Madeleine Harradence, Assistant Secretary of ANMF (Vic Branch)
The Nurses and Midwives (Victorian Public Sector) (Single Interest Employers) Enterprise Agreement 2020–2024, for the first time, includes a definition of ‘campus’.
This has been included to make it easier to understand and enforce various obligations that relate to a ‘campus’ that were previously not defined. For example, the EBA requires that a director of nursing be appointed for each campus, and that after hours coordinator be appointed to cover all off-duty periods of the campus DON. The grade for each of these roles also depends on which column the campus is named in.
In introducing the definition (and the obligations that follow), a ‘one off’ opportunity was provided for a health service who was not complying with the obligations at a particular campus (typically small residential aged care services) to put a case to maintain the status quo. As of 12 July 2021, only three sites have been the subject of such an application.
The following is the EBA definition of campus:
4(j) Campus means a site operated by an Employer that provides day procedure surgery or multi-day inpatient services or residential aged care but excludes:
(i) a site that is a Community Health Centre;
(ii) a site where the only service is Aged Care beds that do not meet the definition of High Care beds under the Safe Patient Care Act;
(iii) Dental Health Services Victoria;
(iv) Private residences; and
(v) a Campus during any period of a formal written Agreement signed by the ANMF Branch Secretary and the Employer made after 24 August 2020 and before 1 July 2021 specifying that the campus is excluded from the operation of this clause,
provided that a satellite service co-located on a Campus controlled by another Employer is not a separate Campus for the purposes of this Agreement.
For reference, a list of campuses as at the date of this Agreement is at Appendix 8.
