The AEAV welcomes the news today that Ken Lay has tendered his resignation as Chair of the Ambulance Victoria Board.
“We commend Mr Lay on his decades of public service however there is no hiding from the fact that 2015 to 2022 is arguably the darkest period in AV’s treatment of ambulance staff.
“AEAV members are certainly not expressing to us any sadness on the news of Mr Lay’s departure.
“The cultural issues in AV were no secret to anybody in the organisation and it took brave paramedics coming forward to the media before we saw any commitment to change by the AV Board or the Executive.
“Every year the Health Minister writes to the Chair of the AV Board to tell them what their priorities are.
“VEOHRC made it quite clear that the focus by the AV Board and the Executive on performance over people was one of the drivers behind the cultural issues.
“We must remember the damning indictment of VEOHRC on the board of Ambulance Victoria when it wrote in March:
“… The Board and the Executive Committee ultimately did not fully anticipate, recognise, analyse, prioritise or systematically address the substantial and unacceptable, unlawful and harmful workplace conduct identified by the Commission in this independent review.”
“We have said all along that the generational change that needs to happen at AV requires a change in senior leadership. This is the second member of the senior leadership team to go this year and we hope it is not the last.
“Over the years AEAV members had complained all the way to the AV Board and yet no commitment to change was forthcoming until the Board and the Executive were publicly embarrassed in late 2020.
“We see this as an opportunity for the government to appoint someone who will ‘walk the walk’ not just ‘talk the talk’.”
ENDS
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