Strike Announcement

Strike announcement

Today we announced that we are striking from 8 –10 April, at a press conference outside Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Addressing the media were ASMOF Councillors Dr Behny Samadi & Dr Mark Priestley, Union delegates Dr Harry James Gaffney & Dr Anttoni Hakola-Parry, as well as ASMOF Executive Director Andrew Holland.  

They spoke about the public hospital staffing crisis, its impact on patient care, and the burnout it’s causing among doctors across NSW. They also urgently called on the Minns Labor government to come to the table and resolve the crisis, so that the NSW public can receive the basic level of care that they deserve.

Dr Mark Priestley, Senior Doctor:

"We are here because we have been negotiating with the government, with NSW Health for over 18 months, and have gotten absolutely nowhere...our senior doctors are also looking to go elsewhere and that's heartbreaking … That's like watching the logging of old growth forests and it will take a generation to replace them."

Dr Behny Samadi, ASMOF Councillor, highlighted the extreme toll long working hours have on doctors:

"We work long hours; we do a hard job and our employer doesn't care. Imagine working for someone who doesn't care if you live or die”

Dr Harry James Gaffney, junior doctor:

“Our Awards offer some of the worst pay and working conditions in the country. Patients are impacted by chronic doctor shortages. This has led to a serious staffing crisis, with those remaining having to pick up the pieces and try and provide care in a crumbling system."

Dr Anttoni Hakola-Parry, junior doctor:

“I think we can all agree that if you come to hospital in a time of need when you’re unwell, you need help and you would rather be taken care of and addressed by a doctor who isn’t burnt out, who isn’t overly stretched and you’d rather have  a doctor take care of you that feels valued by the state government."

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Our demands to the government are clear: return to the negotiation table immediately and offer a fair and reasonable Award to doctors across NSW.

Read our media release here.

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The doctors strike has been featured widely across media outlets including on ABC news, news.com.au, The Guardian, The Australian, 9 News, Sky News and The Sydney Morning Herald.  

As we predicted, the NSW Government has responded to our announcement with wildly inaccurate claims around the cost of improving doctors working conditions.

Health Minister Ryan Park is claiming it would cost $11 billion to meet our demands - more than half the total NSW Health Budget for all employee related expenses!  We are actively challenging this disinformation.

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Join us at statewide rallies

Rallies and media actions will be occurring across NSW next week on the strike dates. Join us at a rally! All members that are striking are strongly encouraged to attend.

If you need any more materials for your hospital, please email awardreform@asmof.org.au

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