Ambulance Tasmania Travel Allowance Interpretation

I reiterate my sincere thank you to every one of our hard-working paramedics for their incredible work caring for and supporting Tasmanians.

I am advised that, following an audit, Ambulance Tasmania became aware there has been an historical misinterpretation relating to travel allowance payments which did not comply with the Award.

The advice of the State Service Management

Office is that because there was no legal basis upon which to make the payments in the first place, mistaken payments will need to be recovered.

Ambulance Tasmania has a legal obligation, as a Government agency, to ensure all payments comply with Award conditions.

Payments made and received, due to an interpretation of the Award applied in good faith, will be closely considered, and we are negotiating closely with HACSU on this matter and I am advised that it is nearing resolution.

I have been absolutely assured that there are hardship provisions for these issues, to ensure individuals are not in any way disadvantaged.

I have also sought assurance that Ambulance Tasmania continues to pay paramedics in accordance with the relevant Award, which includes allowances for travel in various circumstances, and have had it confirmed that there has been no changes to this award.

The Secretary of Department has assured me she is continuing to work constructively with HACSU to resolve this matter, and support our workforce into the future.

Secondary triage already working

Last week, 127 Triple-0 calls were referred into secondary triage by Ambulance Tasmania, with 31 of those referred on to other response pathways.

Secondary triage is a brand new service in Tasmania that builds on the existing clinical assessment by Ambulance Tasmania’s highly trained staff. 

Paramedics and nurses are providing secondary triage by speaking directly with patients when a Triple-0 call comes in and connecting them immediately to appropriate health services, to ensure the caller gets the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

Importantly, emergency calls requiring an ambulance response continue to have an ambulance dispatched, but this initiative also allows us to maximise the availability of our ambulances and paramedics for genuine emergency situations.

Tasmanians can have confidence that secondary triage will not only help people access appropriate medical care, it will also provide better support for our paramedics, help our resources respond more efficiently to emergencies, and avoid transport to hospital emergency departments when it is not required.

The Tasmanian Liberal Government committed $13.8 million over six years to establish this service, which delivers on our 2018 election commitment.