Ambulance Victoria is facing a fresh industrial crisis, with almost 900 corporate and backroom staff preparing to walk off the job after more than six months of stalled wage negotiations with the Allan government.
The planned stoppages threaten to disrupt the administrative machinery that underpins the state’s emergency medical response system.
While Victorian paramedics last year secured one of the most lucrative pay packages in the country—part of a $600 million deal that delivered increases between 16.98 per cent and more than 20 per cent over four years—corporate and administrative workers say they have been left behind. According to the Ambulance Managers & Professionals Association, members have endured four consecutive years of just 2 per cent annual pay rises, despite inflation surging far above that level. In practical terms, union representatives argue, this has amounted to a real wage cut of at least 5 per cent.
Industrial action is set to begin on Tuesday and will be wide-ranging, targeting the administrative and technical functions that keep the agency running. Staff will cease approving flexible work arrangements and leave applications, halt participation in staff recruitment, and stop attending meetings with senior executives. They will also suspend the preparation of reports and will decline to respond to payroll and rostering queries—tasks considered essential for the organisation’s day-to-day operation.
Union lead Pierce Tyson emphasised that workers would take every measure to protect community safety, stressing that the industrial action is aimed squarely at resolving the long-running pay dispute. Nonetheless, he warned that corporate workers are under immense strain and have been overlooked despite playing a crucial role in maintaining Victoria’s emergency response capabilities.
“Behind every ambulance that arrives to someone’s door, there’s a thousand support, administrative and technical workers keeping the lights and sirens on,” Tyson said. “Our members have endured four consecutive years of just 2 per cent pay increases while inflation has soared. In real terms, they’ve suffered a pay cut of at least 5 per cent.”
Tyson said these workers are essential in ensuring the coordination, planning, logistics and operational oversight required for frontline paramedics to function effectively—yet their wages have simply failed to keep pace with the cost of living.
The dispute is the latest in a series of industrial battles the Allan government has faced in recent years. Paramedics reached their landmark agreement only after more than 18 months of negotiations and escalating strike action. Firefighters remain locked in their own prolonged pay dispute, having rejected a 12 per cent increase over four years plus thousands of dollars in bonus payments.
Across the Victorian public sector, wage pressures continue to grow. More than $1 billion in pay rises have been approved by the government over the past 12 months, while the latest financial report revealed a $540 million blowout in public sector wage costs.
Despite this, Tyson said corporate staff at Ambulance Victoria have shown unwavering commitment, regularly working long hours under high stress to keep the system functioning through the state’s ongoing demand pressures.
“Industrial action is always a last resort, but this vote makes it clear our members are not being listened to,” he said. “They deserve fair pay that reflects their professionalism, responsibility, and the essential role they play in public health.”
The Victorian government has not yet publicly commented on the impending strike or the next steps in negotiations.
