NSW Doctors to Defy Court Order and Proceed with Three-Day Strike

Doctors plan to strike next week over pay and conditions, citing chronic staff shortages and burnout, despite a legal order to halt industrial action.

• The Industrial Relations Commission ordered ASMOF NSW to cancel the planned strike and refrain from industrial action for three months, but the union plans to proceed.
• ASMOF NSW is demanding a 30% pay increase and improved working conditions, while the government has offered 10.5% over three years.
• The strike, set to begin next week, will disrupt elective surgeries and outpatient clinics, though emergency and critical care services will remain operational.
• Doctors cite unsafe working hours, burnout, and chronic staff shortages as key reasons for the strike, with many leaving the public sector due to these conditions.
• NSW Health spends $270 million annually on short-term locum doctors, highlighting systemic workforce challenges in the public health system.

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