Tony Steven - CEO AMA Tasmania
Since taking over in March I am pleased to say we have had 50 new members join the AMA in Tasmania. The reasons are many but I want to outline a few so that if you are considering joining too, we can tip you over the line.
The campaign for an effective new industrial agreement so that we can attract and retain salaried doctors in the state, called the C2009 is in full swing. Andrew Lewis of AMA Victoria has been engaged by us to lead the negotiations with the State Government and ensure wages and other workplace benefits for salaried doctors are competative with doctors in other states. Many doctors, especially, DIT’s have joined to help support this campaign and have their say.
A second reason for our new members are our benefits and discounts, when I started I produced a one-page form called, “Why it pays to be a member!” I have placed a copy of this on the web site so you can have a look. Even if you pay the top rate of membership you can redeem 5 times this amount by taking advantage of all of the benefits and discounts available to you as a member of the AMA in Tasmania.
Also, having your say is vital because you are the people at the front line of the health sector; there are many opportunities for you to do this like the Divisional meetings, the Northern Division meets monthly at the LGH on the 4th Thursday and the Southern Division at Marion House at Calvary Hospital on the 1st Tuesday of each month. We are implementing a have your say section in this newsletter in the future and on the website, www.amatas.com.au. You can also talk to any Branch Councillor on issues you want brought forward and of course you are always welcome to call me direct.
AMA Tasmania is in a strong position to provide additional benefits to its members, so I invite you to have a look at the website and explore the many reason for being a member.
Tony Steven
Chris Middleton - President AMA Tasmania
Since the last issue of TasTalk, we have all been kept out of mischief. On the home front, it seems as though the swine flu epidemic is on its last legs, at least for now, and whilst this was for most sufferers a relatively mild illness, several deaths did occur.
AMA Tasmania would be in favour of an analysis of the DHHS response to the recent epidemic. We are mindful that it is easy to be critical when difficult decisions have to be made in real time during an evolving situation and when there is great uncertainty regarding the clinical severity of the illness. Nevertheless, there clearly needs to be much more thought given to overall co-ordination of the medical workforce. To her credit, the state Health Minister recently broadcast a fax thanking all general practitioners for their invaluable contribution to patient care during the epidemic. One deficiency which will definitely need to be corrected before the next epidemic strikes is the lack of a dedicated public health laboratory facility in Tasmania to process the large number of specimens that epidemics of this nature tend to generate and sufficient transport and other infrastructure to support this.
Two weeks ago, Ray Lowenthal and I presented ourselves to the parliamentary committee looking into the Greens’ proposed voluntary euthanasia legislation and spoke to AMA Tasmania's submission. We did our level best to make it clear that the AMA believes that doctors should care for patients, not kill them, and that the currently proposed legislation is unnecessary and unsafe. I understand that the committee will issue its final report in early October and the Bill may well go before parliament in that same month.
Wage negotiations are continuing for salaried medical staff in the state's public hospitals. It would be fair to say that this has been a tedious and frustrating business with an acknowledged difficulty being the global financial crisis and its impact on the stage budget as well as a reluctance on the part of government to fully engage in the process. Clearly the Premier and Treasury are keen to keep a lid on wages but the problem of course is that Tasmania's public hospital doctors are paid less than anywhere else in the country, much less when compared to some states. This is less an issue about money for doctors than one of public hospital sustainability. The government simply must realise that it has to come somewhere close to matching terms and conditions available interstate if it wishes to be able to recruit and retain a high quality medical workforce for Tasmania's public hospitals. A report in the press over the weekend indicated that locums cost the state's public hospitals some $13 million over the last year. Surely such a sum would be better spent improving existing terms and conditions so that the requirement for locums is reduced.
