A doctor has been paid $165,000 for unpaid and unrostered overtime accrued while working as a junior doctor in Canberra as part of a $31 million settlement with Canberra Health Services and Calvary Health Care ACT.
The "unprecedented and landmark" class action was settled in September 2024. Doctors named in the suit are being reminded to make sure their bank details are up to date so they can receive sums.
About 1200 people who worked as junior doctors, from first year interns to senior registrars, in Canberra between 2016 and 2024 received a total of $25.34 million. Settlements ranged from a few thousand dollars to $165,000, and the average claim was about $21,000.
The total of claims made by doctors was slightly higher than the money available, so they have not been completely reimbursed for their unpaid work.
Director of law firm Hayden Stephens & Associates, Hayden Stephens, said doctors were sceptical that money would ever hit their bank accounts.
"They have been pleasantly surprised and relieved that not only have they received payment, but they've, I think, trusted the very thorough process," Mr Stephens said.
"Most doctors I've spoken to have understood that in any contested court action and settlement, you're never going to achieve 100 per cent of your entitlements, so compromises have been made to avoid a protracted court case and reach settlement."
There are several similar class actions being undertaken across the country. Mr Stephens is investigating a potential claim for doctors in the Northern Territory, leading ongoing cases in Tasmania and Sydney, and has settled cases in Victoria and NSW.
The lawyer said the culture of junior doctors not claiming overtime hours is not unique to Canberra but a problem found in public and private hospitals around Australia.
"Surgical departments it would appear demanded more of junior doctors," Mr Stephens said.
Completing medical records and discharge summaries, coming in early to prepare for a ward round or staying back to admit a patient or attend to an emergency "are common duties" performed by doctors during unpaid and unrostered overtime.
In Canberra, like other states and territories, surgical rotations and obstetrics and gynaecology were among the worst offenders for junior doctors working extra hours without being paid.
Emergency departments had fewer unrostered and unpaid overtime hours because shifts tended to overlap and they were better resourced and staffed.
"[An] absence of overlap between rosters, where there is understaffing, where there is fluctuation in patient loads, where there is poor leadership on occasion can lead to junior doctors having to perform extra duties in overtime," Mr Stephens said.
Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation ACT branch president Professor Dipti Talaulikar said in a previous interview with The Canberra Times that junior doctors have been more likely to record overtime since the class action.
"We do know that there are pockets where doctors are not claiming and where it is brought to our attention, we work through the reasons and try and address it as best as we can," Professor Talaulikar said.
"Some of it is related to staff shortages, and if that's the case, and the patient and communities are at risk, doctors have a very deep-held belief of supporting the community.
"That's how we are trained, and that's what we tend to believe. Sometimes there's no option, and we understand that [but] through the union we do try and make sure that adequate compensation and remuneration is then attached to those hours of work."
Class action lead plaintiff Ying Ying Tham said the class action was not about money but trying to change the culture of medicine.
"This was never only about back pay. It was about being recognised. I hope every doctor receiving a payment knows that speaking up was worth it, and that the hours they gave to their patients have finally been acknowledged," Dr Tham said in a statement.
"My hope now is that fair pay for the hours doctors actually work becomes the norm, not the exception, and that we're supported to work hours that are safe, for us and for the people in our care."
Australian Medical Association ACT branch president Betty Ge said the ACT government had dealt with the settlement "sensibly" and the payouts represented a "line in the sand" for the matter.
"Let the final payments of this settlement scheme be a line in the sand for health authorities," Dr Ge said.
"From this day forward we all acknowledge that doctors working hours are valuable, that our hours must be safe - for our patients and our staff - and to the extent that our doctors have to work excessive hours, they be paid fairly for them."
