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Katie Woolf spoke with Health Services Union SA NT branch secretary Billy Elrick · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Three sixty with Katie Wolf. Join the conversation with Katie Wolf.
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  Speaker 2: You are our eyes and ears in the Territory Mix
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  Speaker 2: one oh four point nine. Well, as you've heard over
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  Speaker 2: the last couple of days, we are anticipating the Howard
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  Speaker 2: Springs Quarantine facility is going to increase the number of arrivals.
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  Speaker 2: Ossie's being repatriated, and we're also going to see a
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  Speaker 2: huge increase in the workforce out at the Howard Spring site.
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  Speaker 2: We are trying to recruit four hundred staff. Now joining
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  Speaker 2: us on the line to talk more about this from
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  Speaker 2: the Health Services Union for South Australia and the Northern
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  Speaker 2: Territory Branch Secretary Billy Lrick. Good morning to you, Billy.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning Katie, Thank you for having me, Thanks.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us this morning. Billy, how do you
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  Speaker 2: reckon we're going to go with trying to recruit four
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  Speaker 2: hundred staff to the territory.
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  Speaker 1: Look, at least it's going to be a struggle. Hasn't
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  Speaker 1: been identified yet where these staff are coming from, how
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  Speaker 1: they're going to come across in today and be house
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  Speaker 1: that facility, and what incentive packages will be given to
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  Speaker 1: them as part of the recruitment process. There's still a
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  Speaker 1: lot of unknown for this, Protect Billy.
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  Speaker 2: When you talk about health staff around the nation at
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  Speaker 2: the moment, they're certainly in high demand, aren't they.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, We've got one of the biggest health efforts
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  Speaker 1: we've ever got underway within the vaccination rollout that is
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  Speaker 1: taking up staff from all areas of health. We're talking
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  Speaker 1: about bringing ambulance drivers, former and retired nurses back into service,
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  Speaker 1: and looking at all sorts of areas of health workers
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  Speaker 1: to just get that vaccination rolled out in an efficient
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  Speaker 1: and effective manner that puts strains like we've never seen
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  Speaker 1: on the workforce before. Wow.
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  Speaker 2: So then when you you know, when you take that
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  Speaker 2: into account, how big a task is it going to
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  Speaker 2: be for us to try and bring four hundred staff here.
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  Speaker 1: It's monumental. We don't know where they're coming from. Fuel
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  Speaker 1: and simple. How are they going to be a tractor
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  Speaker 1: across as we know, it's already struggled to get in
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  Speaker 1: health conditions into rule parts of Northern Territory and to
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  Speaker 1: get appropriately trained individuals working in the health workforce. We
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  Speaker 1: just don't know where they're coming from.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and this is a concern that I've got We
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  Speaker 2: spoke with the Health Minister earlier in the week and
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  Speaker 2: I asked her what type of jobs they would be.
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  Speaker 2: She said it would sort of be everything you know,
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  Speaker 2: from those that are that are cleaning right to those
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  Speaker 2: you know, those real specialist health professionals. She said that
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  Speaker 2: some of them may be secondered, you know, from different
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  Speaker 2: areas of the Health Department. But if that is indeed
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  Speaker 2: the case, then you're obviously going to have a shortage
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  Speaker 2: in other areas of health.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. If you look at an area like mental health,
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  Speaker 1: it requires a high level of training, skills and specialization.
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  Speaker 1: There's al very shortages of that across the nation to
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  Speaker 1: find staff to staff mental health facilities. When you're looking
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  Speaker 1: at a place like Howard Springs where there is a
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  Speaker 1: higher risk for individuals to suffer for mental health related
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  Speaker 1: illnesses due to the isolation and the quarantine programs, it
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  Speaker 1: needs traditional mental health staff and where will they be
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  Speaker 1: coming from, the Government's failed to answer that up to now.
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  Speaker 2: Can I also ask Billy, I've been told by health
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  Speaker 2: professionals that coming across to the Northern Territory to work
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  Speaker 2: for the Ozmat team, part of the National Critical Care
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  Speaker 2: and Trauma Response Center is seen as you know, really
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  Speaker 2: quite a stepping stone and there are a lot of
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  Speaker 2: people that would be keen to maybe be part of
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  Speaker 2: that ozmat team. Do you think though, that coming across
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  Speaker 2: and working for the Northern Territory Health Department has the
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  Speaker 2: same kind of clout, probably not quite.
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  Speaker 1: The same sort of clown and work for Asma. Yes, oh,
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  Speaker 1: that is a stepping stone to someone. It is also
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  Speaker 1: not necessarily that big of an incentive within itself. At
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  Speaker 1: the end of the day, health workers have bills to
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  Speaker 1: pay for families to take care of, and a relocation
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  Speaker 1: to s Garwen or Howard Springs is still a significant
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  Speaker 1: effort for someone to undertake and the idea of benefiting
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  Speaker 1: their career what may appeal to some isn't going to
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  Speaker 1: attract four hundred people to the Northern Territory. It's going
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  Speaker 1: to only attract small cohort. It's not going to make
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  Speaker 1: up the bulk of the workforce.
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  Speaker 2: Billy, what kind of incentives would get people here.
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  Speaker 1: Well appure in s implet money. If you're going to
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  Speaker 1: try and attract people to Howard Springs, you're going to
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  Speaker 1: need to give them a higher way from what they're
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  Speaker 1: getting at the Eastern Seaboard or South Australia WA or
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  Speaker 1: something like that. If without a fair and reasonable enumeration package,
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  Speaker 1: workers are not going to come across.
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  Speaker 2: Billy Can I ask do you think that if if
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  Speaker 2: we've got a situation here where we're not able to
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  Speaker 2: recruit people through those you know, through the regular avenues,
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  Speaker 2: the Health Department sort of putting out an ad are
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  Speaker 2: we going to have to use agency staff? And does
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  Speaker 2: that represent or does that you know, present problems in itself?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah? Absolutely, And that sort of thing that we worry
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  Speaker 1: about is that the government has made these very large commitments,
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  Speaker 1: and these possibly unachievable commitments in a very short time frame,
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  Speaker 1: and I look for a while we're skilled, lower trained
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  Speaker 1: workforce to fill the gaps, and we've seen in Victoria
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  Speaker 1: and other places when these quarantine facilities aren't staffed correctly,
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  Speaker 1: we get outbreaks and that presents a real risk to
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  Speaker 1: people in Northern Territory and also begs the question is
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  Speaker 1: why is the Northern Territory bearing that risk? The other
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  Speaker 1: states may have a greater capacity and may have a
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  Speaker 1: greater means of attracting that staff, but yet the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory making up a small percentage of the population is
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  Speaker 1: going to be dealing with fifteen percent of all international arrivals.
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  Speaker 1: It just doesn't quite seem fair.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Billy, you've certainly given us a lot to think
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  Speaker 2: about this morning. I really appreciate your time. Thanks for
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  Speaker 2: having a chat with me.
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  Speaker 1: No, thanks very much, Katie, thank you.
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  Speaker 2: That's Billy Eleric there, who is indeed the Health Services
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  Speaker 2: Union South Australia Northern Territory Branch Secretary. And I'll tell
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  Speaker 2: you what that discussion there about the agency staff and
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  Speaker 2: what we've seen in other states, those outbreaks. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we've got to make sure that we get these staffing situate,
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  Speaker 2: all the staffing levels correct. We've got to make sure
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  Speaker 2: that you know that we've got the right people in
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  Speaker 2: these jobs, because at the end of the day, we're
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  Speaker 2: talking about the safety of the Northern Territory.