concerns with this amended section.
Public Holidays
Currently St John are still working through this Clause and have no updates.
Change Wording of the Agreement
As our Medic colleagues are contained within the Ambulance Transport Agreement a name change of the Agreement should occur to reflect those officers. A name change to the PTS Agreement will most likely occur within this EBA.
Job Share Changes
A claim to change the job share percentage was tabled to change the arrangement from the 50 -50% to a percentage the officers want, for example 80-20%. Discussions from St John focused around this being a rostering nightmare as the officers would accrue leave rate at a different rate. There are other ways a roster can be changed by an officer than an 80-20% spilt. The AEAWA are not supportive of this claim.
Time out of Allocated Position
A claim was presented to change the period that St John can roster you out of your depot from 16-weeks to 8-weeks. St John are not supportive of this but will review. Feedback by some employees is that the 16-weeks is too long, although it has never been applied.
Replacement Partner
A claim for changing the time to find a partner from 8-weeks to 16-weeks was presented. This was due to officers requiring more time to find a job share partner. Further discussions will take place at future meetings. The AEAWA would support this claim.
Travel Matrix
There was a discussion point relating to a change to the travel matrix used in Transport. Change in the way that the distance between two areas was changed. The formula for travel is not contained in the Certified Agreement as it is aligned to an Australian Tax Office Table. The fastest route to the shortest route changed in 2018. This meant that some kms were removed from the calculation.
Although the cost for travel increased, officers were receiving less travel due to the route change contained within that Table. St John stated that they did not make this change, it was an ATO change.
Casual to Receive Time and Travel Allowance
This clause was for two specific areas within the Agreement.
Travel Allowance Eligibility when rostered at a preferred station
A claim was presented to remove this section for those who have no permanency. A person who has their name on the station and are not permanent do not get paid the travel as they have their name on the list. The argument is, is that they are not permanent at that location, so they should still get the travel. St John will provide their feedback shortly.
The AEAWA put forward numerous claims contained within the Paramedic/Ambulance Officers Agreement that would benefit our ATO members.
Uniform Allowance
If an instance occurred were an ATO or Medic were required to fill a role, where they were not provided a uniform from St John, and had to purchase clothing items could be compensated. This clause was imported from the Paramedic/Ambulance Officers Agreement and was agreed in principle by St John.
Funeral Allowance
If an ATO or Medic unfortunately dies relating to a workplace event or events should be provided the allowance. This clause was imported from the Paramedic/Ambulance Officers Agreement and was agreed in principle by St John.
Spoilt Meal Breaks and Suitable Locations
The AEAWA presented a Clause which is also imported from the Paramedic/Ambulance Officers Agreement. Those employees (as what is not currently occurring with our Transport colleagues) can not be given a lunch break in a patient’s driveway, or whilst driving back from a call in an area with no facilities).
The AEAWA believe our Transport members deserve to have their lunch break at the nearest depot or a hospital with the same facilities allowed to Paramedics. Tea, coffee, microwave, toilet facilities and somewhere to sit should be provided. These locations already exist for those contained in the Paramedic/Ambulance Officers Agreement. The AEAWA would like these inclusions listed in this Agreement.
Discussion Points
Meal Breaks
A conversation occurred around an allowance for a Spoilt Meal Break, as many of our Transport colleagues are reporting they response is that it’s too busy for them to be allocated one.
The question was asked “as a non-emergency service why are we forced into not taking the break at a suitable time”? The Spoilt Meal Break penalty is an AEAWA claim and will be presented at a future meeting.
Meeting Closed
The meeting concluded 12:30
Next Meeting
The next Ambulance Transport EBA meeting (Meeting 4) is scheduled for Wednesday May 10th between 09:30-12:30.
Meeting Chaired By
Rene Anderson.
Meeting Conducted
09:30 – 11:30.
Committee Attendees
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, Jon Nobel and Karen Geristen.
Committee Apologies
There were no apologies.
St John Attendees
Alan Clyne, Tony Fitzgerald, Simon Hughes, Rene Anderson, Natalie Adams and Stephanie Freemantle.
Shift Worker Definition
St John have stated that they are still taking the feedback from the AEAWA under consideration regarding the change with this definition. They will get back shortly with the final wording.
On Road Tutor Allowance
St John originally asked for the current tutoring time to be dropped from the 36-month period to a 12-month experience level. This was initially rejected by the AEAWA. St John decided that two-years was a better option, and wanted to see if the AEAWA would consider this. St John will uplift the hourly rate (Yr2) if this is agreed, and the percentage increase will be applied at this rate.
