The Health Professionals and Support Staff Award is a wide-ranging award which covers both:

  • employees in the health industry (โ€œindustry coverageโ€); and
  • employees engaged as health professionals, regardless of the industry they work in (โ€œoccupational coverageโ€)

The Awardโ€™s industry coverage is defined to cover the following types of businesses and their employees (including their support staff):

 

โ€œprivate medical, dental, pathology, physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathic practice[s] mean[ing] the practice of any practitioner, such as medical centre , general practice, specialist practice, family practice, medical clinic, dental practice, pathology practice, physiotherapy practice, chiropractic practice, osteopathic practice and womenโ€™s health centre, but does not include medical imaging practices, hospitals or hospicesโ€

 

The health professionals occupations that the Award covers are listed in Schedule B to the Award and include roles such as: chiropractors, counsellors, homeopathists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, podiatrist, psychologists and speech pathologists.

 

Not all health professionals will be covered by this Award: Dentists and doctors are usually considered โ€œaward-freeโ€. Nurses have their own award.

 

The health professionals listed in Schedule B will generally be covered by the Award even if they donโ€™t work in the health industry. For example, an occupational therapist employed by an employer otherwise covered by the SCHADS Award would still generally come under the Health Professionals Award.

 

What is changing?

Following a decision of the Fair Work Commission (โ€˜FWCโ€™) last year, the Health Professionals Award is being amended from 1 July 2021 to make clear that the list of health professionals in the Award is not exhaustive and that it is capable of applying to other health professionals not included in the list. This will be made clear by the including the wording โ€œan indicative list of health professionalsโ€, when referring to the list of occupations in the Award.

 

Furthermore, the FWC has determined to add the occupations of dental hygienist, dental prosthetist and oral health therapist in the list of health professionals covered by the Award, to make clear that these roles will be covered. The Award already refers to industry coverage for dental practices, as well as referring to a number of health professionals who work in dentistry, such as dental therapist.

 

 

About Employment Innovations

Employment Innovations is one of Australiaโ€™s leading providers of employment services designed to increase productivity and ensure compliance. Its services and solutions include all the tools that every Australian small to medium sized employer needs โ€“ including workplace advice, legal services, payroll solutions, migration, human resource management and HR software.

 

Disclaimer

The information provided in these blog articles is general in nature and is not intended to substitute for professional advice. If you are unsure about how this information applies to your specific situation we recommend you contact Employment Innovations for advice.

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