The quarterly Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) meeting was held on 9 September 2026 for the Ministry of Health. JCCs are an important platform for discussions on matters affecting our members and É«ÀÇÉçÇøstaff attend with your workplace delegates and management from the Ministry of Health.
Members are encouraged to share workplace issues and concerns with workplace delegates and É«ÀÇÉçÇøstaff so they can be appropriately addressed at JCC meetings. The more É«ÀÇÉçÇømembers engage with the process, the better the outcomes will be.
Key discussions on 9 September included:
Psychosocial safety in the workplace
From 1 July 2026, it became mandatory for workplaces to comply with codes of practice. That includes SafeWork NSW’s .
Under the new Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 workplaces ‘must implement control measures to eliminate psychosocial hazards so far as is reasonably practicable’, and the É«ÀÇÉçÇøwould expect the rollout of any psychosocial information to comply with SafeWork’s Code of Practice.
Management confirmed that a new page had been created on the Mintranet to support the new WHS requirements. Members are encouraged to read and engage with the new information. It should provide important agreed on actions about how to manage the workplace’s psychosocial hazards. These may include role overload, bullying, workplace conflict or poor departmental change consultation.
Members are invited to share any feedback about the new psychosocial information with workplace delegates or É«ÀÇÉçÇøstaff.
Workers’ comp reforms
Members should also be aware of the new reforms to workers’ compensation, specifically around psychological claims, that commenced on 1 July 2026. Management has advised that there is information about the reforms on the new Mintranet page.
AI developments
Members have told the É«ÀÇÉçÇøthat staff across the Ministry will have access to the use of AI from 30 September and that there was a recent webinar about the rollout. Members did have some concerns about the privacy of client information, which they didn’t feel the webinar adequately addressed. At the JCC, management confirmed the rollout of Microsoft 365 E7 and said there would be an accompanying policy and guidance on how to use the software. They explained the software is a closed system to safeguard sensitive information.
The É«ÀÇÉçÇøcontinues to monitor AI use across the public service to make sure management appropriately consults on any AI adoption. Members are reminded to raise any concerns about the rollout with workplace delegates or É«ÀÇÉçÇøstaff so they can be addressed at the next JCC meeting.
The next JCC meeting with management is on 9 December. Members are encouraged to share any issues they have with workplace delegates, particularly around any of the points raised here. You can also reach out to your organiser or come along to the next members’ meeting. Unionised workplaces can negotiate and address workplace issues more effectively to make sure there are better outcomes for everyone. Your union supports you to help shape what happens in your workplace.
Contacts
Workplace delegate
É«ÀÇÉçÇøindustrial staff