The mentor rate will be 50% of the AP1 rate. St John does agree there needs to be an increase after feedback for the AEAWA delegates over the last meeting. The AEAWA would also like to see if this two-years is inclusive of parttime or casual employees. The draft clause changes and the amounts will be sent to the AEAWA shortly. The AEAWA stated that if the time is reduced to the two-year period, then the initial tutoring time needs to be extended. St John will consider this.
Casual Hours Per Quarter
St John have reworded this after discussions with the AEAWA. The document now allows a casual employee the flexibility to take extended time off for holidays etc. A discussion will take place to ensure this wording is fair for our casual members.
St John originally wanted to amend Clause 10 (f) from ‘Casual employees must complete at least 85 hours work per year’ to a ‘Casual employees must complete at least 21.25 hours of work in each quarter of the calendar year, commencing after the employee’s first quarter of employment’. These minimum hours exclude training as part of the Continuing Education Program and on-road training component appropriate to the needs of each individual, unless otherwise agreed.
The AEAWA is understanding of the clause, however, there still needs to changes in the wording to make this fair.
Mentoring Requirements for those with Operational Experience
There was discussion for the extension of mentoring. The 15 current shifts are not enough for an employee to be qualified, many times officers from the same school are working their 16th shift together. This has caused issues with staff coming through, as they have reduced experience, and this is noticeable.
St John will review this, and further discussions will take place.
Superannuation
The proposed wording was handed out, with a minor change to the current clause. The default fund has been worded as REST Super, and that employees who do not nominate a superannuation fund will have their super payments defaulted into a REST account.
The change relates to Clause 26 – Superannuation Section (c) If the employee does not nominate a fund or scheme, contributions shall be paid into a stapled or a default fund. The Default fund is currently Rest Super or a replacement fund in accordance with Superannuation legislation, until a fund is nominated by the employee.
The AEAWA will review the new wording and respond shortly.
Public Holidays During Annual Leave
St John presented a new Clause for Public Holidays. Clause 27.7 Public Holidays
Clause 27.1 Annual leave (k)
Except in the case of shift workers, if a public holiday falls on a day the employee is on annual leave/additional leave the employee will not be deducted annual leave/additional leave for that day.
Health and Wellbeing Allowance – Value and Equipment Purchasing
Claim to be increased to $550.00 to align with other Agreements (Communications and Ambulance Officers/Paramedics). There was discussions in previous EBA Negotiations about employees renting and purchasing equipment, but St John has never supported employees purchasing this equipment.
The AEAWA would like this reviewed, St John will discuss this with finance to see if it is an option and will report those findings soon.
Annual Leave (Clause 27.1)
St John want to amended the clause by removing the sentence or periods of approved workers compensation in section 27.1 (e) and adding the following subclauses (l and m).
Agenda Items for Next Meeting
– Medic Pay Points, Public Holiday Penalties, Legislative Update, Update Clause to Align with NES and Amend Redundancy Payments
Meeting Closed
The meeting concluded 12:30
Next Meeting
The next Ambulance Transport EBA meeting (Meeting 4) is scheduled for Wednesday April 12th between 09:30-12:30.
Meeting Chaired By
Rene Anderson.
Meeting Conducted
09:00 – 10:45.
Committee Attendees
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, Jon Nobel and Karen Geristen.
Committee Apologies
There were no apologies.
St John Attendees
Alan Clyne, Tony Fitzgerald, Simon Hughes, Rene Anderson, Natalie Adams, Edmund Pau and Stephanie Freemantle.
Shift Worker Definition (St John)
St John want to align the definition of ‘Shift Worker’ across the three Agreements. The AEAWA will review this document and will respond shortly.
On Road Tutor Definition (St John)
St John want to change the timeframe of having three years of experience to one year experience to be a tutor. The AEAWA have stated that many on the road feel that 12-months is two little a time to gain that experience.
St John do not want to make this a compulsory process to tutor people, they still want it to be a voluntarily process. Currently tutors are paid $19.07 which is equivalent to 61% of the Transport Officer hourly rate, whereas the Paramedics are paid at 80% of their hourly rate.
St John need to incentivise this amount to attract people to do the role. St John stated PTS is growing and its harder to find tutors to train the new employees.
There was some discussion over tutoring fatigue, that many employees could be continually made to tutor. There was a pushback from the AEAWA that the 12-month time frame is not long enough. Online mentoring system for Transport Officers, tutors cannot see what previous tutors have said about a student. This is required so tutors know what they need to focus on.
