The Tasmanian Greens are today calling for the Rockliff Government to work with unions to establish fair incentives to encourage part-time healthcare staff to work full-time.
Since 2017-18, the number of staff working part-time in the public health system has increased by more than 2800 people – or 45%. In the past three years part-time staff numbers have increased more than twice as fast as full-time numbers. There’s now more than 9,000 people working part-time in the health system.*
Everyone knows there’s a huge staffing crisis in health. It’s having a terrible effect on patients, and it’s making conditions nearly impossible for workers. There’s no silver bullet to addressing this problem, but the government should be considering all options that could make a difference.
We want the government to sit down with unions to look at bringing in fair incentives to encourage people who work part-time in health to take on a full-time role. We believe it makes sense to see if we can bolster the health workforce with people who are already in Tasmania, and who already have experience in our health system.
The Greens fully support staff working part-time if that’s their preference. For many people this is the only way they can manage the stress of their job or achieve an appropriate work-life balance. This isn’t about forcing anyone to increase their work hours – it’s about providing some extra encouragement to people who might be open to taking on more hours.
We hope new Minister for Health Jacquie Petrusma will be open-minded about this idea – and any other ideas that could help improve the health system, no matter which side of politics they come from.
*A summary of annual report staffing figures is available here
