‘I see them as investments’: Andrews defends Ambulance Victoria’s $500,000 bill for consultants
By Broede Carmody
Premier Daniel Andrews has defended Ambulance Victoria’s decision to spend half a million dollars on consultants to help implement a cultural overhaul.
The consultants were called in after The Age revealed widespread allegations of sexual discrimination and harassment within the ambulance service. That reporting was reinforced by a subsequent Victorian human rights commission inquiry.
Debate over the $500,000 consultancy spend, first revealed by radio station 3AW, comes as paramedics complain about a top-heavy organisational structure and cost-cutting that has appeared to target lower-ranking employees.
But speaking to the media on Thursday, Andrews said Ambulance Victoria’s budget was well managed.
“Cultural change sometimes has some costs associated with it,” he said.
“But I don’t see them as costs. I see them as investments in the safest, most professional, most inclusive, the best ambulance service that we can possibly have.”
Earlier this week, Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill criticised the agency for cancelling employee awards and functions at local RSLs and town halls while launching its new values-based policy at Hotel Chadstone – a venue that charges thousands of dollars for events.
Ambulance Victoria chief executive Jane Miller defended the event on Thursday, saying it cost less than $10,000.
“We would have been delighted, actually, to deliver that here at our capability hub [in Sunshine],” she said. “But, of course, we’ve got new graduates here doing their work at the moment.”
Miller declined to say whether – if she had her time again – she would not have held the recent function at a hotel.
“What we need to keep focused on is creating a culture that addresses what was identified in that report by the equal opportunities commission,” she said. “I think it was a very, very successful day with our senior leadership team.”
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