Call the HACSU Helpline
1300 88 00 32

more info

Winter 2005

Tassie needs a reputation of having good quality health professionals

Jeff Hable is a physio at Latrobe Hospital in Tasmania’s North West who, like a lot of health professionals, is dedicated to his profession. He fears he is increasingly in a corner and believes unless the Tasmania Government responds soon and effectively he will be forced to take industrial action.

"We haven't asked for anything outrageous or unrealistic."

"The big issue is retention of staff in Tasmania. It won't be solved overnight. It's a hard issue for the Government to tackle, to match the salaries on the mainland. But the Government needs to work with HACSU to get an agreement."

"The main issue is pay parity. Without it, it is going to be hard to keep health professionals in Tassie. It's as simple as that."

"Hobart finds it hard, and in areas outside of that it is even harder."

"It wasn't entirely a career choice for me moving up and staying here. If it was just career I would be elsewhere."

"They need to look at other things to make it more attractive to stay."

"Ongoing learning is a big thing in regional areas. When you start a career there are obviously more things to learn. In capital cities there is an abundance of professional development available. In Tassie it can be quite hard work to get professional development, especially in regional areas."

"Even when you have good management you are limited to what they can get down here. They need to assist us in accessing professional development courses."

"Tassie needs to have a reputation for having good quality health professionals. I think at the moment Tassie might have a bit of a problem in that health professionals are disadvantaged and
some people who want a career don't stay because of that."

"They need to know that by staying in Tassie they aren't jeopardizing their career."