What the ACCC does
- We enforce the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
- We provide general information about the obligations businesses have under competition law.
What the ACCC can't do
- We don’t provide legal advice or settle disputes.
Rosters help medical professionals balance their professional and personal commitments.
They help to provide sustainable health services to the community. This is especially true in rural and regional areas.
There are key criteria to meet, to make sure rostering arrangements don't breach the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
Some rosters could be considered an 'arrangement between competitors' under the Act. These types of rosters include those that are:
Rosters that involve only medical professionals engaged and remunerated by a hospital on a per annum basis are not considered to be an arrangement between competitors under the Act.
Some rostering arrangements may be considered anti-competitive and breach the Act. The ACCC is satisfied that a rostering arrangement does not breach the Act if it meets the following criteria:
The ACCC is satisfied that a medical roster developed to facilitate patient access to medical services - as opposed to restricting when a medical professional may work - does not raise concerns under the Act.
A roster meets this criteria if it has a key purpose of:
Rosters must enable each medical professional to practise at any time they choose or accept additional hours of work, if offered.
Rostering arrangements may also specify:
Rostering arrangements must not restrict:
Medical professionals should not be inhibited from working if they want to when not rostered on. Rosters for medical professionals that treat patients at hospitals may raise concerns under the Act, if a key purpose of the roster was to inhibit any medical professional from providing their services to the hospital when not rostered on.
Allowing medical professionals to take a break while rostered on will not raise concerns under the Act.
Some rosters for medical professionals that provide medical services to hospitals to treat public patients, may have the effect of restricting which patients they treat while rostered on. For example, doctors may be rostered on to treat accident and emergency patients.
These arrangements will only raise concerns under the Act, if it’s established that a key purpose of the roster was to inhibit a medical professional from providing their services to the hospital.