The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme rolls on. On the plus side, Tasmania has now been guaranteed a seat on the National Medical Board and we congratulate Dr Fiona Joske who has been nominated as the Tasmanian representative. You will recall that until recently Tasmania was not going to be afforded individual representation but was to be lumped together with the Northern Territory and ACT. On the down side, there are still concerns regarding the potential for health ministers to influence the national accreditation process on workforce issues and the AMA is calling for any input from ministers to the Board's decisions to pass a transparent public interest test.
The National Health and Hospital Reform Commission report has been released with cautious approval of some of the recommendations by the AMA. It's a sizeable document, some 300 pages and more than 100 recommendations and it is going to take some time to fully digest it all and formulate reasonable policy. The really big issue is whether there should be a single funder for public hospitals to minimise the cost shifting and gamesmanship that so sorely blights the current system.
In conclusion, I wish to warmly welcome all new members and to congratulate Tony Steven for his single-minded focus on our most important asset, the membership of AMA Tasmania.
http://www.amatas.com.au/membership/
Regards to all,
Chris Middleton
CAMPAIGN 2009 (C2009) HEATS UP
For AMA Tasmania, last week was a hectic round of Member consultation and discussions with senior levels within Government.
It all started on Monday, 17 August with a “Claytons” offer coming from Government. We had been promised a first offer that day in response to Members’ C2009 claims but received only a verbal outline of what Cabinet was likely to consider endorsing. That is still the state of play. We know what Government is thinking, they now know Members won’t stand for it and there still isn’t an official offer on the table. Odd?
Government seems to have been a little distracted with its minority Government considerations and internal wrangling so it was good that AMA Tasmania was able to get Government’s attention. This was first achieved on Tuesday with State wide Television and Radio News reporting that Doctors were ‘up in arms’ about Government’s proposed enterprise bargaining package. By Thursday, AMA Tasmania advised Government that at a major Royal Hobart meeting the night before, Members had unanimously instructed a three week deadline for Government to get serious with its offer or face professional action.
So, after three months of Member consultation prior to Christmas to develop our claims, around 30 hours of negotiations and 13 Hospital Member meetings we find ourselves at the pointy end of C2009. The profession and AMA Tasmania must now unite and fight to ensure the sustainability of public health in this State.
C2009 has never been about enriching anyone. Its objectives are to ensure salaried specialist and junior doctor conditions have comparability to the mainland so that unfilled positions can be filled and so that those seeking to leave, stay. Junior Doctors will then have access to quality supervision and teaching; Specialists will then have reduced workloads and collegiate supports. And who is it that ultimately wins? The patient.
Encourage your non member colleagues to join their professional association. There is real strength in numbers.
ANDREW LEWIS
Senior Industrial Relations Adviser (AMA)
Deans Desk - Professor Alan Carmichael
As you would all be aware the new National Registration and Accreditation body will come into effect in 2010.This body will impact the School of Medicine in two ways. The first is the accreditation function and the second is student registration.
The School of Medicine welcomed the news that the accreditation function will be independent of government and that the accreditation standards will be developed by an independent accrediting body. The accrediting body will recommend to the Board the courses it has accredited. The final decision on whether the accreditation standards and courses are approved for registration is the responsibility of the national board. Existing external accrediting bodies such as the Australian Medical Council (AMC) will continue for the next three years and is expected to continue beyond that. This is reassuring as the AMC accreditation processes are regarded as best practice nationally. National accreditation standards which exist prior to the commencement of the new scheme are to continue until they are replaced by new standards.
From 2011, students will be required to register in their health profession. The relevant board will decide at what point during their programs of study students will be registered, but for medicine this will be from the commencement of their course. This recognises that for modern medicine programs, clinical contact occurs from year one. Students will be registered by a deeming process based on lists of students supplied to the Board by education providers.
