00:00This hearing is going to run for 5 days and is going to consider arguments from the government
00:06as well as the union representing psychiatrists. At the heart of this dispute is what the mental
00:12health sector should look like, particularly for psychiatrists working in public hospitals
00:18across the state. Everyone agrees it's important work. This is people presenting to emergency
00:23departments and mental health units, sometimes with very complex and acute mental health
00:28issues. It could be a schizophrenic paranoid episode, psychotic episodes, as well as issues
00:33like dementia and eating disorders too. Now at the current state of play, psychiatrists
00:39and the union representing them say that conditions are not good enough to retain valuable staff.
00:46On a good day there's supposed to be more than 440 employed psychiatrists in the public
00:51health system. In reality there's nowhere near that. The union says one way to prevent
00:56this issue is to look at a more remunerated package. This includes a 25% retention bonus
01:03to be paid to people that would ensure that in the instances of trying to have competitive
01:08salaries they would be better, not only compared to the private sector for psychiatrists, but
01:13also compared to what psychiatrists doing the same work could work and earn elsewhere
01:18in the country, including in other states and territories. The union argues already
01:22that some people have resigned to go on and take this kind of work in other parts of the
01:27country. As for the government, they say what is on the table already, which is a 10.5%
01:32increase in salary over three years, as well as a 10% so-called onerous duties allowance,
01:38which could be paid in some instances as well, is a more than generous offer. They cite the
01:43wages that psychiatrists are on has already been higher than the typical median salary
01:48of a person, not only in the state, but also right around the country. And as a result,
01:53the pay off on the table is a more than generous one that should be accepted. Here's the premier
01:58Chris Mins. The double digit demand, more than double digit, more than 20% increase
02:03in salaries for psychiatrists in a single year is not something that we can afford.
02:10And it'd be unprecedented both in New South Wales and around Australia to have a particular
02:15group of public servants be given a 25% pay increase for one year. I mean, how, how could
02:22we say to the rest of the public service that what we were offering, which we believe was
02:25generous and obviously we don't have the wages cap in New South Wales anymore is justified.
02:30The union on the other hand says it's about a lot more than just rates of pay. They've
02:34spoken about the idea that staffing and conditions really need to be looked at and that the pay
02:40dispute and claim is just one part of it. They also want to see more money for training
02:44for psychiatrists as well as a dispute resolution community and committee that would work closely
02:50within the industry to resolve issues within the medical profession. Professor and Dr.
02:55Chris Ryan, who's working as a psychiatrist right now in the public health sector says
03:00at the moment morale is shot.
03:02I think the morale has taken a very big hit. I don't think there's any doubt about that.
03:08I think the psychiatrists went to the government genuinely asking can you give us a hand with
03:15fixing the system and then they got nothing back and then when out of frustration a lot
03:22of my colleagues, I think not unreasonably, said well if you don't do anything we're leaving.
03:28The government seemed to say fine, we don't need you.
03:32One thing that both parties concede is that since January when about 50 resignations of
03:37psychiatrists went ahead, we have seen an impact on wait times, not only in the emergency
03:42unit but also in mental health wards. The exact extent of these resignations isn't totally
03:48known. It's worth noting that 200 psychiatrists were going to resign in January. However,
03:53some of them were avoided due to some coming on to work in casual roles while others decided
03:58to defer their resignation for a period of time. However, that could all change in the
04:03future. What will come of this Industrial Relations Commission hearing may well influence
04:08that but it's going to be at least five full days of evidence which is underway as we speak
04:13and also then a decision to be reserved by the three justices overhearing this commission
04:18and its days of evidence that will then take some time before it offers up a resolution.
04:23The challenge for the government is that when you have people resign from their work, no
04:27matter what finding is handed down from the Industrial Relations Commission, they can't
04:31force people who have resigned to go back to work, meaning these staffing issues may
04:35be persistent for not only the government but also patients trying to access quality
04:40care.
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