The class action was led by Hayden Stephens & Associates and Maurice Blackburn and comes after a number of similar class actions filed across both Victoria and the ACT in recent years – against Peninsula Health, Melbourne Health, and similar unpaid overtime claims against Eastern Health and Royal Women’s Hospital, which currently await a decision from the Federal Court.

Lead plaintiff Dr Amireh Fakhouri said the class action settlement attests to the validity of her and junior doctors’ long-held concerns about underpayment of their working hours.

“Our purpose in bringing this was to ensure junior doctors’ work was properly recognised. This was not about us asking for more money; it was simply about us being paid for the actual hours that we work. I want to thank all my many colleagues who supported me in this case and especially those senior doctors within our hospitals who stood with us,” Fakhouri said.

“Since this action has commenced, it’s been pleasing to receive reports that cultural change is beginning to occur with junior doctors encouraged to properly record their work hours. I am very pleased that NSW Health has resolved this action prior to trial. It is in everyone’s interests that doctors spend their time treating patients rather than in the courts.”

Hayden Stephens & Associates director Hayden Stephens added that concerns over the dangerous working conditions of junior doctors were ignored for years.

“Failure to recognise the actual working hours of junior doctors has been a longstanding and widespread problem across our hospitals for years. This landmark settlement now represents a seismic shift in the way junior doctors are treated in their workplace,” he said.

“Any workplace that is strictly hierarchical can lead to a culture of silence among those who are most junior. Dr Fakhouri showed enormous courage in speaking up. She received support from many colleagues, including senior doctors who knew junior doctors were not being treated fairly and were suffering from burnout.”

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Maurice Blackburn principal Rebecca Gilsenan said it was “a landmark settlement” and called on more junior doctors to register for a share of the settlement, which is subject to approval by the NSW Supreme Court.

“Never before has a wage underpayment class action settled in Australia of this size. Underpayment of junior doctors across NSW hospitals has been a systemic problem for a long time, and this class action will result in real change. In fact, it already has. Our clients report that NSW Health has already implemented several improvements in the workplace. In that way, the class action has achieved lasting systemic change for some of the hardest workers in our health system,” she said.

“We call on junior doctors to register through Maurice Blackburn to claim their share of the settlement.”