NSW Health to pay $230 million in compensation to junior doctors

by NAZMUN NAHER SHISHIR

In a landmark decision, over 20,000 junior doctors will finally receive compensation for years of unpaid overtime and denied entitlements.

After a four-year legal battle in the Supreme Court, NSW Health will pay $229.8 million to junior doctors who served between 2014 and 2024.

The move is a significant shift in acknowledging the rights and contributions of junior medical staff.

NSW Greens spokesperson for Health Dr. Amanda Cohn, also a former GP and emergency doctor, said, “Junior doctors have been exploited for too long.”

“Today, we celebrate the justice they have rightfully earned.”

“This is a clear message that exploitation of the skill and commitment of healthcare workers is unacceptable and cannot continue,” said Dr Cohn.

“Unsafe overtime puts doctors’ wellbeing and patients’ lives at risk,” she continued. “It has to stop.”

Speaking about her experience in the medical industry, Dr Cohn said her years as a junior doctor were “genuinely traumatic.”

“I became a GP for many reasons, but one of them was to get out of the brutally hierarchical hospital system that made it hard to turn up to work every day.”

By having to account for overtime worked by junior doctors, organisations will have to work to reduce it, making hospitals safer for patients and workers alike.

But this victory is only the beginning of the process towards a safer work environment, said Dr Cohn.

“There is still much work to be done, in particular to address bullying and harassment experienced by junior doctors, and for safe staffing ratios and a meaningful pay rise for nurses and midwives.”