Today’s correspondent
… left NSW Ambulance after 16-17 years entering into the private world setting up my own business in Private Paramedic setting. With registration, what award would I (we) practice under and in the private industry? How do we have different paramedic classifications such as ICP, Advanced Care , P1 etc… ?
I can’t claim to be an expert in industrial law so I can’t say what the relevant award would be. That may be a question to be directed to Fair Work Australia.
With respect to paramedic classification, with the introduction of registration there will be only one category of registration. A person will be registered as a paramedic. There are minimal educational requirements and in due course there may be national definitions of scope of practice – see Moving interstate – registration and scope of practice (October 17, 2018) but initially at least it is paramedic or its nothing.
The Medical Board has different types of registration for specialist medical practitioners – see https://www.medicalboard.gov.au/Registration/Types/Specialist-Registration.aspx. The Board also publishes ‘guidelines detailing the process for organisations to apply for the recognition of a new or amended medical specialty’ (https://www.medicalboard.gov.au/Registration/Recognition-of-medical-specialties.aspx).
In due course the Paramedicine Board may decide to introduce different types of registration to allow intensive care, extended care paramedics to have specialist registration but until then the creation of different job descriptions will be up to the employers, just as it is now.
Australian Emergency Law 
Hello Doc and correspondent,
I do not believe that the levels of practice that currently exist today will lead to specialist registration for paramedics. If you look at nursing their awards allows for Registered Nurse, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Clinical Nurse Consultants, Nurse Educators, etc. The ‘specialist’ roles are still simply registered as ‘registered nurse’. In the future I can envisage a ‘paramedic practitioner’ obtaining a specialist registration.
While I do not pretend to be knowledgeable about industrial law, I do believe that paramedics need to move beyond correlating a title with a skill set/scope of practice.
I don’t think we need to look to awards for registration and where it is going. They are a product of the employment pool and industrial pressure. Registration is about title and about building a community of professional ‘Paramedics’. Once we know what our profession wants a paramedic to be then we can define other levels. And hopefully allow endorsement.
Once we get through the initial registration period, I hope and envisage that paramedicine will see endorsement of Intensive/Extended Care Paramedics or Paramedic Practitioners. This would be in line with nursing and their endorsement of nurse practitioners.
Hi
I work as a QLD Paramedic in the private industry and I have always been paid well above the QLD award pay scale. With this in mind I still get annual leave and sick pay. There is a generic award as a basic that is the minimum that people work under if there is difficulty deciding on an award. A safety net for employees “the National Employment Standards “. https://www.qld.gov.au/jobs/entitlements/wages
I have worked under a flexible work agreement with my employer using the National Standards as a starting point.