Removing structural barriers to career advancement

The recommendation

Ambulance Victoria should:

consider opportunities to actively promote and support the ability for paramedics to complete the MICA program while working flexibly
as soon as practicable remove all remaining requirements for managerial endorsement across career advancement opportunities, including from its Recognition and Development Process
amend its Recognition and Development Process to remove sick leave patterns as a consideration and include exemptions to the ’12-month rule’ for employees who have been on parental leave or working flexibly during the prior 12 months and enable alternative assessment.

Consider opportunities to deliver the on-road learning model more flexibly for all paramedics and develop a part-time pathway for MICA
Remove any managerial endorsement from career advancement opportunities, including from the Recognition and Development Process
Amend Recognition and Development Process to remove sick leave patterns as a consideration and include exemptions to the ’12-month rule’ for employees on parental leave or working flexibly during the prior 12 months
Amend Recognition and Development Process to enable alternative assessments

In December 2020, AV introduced adult learning education principles to provide a standardised, consistent supportive learning environment to the service-learning stage of the Mobile Intensive Care (MICA) Internship Trainee Program. The introduction of adult learning principles and expression of supervision requirements in hours allows for supported flexible study pathways and parental leave or other long periods of leave.
In January 2022, Monash University and AV transitioned to a new agreement, with AV now sponsoring students studying the Graduate Diploma Specialist Paramedic Practice and moving away from a bespoke AV program. This allows flexible pathways for delivery, is delivered online over two years and supports our employees’ family / work life balance as needed.

The Equality & Workplace Reform division is developing a communication piece to all AV employees that demonstrates how removing the requirement for manager endorsement from all career advancement opportunities, including short term vacancies and expressions of interest, and replacing it with standard probity checks contributes to fairer and equal recruitment and selection process. The Workforce Planning team are currently in the process of updating all recruitment and selection policy and guidelines to reflect this reform.

As part of AV’s digitisation of our performance development system, in July 2022 the Executive Committee had initial discussions regarding the place of managerial endorsement in the Recognition and Development Process. Further work is in progress to consider the endorsement requirement in this context.

FY 2027 Q3