Allowance comes amid 'acute shortage' of psychiatry workers in the state
Psychiatrists working for public hospitals in New South Wales will receive a 10% attraction and retention allowance following a ruling from the state's Industrial Relations Commission (IRC).
The ruling, delivered by Justice David Chin, ordered the state to grant the allowance for 12 months from the date of the decision on October 3.
It is added on top of the 10% abnormal duties allowance already paid to the psychiatrists, resulting in a combined 20% uplift in psychiatrists' pay.
Chin granted the allowance citing its retention and attraction benefits amid the "acute shortage" in the psychiatry workforce.
"There is an acute shortage of psychiatry staff specialists, distinguishable from other staff specialists, which is causing a deterioration in the quality of mental health care delivered in the public health system in New South Wales and a deterioration in the working conditions of psychiatrists. The comparatively low pay of psychiatry staff specialists is contributing to this shortage," the ruling stated.
According to the IRC, the acute shortage in psychiatry staff specialists and its impact on public mental health care established a special case that justified a temporary allowance.
"A special case is made out which justifies the payment of a temporary allowance for the purpose of attracting and retaining psychiatry staff specialists," the IRC said.
Following the IRC's determination, the NSW government said it will deliver the 10% attraction and retention allowance for 12 months.
"I respect the decision of the Industrial Relations Commission," said NSW Industrial Relations Minister Sophie Cotsis in a statement.
"This decision goes a long way to address the recruitment and retention issues for our Public Health psychiatrists."
Threat of mass resignations
The case comes after 200 psychiatry staff specialists threatened to resign in January, The Guardian reported.
According to the report, 75 psychiatrists have resigned since January, while others delayed the move to wait for the IRC's decision.
The commission said granting the allowance was not to reward the mass resignations.
"It is necessary to separate the fact of industrial action from the merits of the claim brought before the Commission," the IRC said.
The Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF), which represented the psychiatrists in the case, welcomed the IRC's decision.
"This is just the first step in fixing our public mental health services and making sure our patients get the care they deserve," said ASMOF councillor Ian Korbell in a statement.
Pramudie Gunaratne, Chair of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) NSW Branch, also said the decision is a "significant step in the right direction."
"Our communities deserve the very best mental health system – a system that provides people in need the full spectrum of care from early intervention in the community to crisis care in hospitals and pathways for recovery," Gunaratne said in a statement.
"That is what the RANZCP has been advocating for and what we will continue to advocate for."
The RANZCP chair further called for "appropriate levels of resourcing and sustained investment" to safeguard the public mental health care system.
"Without proper investment, our best and brightest doctors will leave and our services will continue to languish," she said. "We stand ready to work with health services and government in achieving this goal."
