News
2024 WA Health Agreement – Overwhelming YES for the Second Offer
Wednesday September 11, 2024
A significant majority of AMA (WA) participating Members have voted YES to accept the Second Offer from WA Health and enhance the wages and conditions of all public hospital doctors.
This result follows months of negotiations with WA Health to replace the WA Health System – Medical Practitioners – AMA Industrial Agreement 2022 (the Agreement). The initial offer from WA Health was formally rejected by the AMA (WA) Bargaining Committee, as it fell short in key areas, particularly regarding the attraction and retention of quality medical practitioners in WA.
After further discussions, WA Health presented its Second Offer on 5 August. The AMA (WA) viewed this offer as a substantial step forward, despite recognising that several important issues remain unresolved. These will continue to be the focus of our advocacy efforts. Given the merits of the offer, the Bargaining Committee felt it was sufficient to warrant a membership vote and provided their qualified endorsement of the Offer.
To ensure that all doctors, both members and non-members, fully understood the offer, the Committee representatives and Industrial Relations team conducted a series of on-site and online Bargaining Information Sessions across the State between 16 and 30 August. These sessions provided an opportunity for doctors to ask questions and gain clarity on the bargaining process and the specifics of the Second Offer. With only members able to take part in the ballot, many non-members decided to join the AMA (WA) to have their voices heard.
The ballot to vote on the future of the Agreement opened on 23 August and ran for two weeks, closing on Friday 6 September. During this period, 86% of participating members voted YES in favour of accepting the Second Offer. With this strong endorsement, the AMA (WA) is now working with WA Health to finalise the drafting and progress registration of the replacement Agreement as quickly as possible. We will continue to keep our members informed of all further progress.
For more information about the negotiation process and to access all relevant documents, visit the WA Health Industrial Agreement Bargaining page.
