Australian Paramedics Association (Victoria)

During the initial stages of a request for assistance, the case will be considered and assigned to a member of the Committee or a Liaison Officer to address. 

Because the Association needs to carefully manage resources available to, and on behalf of, its members there are a range of conditions that apply to enquiries that may be funded by membership. 

When the level of support required is greater or more detailed than can be provided by the Committee or Liaison Officers, APA (Vic) has engaged a specialist firm, Australian Workplace Strategies, to provide advice and representation to members. This can include individual assistance and representation, and when required for Association purposes such as Enterprise Bargaining. 

Each case is considered separately and the most appropriate support is provided. Some of these considerations are shown below.

1. Provision of advice and support

• Only financial members are permitted to seek assistance from our employment relations specialists.
• The Committee can decide whether or not to provide or fund support by our specialists to members who make an enquiry.
• The Committee retains the right to cease approval of assistance at any time after approval has been given.
• Some matters will require the Committee’s express authority before our specialist advisors can help them – for example, if the member’s enquiry involves representing the member in a Court or tribunal, or in a complex or protracted matter.
• Student Paramedics are expected to utilise their relevant Student Union or similar organisation prior to approaching the Committee regarding matters relevant to their education facility.

2. No assistance about things that happened before the member joined APA (Vic) 

• If a member has an enquiry that relates to something that happened before the member joined APA (Vic), members are not permitted to seek assistance without pre-approval from the Committee.

3. Disclosure of information about an enquiry to APA (Vic) Committee

• In order to provide a suitable service, the member must authorise representatives of APA (VIC) or its agents to:
• Communicate with the Committee or their authorised representatives about the enquiry, both initially and on an ongoing basis;
• Disclose advice or information about the enquiry, and the ongoing conduct of the enquiry to the Committee; and
• Receive instructions from the Committee about the enquiry, both initially, and on an ongoing basis.
• If there is a particular reason why this may not be appropriate in any case, members should draw this to the attention of our team before seeking advice and assistance.

4. Member obligations regarding information

• Members are required to fully disclose all information relevant to the matter about which they are seeking advice. Any member who does not do so may have their assistance withdrawn by the Committee.
• Members must keep all advice, emails and other forms of communication between the member, our team and the Committee confidential. If members disclose such information to others (including to other members or third parties) then approval for assistance may be removed.

Any members who do not agree to these conditions must inform a member of the Committee or Employment Relations team before seeking any advice.