Thousands of Victorian Ambulance Service staff have been given the wrong amount of superannuation for more than six years.
Three days after Ambulance Victoria’s chief executive resigned amid a long-running pay dispute, an external review has revealed that around 3,000 staff were affected by payment errors between July 2017 and December 2023.
Some pension guarantee contributions were underpaid, while others were overpaid due to errors in the wage code.
“Please note that this error is in no way the fault of AV payroll department workers,” a Victorian ambulance union said in a newsletter.
‘Once again, this highlights the need for AV to invest in proper payroll systems, legible payslips and sufficient payroll staff to handle the increasing workload.’
Underpayments were less than $1,000 for most employees.
The money owed, plus 10 per cent interest per annum, has been sent to the tax office and will be transferred to staff’s nominated retirement accounts, Ambulance Victoria said in a statement.
“We would like to apologise to those who have been affected by this error in the pay code and have started the process to reimburse staff members whose superannuation has been underpaid,” an AV spokeswoman said.
Thousands of ambulance service workers received pensions lower than they were entitled to for more than six years
Ambulance Victoria chief executive Jane Miller resigned on Tuesday following a vote of no confidence from the union
‘This affects employees who are members of accumulation pension funds, who are primarily our corporate and contingent/surge workforce.’
The service said the error had been resolved and it would not seek to recover overpayments.
The blunder comes at a tumultuous time for the service, after Jane Miller resigned as chief executive on Tuesday.
His resignation after 18 months in the role came after the ambulance union passed a vote of no confidence in the service’s leadership.
In July, six members of its payroll department were fired over an alleged $3.5 million embezzlement scam and subsequent allegations that senior management leaked information about the investigation.
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