Ambulance Victoria chief executive resigns amid industrial dispute

Ambulance Victoria’s chief executive has resigned after just 18 months at the helm following a vote of no-confidence in the troubled emergency service’s leadership, a protracted industrial dispute and concern over paramedics working excessive overtime.

In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, the agency said Jane Miller had resigned “to pursue a new opportunity within the Victorian health sector”.

Former emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp has been appointed interim chief executive for the next six months while recruitment occurs.

Crisp has been a director on Ambulance Victoria’s board since July, but will pause those duties when he begins as CEO on Wednesday.

Almost 98 per cent of Victorian Ambulance Union members passed a vote of no-confidence in Ambulance Victoria’s executive last month, triggered by outrage over the lack of support for veteran paramedic Jim Avard, who crashed his ambulance after a hellishly long 18-hour shift.

A second union – Ambulance Managers and Professionals Association – also wrote to Ambulance Services Minister Mary-Anne Thomas expressing serious concerns about the agency’s leadership.

The no-confidence motions came amid a protracted industrial dispute over pay and conditions, ambulance ramping at hospitals, a dispatch system that paramedics say wrongly classifies minor incidents as code-one “lights and sirens” emergencies, and internal turmoil.

Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said the work involved in fixing the emergency service would be massive but that Miller’s resignation was the first step in the right direction.

“The workforce voted no-confidence in the ... executive because new leadership was desperately needed to return Ambulance Victoria to the emergency service it is meant to be,” Hill said.

“Ambulance Victoria has been heading in the opposite direction for the past two years.”

Ambulance Victoria chief executive Jane Miller has resigned.Credit: Chris Hopkins

Hill said the union welcomed the appointment of Crisp, who had decades of emergency service experience.

“However, there is no time to waste in addressing the concerns that our members have been raising for several years and resolving our 18-month dispute.”

Thomas thanked Miller on Tuesday but did not directly answer when asked if she had confidence in the outgoing chief executive.

“It’s not a matter of whether I had confidence or not. Ms Miller has chosen to resign her role as CEO at Ambulance Victoria, and I welcome the appointment of Andrew Crisp as the interim CEO,” Thomas said.

She said her focus was resolving the enterprise agreement, which she said had dragged on for too long.

“It’s gone on for too long … It has been a concern to me for some time that negotiations have been protracted,” Thomas said.

“I do not want to see our paramedics working excessive overtime. This must be concluded. These negotiations must be concluded in a way that reduces excessive overtime and ensures we have a sustainable model for our paramedics.”

Thomas last month refused to declare confidence in Ambulance Victoria executives. At the time, she said the stalled negotiations had become an untenable situation that was having an impact on morale at the agency.

Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas.Credit: Nine

Ambulance Victoria had declared a code orange on Monday night, Thomas confirmed. Under code orange protocols, the entire healthcare system is warned about the high demand on ambulances and extra staff are asked to work.

Ambulance Victoria board chair Shelly Park said on Tuesday that Miller had been “an enthusiastic leader in supporting the critical role of our paramedics” since she began in January last year.

“Jane has seen the organisation through some significant challenges, including leading the post-pandemic recovery, and helping chart a course for ongoing cultural reform and improvement,” Park said.

Scott Crawford, the director of Ambulance Managers and Professionals Association, said the union welcomed the appointment of Crisp, “someone with a strong background in emergency management and collaboration with the workforce”.

“Ambulance workers took the unprecedented step of expressing no-confidence in the leadership of Ambulance Victoria a few weeks ago. This was never about any one individual, but the entire organisation and direction it has taken.”

Crawford said the union had already been engaging with Park and Crisp, representing “a positive step in the right direction”.

“There is a long road to fixing the many issues within Ambulance Victoria, and representatives of the workforce remain willing and eager to engage in good faith.”

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier, who last week persuaded the government to establish an inquiry into Ambulance Victoria, said the emergency service was in crisis.

“There are deep-seated issues within Ambulance Victoria that need extensive oversight,” she said. “What the Victorian public needs is a system that works. Whilst Mr Crisp might be convenient for the government, his track record on the hotel quarantine fiasco says otherwise.”

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