Another National initiative affecting the School of Medicine involves support and expansion of clinical placements. A new project team has been established under the Partners in Health agreement to further develop clinical training in Tasmania that will meet the needs of the future workforce, while remaining aligned with reform agendas and accreditation standards within the health and education system. The project team comprises representatives from both the Faculty of Health Science and DHHS, although the total project will involve other education providers, plus private and community health services.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Associate Professor Anne Egan for her outstanding contribution to the School and Faculty. During Anne’s time with the School Anne has held important roles in Infectious Diseases, Pathology and Microbiology together with major curriculum development and coordination roles, in particular as Associate Head (Year 1-3). Anne’s involvement with the School will be very much missed.
I would also like to welcome Professor James Vickers back to his position as Deputy Head of School, and thank Associate Professor Craig Zimitat for ably acting in the role for the past 9 months.
Have you thought about moonlighting as a medical writer?
The AMWA 26th Annual Conference will be held on 16–17 October at the Veterinary Science Conference Centre at the University of Sydney. Sessions include: opportunities for medical writers to advance their careers; verifying the validity of sources for medical stories; how to report well on pandemics and; the midwife debate. Workshops include: Advanced technical writing: improving consistency and style; PR for medical writers; and Analysing clinical papers. More details are available on the AMWA website at: www.medicalwriters.org
AEQUIS - DIY Super
What is our obsession with DIY? Is it the sense of satisfaction and achievement we feel on completion of a job well done; or is it simply the perceived cost savings?
The answer perhaps is….both. The DIY of superannuation is of course the Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF). The growth of SMSF’s in Australia has risen substantially over the last decade with the most recent three year period seeing funds in dollar terms, grow from $83 billion in June 2006 to an estimated $350 billion in May 20091.
Figures up to January 2009 indicate there have been between 2,000 and 3,000 funds established every month in Australia and this dramatic increase has caught the attention of the regulator of SMSF’s; the Tax Office.
As a result, the ATO have undertaken to contact a proportion of trustees in newly established funds to ascertain the attraction to this type of superannuation vehicle, along with the Trustees understanding of their new found responsibilities.
Some of the initial results from this research have been interesting, but certainly not surprising:-
- 30 percent of new trustees could not provide an explanation of the “Sole Purpose Test”
- Over 15 percent did not have an investment strategy in place
- 25 percent of trustees were unaware of the restrictions on the types of assets that can be acquired from related parties; and
- 66 percent could not specify the limit on the level of in-house assets within a SMSF
There have also been a small number of cases that have been referred for rectification of contraventions1.
Contraventions can result in warnings or small fines, through to the loss of Complying Status (a tax levied on the fund at 46.5 percent) or in relation to serious misconduct; criminal charges.
So, what is a SMSF? If you answered a vehicle to make my own choices for where I invest my hard earned superannuation, you are correct. However you also need to consider the definition under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1933 (SISA) which is as follows:-
- 4 or less members
- Each trustee of the fund is a member (unless a single member fund) and each member is a trustee
- No trustee of the fund receives remuneration for his/her services; and
- No member of the fund is an employee of another member unless related
The above statistics along with the definition of a SMSF tell us that this type of vehicle isn’t for everyone, and that those getting into the fund for all the right reasons still require advice to ensure they adhere to the regulations set down by superannuation laws.
So to assist current and possible future Trustees to understand their roles and responsibilities we have recently run a seminar in our offices entitled “De-mystifying the Rules - Tips & Traps for Trustees”
Given the success of this seminar in terms of feedback from attendees, we plan to conduct a series of educational sessions around the day to day running of Self Managed Funds over the coming months.
If you are an existing Trustee, new to the game, or just contemplating this type of arrangement, please contact our offices for the details of future educational sessions, so you can ensure the ATO won’t be knocking on your door!
“This advice may not be suitable to you because it contains general advice that has not been tailored to your personal circumstances. Please seek personal financial advice prior to acting on this information.”
Prepared by Doug Davey - a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM. Doug and Aequis Pty Ltd are Authorised Representatives of GWM Adviser Services Limited Australian Financial Services Licensee Registered Office at 105 – 153 Miller Street North Sydney NSW 2060. GWM Adviser Services Limited is a Principal member of the Financial Planning Association.
