In a landmark decision , the Federal Court of Australia has ruled that Victoria ’ s Peninsula Health contravened the Fair Work Act by not paying overtime to junior doctors .

The judge found that Dr Gaby Bolton , the lead plaintiff in a class action involving 1500 junior doctors , was owed overtime for four rotations she did at Frankston Hospital .

It is seen as a major win in the battle to end workforce exploitation by the Australian hospital system .

Now an anaesthetic registrar at the same hospital , Dr Bolton spoke with Australian Doctor about her legal battle .

Rachel Fieldhouse

Australian Doctor : Generations of junior doctors have felt exploited by the public hospital system in terms of the excessive work demands made on them . How did you feel when the judgement was handed down ?

Dr Gaby Bolton : Relief ! It has been three years since I got involved .

I am very happy that unpaid overtime , which has been an issue for so many of us over the years , is finally being acknowledged as a problem .

My hope for other junior doctors is twofold : first , that they are paid for the work they do without the obstructions , without having to go to their supervisors , who do not think they warrant payment for overtime , to get permission .

The other is knowing that many of the rosters imposed on junior doctors are illegal and have been illegal for a long time .

AD : Why did it take so long for the courts to be involved in resolving this exploitation ?

Dr Bolton : The biggest barrier to all of this is that , for the few who have tried to claim pay for work outside their rostered hours , the hospitals always blame them . They get accused of being inefficient and

Dr Gaby Bolton .

start of their careers , and it was an issue for their bosses at the start of theirs .

AD : Did you attempt to claim any overtime during your rotations ?

told that no-one else is struggling except

They think it is a good thing that this

them . That is certainly not true . There are some people who are just

generation is trying to do something about it .

Dr Bolton : Yes , there were certain rotations where it was flagged at the start that ,

more scared than others .

I have moved to a new department that

if you do the work , you got paid for it .

But I was part of a platform . We have a

does not know much about the case , but

But in others , you were warned by

supportive union body . Also , there were

they have obviously seen it in the news and

your predecessors not to even try because

a high number of doctors involved , and

say they are proud of what we have done .

it is too hard or you will be seen as some-

that also meant that not many had to put

The main departments [ of Frankston

body causing an issue .

their name to it .

Hospital ] with which I had issues regard-

In some cases , we were not told in

AD : Has speaking up affected your career ?

ing unpaid overtime , I have not worked in for a very long time , and I ’ m glad I didn ’ t because I don ’ t think I would have had

orientation who we could ask to get it authorised ; it just wasn ’ t acknowledged .

When you have worked 20 minutes or

such an easy time of it .

half an hour of overtime and you have

Dr Bolton : Yes , it has . Unfortunately , the court case was less

AD : How did you first get involved ?

got to do a lot of chasing around through a switchboard to find the right person to

than two months before my anaesthetics

talk to , that alone can take 10 minutes ,

exam , which I then failed . I ’ m still trying to pass it .

Dr Bolton : It was so long ago now that I can ’ t remember the specifics , but the AMA

and you may end up in someone ’ s office being told , “ None of your colleagues are

Going to court and getting subpoe-

had sent out a survey right at the beginning

asking for this . What ’ s your problem ?”

naed meant that I was there for a whole

of the COVID-19 pandemic .

People before me said this has hap-

week , and I had to get leave from work

Obviously , it was a very unorganised sit-

pened to them , and it will happen to you

and rosters changed .

uation at Frankston Hospital , like it was for

if you do it .

But my department head said : “ Tell

many hospitals , and I think a lot of clini-

On a couple of rotations , we were told

us what you need , and we will make it

cians felt abandoned by the executives , me

to ring senior doctors to have overtime

happen .”

included .

approved . Because they didn ’ t want to

AD : What has the response been from senior doctors ? Is there any resentment ? The years as a junior doctor are often seen as a rite of passage .

We were very short staffed and had challenging rostering , no-one was really listening and I was frustrated by that .

I had ticked a box on the AMA form asking if I would be happy to have a chat about the survey , and then Hayden Stephens , a

give approval , they told us to hand the work over to someone else .

There was a complete lack of understanding of the tasks we were doing as junior doctors , an ignorance of the time that work took , and ignorance around

lawyer , gave me a call .

whether it was even possible to hand over

Dr Bolton : Anaesthetics is a very progressive specialty compared with a lot of oth-

We chatted for a very long time , and at the end of it , he mentioned the idea

the work to someone else . It was made very clear in the Federal

ers , and for the most part , everybody I have

of a class action and said , “ Well , if we

Court judgement that some of the people

come across has been very supportive and

needed someone , would you potentially be

making the decisions about overtime had

recognised that it has been an issue .

willing ?”

never observed anyone directly doing the

Yes , it was an issue for them at the

And I said , “ Yes .”

job they were making a call about .