Three Year Agreement (All Parties)
All parties have agreed to a three-year term for the Certified Agreement (2023-2026). The AEAWA also reiterated their claim for back pay if the Agreement negotiations extends past July 1 2023.
Hours of Work Per Year (St John)
Currently, 85 hours per year is what’s required for casuals to maintain their casual contracts. St John stated they are having engagement issues with much of the casual workforce. St John have noticed that some casuals are slotting their 85 hours in at the end of the year, this clause (Clause 10 – Casual Employees) is aimed at stopping that. Around 30% of employees in Transport are classified as casual.
The AEAWA were concerned that an employee who is casual could technically loose their job if they went away for a few months on holiday as the new clause requires them to work 21.25 hours a quarter.
The AEAWA believe a discretion clause would be required to ensure this does not happen.
Parttime – Clause 11 (St John)
St John presented the latest addition to this clause, which is an undertaking by the Fair Work Commission that states a parttime employee will receive a minimum of four hours per shift at the hourly rate for the applicable classification.
As this is a Fair Work addition, the AEAWA will check on this and will be in agreeance if the wording is the same as stated under Fair Work.
Secondments – Clause 20 (St John)
Advertising the secondments (College, Managers, when MTV was running etc) on Connect, some roles may not be advertised, the AEAWA would like to see this occur to promote transparency.
The starting and finishing times of these secondments should also be advertised, as some roles have extended way over the time frame that was listed when the application came out.
Overtime – Clause 25 (St John)
St John presented a clause about overtime. This was also to align with changes under Fair Work, particularly relating to when double time and triple time is offered.
Once again, the AEAWA will check that the wording is correct and advise.
All clauses once received will be made available on this page via the links.
Meeting Closed
The meeting concluded at 10:45.
Next Meeting
The 3rd meeting for the Ambulance Transport Officers EBA will be Wednesday 29th at Cowcher 09:30-12:30.
Meeting Chaired By
Rene Anderson.
Meeting Conducted
09:30 – 12:30.
Committee Attendees
Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, Jon Nobel and, Anne Briede.
SJA Attendees
Rene Anderson, Natalie Adams, Stephanie Freemantle, Alan Clyne, Tony Fitzgerald, Sarah Dacko and Edmund Pau.
Committee Apologies
Karen Geristen and Amanda Howell.
Meeting Agenda
Introduction
The bargaining processes were explained to the committee and the expectations of this current bargaining period. Bargaining in good faith was explained along with the specifics of negotiations. This was not a discussion meeting regarding the items it was simply a presentation of the various parties Log of Claims and rationale for inclusion by all parties.
Financial Update from St John
The organisation opened the talk that there is an increase in pressure on the bottom line. Cost pressures from wages and supply chain issues and the growth in the number of employees recently employed by St John have put some pressure on finances. Although there has been a recent increase in capital, SJA stated they have spent funds on property and day to day business costs.
The two current contracts (non-emergency contract for Transport in the metropolitan area ends in May 2026, and the contract for transport in the country regions runs to the end of 2027. There are more competitors in the transport market now which presents with companies bidding for work. St John no longer has the first right of refusal. CPI increases have occurred. And the finance people state this is just a spike. Wage Price Index (WPI) is believed to be a better reflection than CPI regarding future pay rises.
Regarding the ‘secrecy’ of the new Health Services contract, St John stated it is the Government that is making the Service Agreement a closed document not SJA.
Transport Management Introduction
It took a while to get back to full establishment of the transport roster (this was achieved on the 8th January, 2023). It is the first time since pre covid we have had the full roster available. There is lots of competition in the market, however, Transport as a business is going very well and response times are looking good and have returned to pre covid levels.SJA want to understand what the competition is doing and how they are doing it. Other agencies are doing a lot of cherry picking of the workload at the moment (picking the more financially lucrative jobs under their tender). SJA want to reduce the impact these competitors have on the organisation.
SJA have admitted that it is hard to fill the book offs through the shifts which has impacted their ability to attend jobs within the metropolitan area. The AEAWA interjected with the failure of St John in retaining a casual workforce to accommodate the gaps in the roster when officers book off. Those who want casual contracts are being told to leave. SJA stated they are currently working to obtain causal transport officers.
All parties then presented their log of claims.
Meeting Closed
11:30
Next Communications Negotiation Meeting
Wednesday 15th March 2023 (09:30-12:30)
To view the SJA Transport Officers Log of Claims click here.
To view the AEAWA Transport Officers Log of Claims click here.
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