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If being the lowest paid and highest injured paramedics in the country wasn’t bad enough, NSWA is finding yet more ways to underpay paramedics.

On Monday, ADHSU members were in the Industrial Relations Commission over ICP casuals being paid as P1s.

NSWA have been capitalising off the backs of casual ICPs by directing them to use their specialist scope of practice, but refusing to pay them the specialist rate. The Service has tried to rationalise these blatant underpayments by putting up unjust interpretations of the Award, and citing ill-founded ‘patient safety’ concerns with casuals maintaining practice of high acuity, low occurrence skills.

ADHSU made it clear in the Commission that accredited ICPs performing the work of ICPs are entitled to be paid as such.

NSWA on the other hand, expects casual ICPs to either work part of their job for free, or sit back when patients need specialist paramedicine care. This approach leads to bizarre outcomes, not just for members, but also the wider community that need and deserve access to paramedic specialists.

The dispute in the IRC continues and affected members should step forward. NSWA have put up a position that could impact your ICP status and credentialling, as well as the delivery of Intensive Care to regional and rural communities. This can not be allowed to happen.

If you’re a casual ICP, please fill out this short survey to have your say and get involved.