The ACT health minister has called a junior doctor's class action suit against the government "positive" following a "landmark" win.
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Junior doctors are suing Canberra Health Services, an ACT government directorate, and Calvary Health Care ACT for alleged unpaid, unrostered overtime.
Calvary is countersuing the lead applicant, Dr Ying Tham, accusing her of costing them money because she did not keep accurate overtime records.
ACT health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith applauded doctors for "standing up for their rights at work", as her federal counterpart Mark Butler called on state and territory governments being sued to "clean this up very quickly".
Victorian-based Dr Gaby Bolton won more than $8000 in unpaid, unrostered overtime from former employer Peninsula Health on Friday at the Federal Court.
It is the first of claims against 16 health authorities across Australia to face court.
Hayden Stephens and Associates and Gordon Legal are representing current and former doctors in the ACT, NSW and Victoria.
Federal health minister Mark Butler told ABC RN Breakfast on Monday all governments facing claims "would want to make sure that they clean this up very quickly."
"Just because it's the right thing to do, but also because we are desperately short of doctors and nurses," he said.
"We are desperately in need of more young people training to be health professionals [and] a good place to work is critically important if we're going to get the young people working in health that we need."
Ms Stephen-Smith applauded junior doctors for "standing up for their rights at work".
"The fact that junior doctors are standing up for their rights at work marks a real cultural shift, and as a Labor Minister I see that as a positive," she said.
"It's part of the broader cultural change we need to see across our health systems, to become less hierarchical."
The Victoria decision is good news for the doctors suing Calvary and CHS, lawyer Hayden Stephens said.
"While there are clear differences in the employment regime, the circumstances that form part of the Judge's decision on Friday are very similar to those of the junior doctors involved in the upcoming class action in the ACT," he said.
Mr Stephens hoped the decision would encourage Calvary Health Care ACT and Canberra Health Services to settle claims outside of court.
Dr Bolton hoped her win against Peninsula Health would force hospitals to change.
"My colleagues were overworked and exhausted. I see junior doctors every day who perform medical emergencies and prepare patients for surgery when they are clearly fatigued," she said.
The Australian Medical Association is campaigning to stop junior doctors from working overtime.
A 2020 survey of junior doctors found only 15 per cent of ACT respondents said they were always paid for unrostered overtime, the lowest of any state or territory.
Hospitals need to take responsibility and force change, ACT branch president of the Australian Medical Association Dr Walter Abhayaratna said.
He said there is a significant power imbalance between junior doctors and their supervisors, which stops the junior doctors from standing up for themselves.
"These junior doctors are hostage, essentially, because they get signed off from their supervisors on a timely basis," he said.
"This practice [of alleged unrostered overtime] has been going on for decades. As a junior doctor, that's what the expectation was, and as I became a senior doctor, I guess I carried that forward as my expectation for junior doctors.
"Hospitals have to take responsibility and say it's going to change across the board, and it's not going to be at the cost of training."
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Dr Abhayaratna said changing the culture was also essential for Canberra hospitals to maintain and attract staff amidst workforce shortages.
Mr Stephens said junior doctors had reported positive changes since the class action suits were launched.
"Feedback we've received from junior doctors is that hospital management are starting to make an effort to encourage doctors to claim overtime and educate senior management," he said.
"These are isolated incidents but encouraging of the back of our class action."
A CHS spokesperson said the organisations has "processes in place for employees to record their overtime hours worked, which after approval from the relevant manager, is paid via our payroll system. Since this matter has been raised, we have emphasised the existing mechanisms for junior doctors to ensure payment of overtime in a timely manner."
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