The National Association of Practicing Psychiatrists (NAPP) stands in full support of the psychiatrists across New South Wales who are currently engaged in a difficult and deeply concerning dispute with the NSW Government regarding pay and working conditions. This situation underscores the urgent need for reform and action to address the deteriorating conditions faced by mental health professionals in the state.
The welfare of psychiatrists and trainees is paramount. Trainees, in particular, are at the foundation of the mental health system’s future, yet they are disproportionately impacted by these challenges. Overburdened workloads, inadequate pay, and a lack of proper support are leading to burnout, distress, and a diminished capacity to provide the care our community so desperately needs. NAPP is committed to being a steadfast advocate and resource for psychiatrists and trainees during this critical time.
The failure to address these systemic issues has profound implications, not just for the psychiatrists and trainees directly affected but for the entire community. The mental health crisis in NSW continues to escalate, and without immediate government intervention, the consequences for patients and their families will be devastating.
We call on the NSW Government to act swiftly and decisively to resolve this dispute. Investment in mental health professionals is an investment in the community’s well-being. Failing to do so risks long-term harm to public health and the sustainability of our mental health system.
NAPP urges the government to step up, recognise the essential contributions of psychiatrists and trainees, and ensure their rights, conditions, and compensation reflect the critical importance of their work. The time to act is now.
NSW Psychiatrists Dispute
Prof Gordon Parker (formerly director of NSW Black Dog Institute) in 2019 raised issues about the parlous state of public mental health services that the National Association of Practising Psychiatrists (NAPP) have been drawing attention to for 10 years or more. See our articles on the website links below on the Australian Mental Health Crisis. All the things that Gordon Parker talks about are all covered in these two accounts of the deterioration in Australian (and NSW) public mental health services and training over the last 10 to 15 years.
It’s interesting to note the differences in starting salaries for psychiatrists in NSW compared with other states and territories. See the graph below provided by the doctors’ union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF). The starting salary package in NSW is below that for all other states and territories. There are substantial differences in salary between NSW and states and territories further away from the Sydney-Melbourne axis, but of course it seems understandable that health departments in Northern Territory and Western Australia need to pay specialist doctors (including psychiatrists, physicians, surgeons, paediatricians, obstetricians, pathologists and others) more money in order to entice them to work there, than public health services in Sydney. The resigning psychiatrists in NSW believe that the lower salaries in that state are one of the reasons psychiatrists are leaving the system and the state is having so much difficulty in recruiting psychiatrists.
The NSW psychiatrists’ dispute is more than just a labour issue; it is a symptom of a much larger, systemic problem in the Australian mental health system. As NAPP has pointed out, the crisis in mental health care is deeply rooted in years of neglect, underfunding, and insufficient training. This leads to dissatisfaction with job descriptions, reduced autonomy to make clinical and professional decisions, toxic work environments and ‘burnout’. It is imperative that stakeholders in the field—including professional organizations, medical colleges, health departments, and government bodies—take urgent action to address the underlying issues.
As far as the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) is concerned, it must make a statement from the president that all trainees who are in positions in NSW that due to the dispute may have reduced or no supervision will be given the all the time that they’re in those terms as accredited time for their training, no matter what. This needs to be a hard and fast guarantee from the college president and not something subject to context. In addition, the College must provide all the trainees who may experience limited or no supervision due to the dispute in NSW with supervision either face to face or virtually from colleagues around Australia. This is a matter of ethical and professional collegial support for our junior colleagues. This supervision support must be provided until the circumstances in NSW can be stabilised. This is the minimum the College should do, and it should be done quickly.
Dr Philip Morris AM
President NAPP
The Australian Mental Health Crisis – an Update
https://www.drphilipmorris.com/the-australian-mental-health-crisis-an-update/
The Australian Mental Health Crisis: A system failure in need of treatment
https://napp.org.au/2021/04/the-australian-mental-health-crisis-a-system-failure-in-need-of-treatment/
