Page 4049 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 24 November 1993
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One of the things we have to look at is what the two outstanding problems are in this dispute. The major outstanding issues, of course, are the indexation of fees and how contracts should be upgraded. As we know, the fees of a VMO are not just wage based. They have motor vehicles, they have practice costs, they have superannuation, they have oncosts of staff. All of those things are very normal in contractual terms. Those are the sorts of things that exist in every single contract I know of.
We have to look at a way of indexing, of coming up with a component by which their fee can be increased during the term of the contract that will suit both parties. The CPI is obviously not acceptable for wage and salary components because that is not what is happening in Australia as a whole. We have to look at - - -
Mr Berry: Yes, it is lower.
MRS CARNELL: Yes, it is lower. Therefore, we have to look at an enterprise based agreement for wage and salary costs. The VMOs have been totally accepting of that, but they are not - - -
Mr Berry: They have been accepting of nothing.
MRS CARNELL: That is in writing, Mr Berry. They have totally accepted that their wage and salary components would not be upgraded by the CPI but would be based upon an enterprise agreement, like everybody else's. That would be an appropriate approach. Motor vehicle costs, practice costs, the oncosts of staff and so on, need to be treated in a slightly different way, as they are in just about every other contract. What we need to do is come up with a formula that will give the VMOs a capacity to update.
Mr Berry and Mr Lamont have accepted that in their across-Government agreement there would be regular increases for staff. It is just a normal situation, when you have people who are either staff or contracted to you, that there will be some mechanism for upgrading. Alternatively, you could go for a fairly big increase up front and no increase for the period of the contract. Those are the two ways contracts are negotiated. In this particular circumstance, the VMOs are willing to negotiate. They are willing to come up with a formula that could suit both sides, but we will never know unless we try.
There are other issues. In the new contracts the Minister decided he was going to solve the problem by sending out, he included things that have not been discussed, or certainly things for which solutions have not been found. In 7.2, Facility Fees, it is stated:
The fees for use by the practitioner of facilities owned by ACT Health may be deducted from the remuneration payable in accordance with clause 4 of this agreement. Such fees shall be in accordance with a schedule determined from time to time by the Secretary of the Department of Health.
So the VMOs are saying, and rightly so, "That is fair enough, but let us know what formula the department is going to use to upgrade". Therefore, it is okay for you not to have any formula for that upgrade. You make them sign an agreement that is open ended and then turn up at one meeting, Mr Berry. You just gave it to
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