Make Parking Accessible @ Monash Health!

Dear Professor Stripp,

We, the undersigned, are raising concerns regarding Monash Health’s proposed Pay As You Go (PAYG) Parking model.

Monash Health workers, across all professions, have demonstrated an enormous commitment to our communities over the past three years. We have worked double shifts, forced overtime, been unable to take annual leave and put ourselves and our families at increased risk of Covid19 infection.

Yet, Monash Health’s proposed PAYG parking model does not demonstrate a commitment to Monash Health workers.

For many of Monash Health's campuses, commuting by car is the only feasible option, as public transport and/or cycling infrastructure is poor. Yet this is not reflected in the proposed model.

We note that in the proposed model there is no parking reserved for staff, despite there already being insufficient parking, meaning staff do not have a guaranteed parking space. Opening existing reserved staff carparks at the Clayton campus to the general public will make it even more difficult for staff to find a carpark in a reasonable timeframe, creating further barriers and costs to commuting to work each day.

It also presents a number of concerns for occupational health and safety. Monash Health has an obligation to provide a safe working enviornment for staff. For some staff, the lack of parking means they are forced to park on unsafe, busy roads with heavy truck traffic. For those staff who finish late and who have been forced to park offsite and/or some distance away will potentially have to walk back to their car alone at night. Presently, some staff who are forced to find alternative parking offsite already have to move their car during their shift, or risk parking fines, undermining their valuable rest breaks. These are all examples of why it is essential that staff have reserved parking.

We also note that proposed parking fees have an uncapped daily charge, despite many healthcare workers often required to work double shifts or significant overtime, due to ongoing staff shortages.

We call on Monash Health to provide accesible parking that does not create additional barriers for staff who forced to commute by car by:

- Providing reserved parking areas for staff only;

- Improving accessibility for patients and visitors through further investment in expanded parking infrastructure;

- Capping parking fee charges to at least no more than eight (8) hours per day; and

- Forming a working group of staff around promotion of other modes of transport, such as cycling infrastructure and/or inter-campus shuttle buses.

We ask that Monash Health recognises our commitment and service to our public health system. Improving staff retention, preventing burnout and obtaining best outcomes for patients starts with organisational change.

Yours sincerely,

Monash Health Employees