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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-10-14 Daily Xml
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Health Workforce

The Hon. C. BONAROS (14:56): Further supplementary to either the Treasurer or the minister: are you concerned that you will lose even more doctors to the private sector if these issues are not appropriately resolved in a timely manner?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:56): No, I am not concerned. Clearly, I would be concerned if that was the case. Clearly, if we did lose hardworking, excellent doctors who are assisting us not only in managing COVID-19 but the ongoing challenges of the health system, yes, I would be concerned if that was to happen. But I don't believe, in the current nature and the state of the negotiations and the reasonableness of the offer that we have put—as I said, when you compare what we pay our doctors here in South Australia compared to what other jurisdictions are paying, they are being reasonably treated.

Some of our other public sector workers, a lot of them are in the middle of the rankings. One or two of them are at the highest rankings in terms of interstate comparisons, but a number are actually at the lower end. Our costs of living in South Australia are obviously lower than, for example, in the Eastern States of Australia. So we think the current conditions for salaried medical officers in South Australia are reasonable. We accept the fact we need to see reasonable improvements, but as I said, they have always said to me and to the government that their biggest issue isn't salary. Their biggest issue is the extent of resourcing in our hospitals and we are responding to that, as the minister has outlined.

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