Meet a member: Dr Hau Tan

Specialist Anaesthetist (public and private) and ASMOFQ President

Practising medicine for 21 years

The path to medicine was logical, perhaps inevitable, for Dr Hau Tan. His father is a GP who came to Australia from Singapore under the Colombo Plan to study medicine at The University of Queensland. His mother was a nurse. His brother and sister are also doctors. While growing up, Hau spent many Saturday mornings and school holidays working at his father’s surgery, routinely interacting with patients. So Hau had no doubts where he was headed when he finished high school.

But his journey into medical leadership was less pre-determined. It began with using some rare free time to read a draft contract for hospital senior doctors, getting involved in what became known as the ‘contracts crisis’ under the Newman Government, and eventually leading to him becoming President of ASMOFQ (Australian Medical Salaried Officers’ Federation Queensland).

“In 2014-15, the Newman Government wanted to force doctors on to individual contracts, and they sent out a draft to all senior medical officers for consultation,” Hau told Doctor Q.

“I recall reading the draft contract and feeling utter shock and dismay ... the contract was incredibly unfair and onesided. My first reaction was that there was no way that I could sign this.”

With his colleague and now ASMOFQ Vice President, Dr Chris Turnbull, he sought professional legal advice. When the lawyers confirmed their worst fears about the proposed contracts, they formed a taskforce of senior doctors to fight for a fairer outcome.

“ASMOFQ became part of that taskforce and, as a part of that process, I became a member of ASMOFQ,” Hau said.

“We were able to improve the contracts to a point where it was more acceptable to doctors. Bear in mind that if we hadn’t been able to do that, many senior doctors would have simply resigned en masse, and Queensland’s public hospital system would have been left in a very dark place.”

The Newman Government was voted out and the incoming government committed to putting senior doctors back onto a certified agreement (MOCA 4), as well as reversing the unfair changes to the legislation that had been made. By then, Hau was on the ASMOFQ committee.

“During this crisis, I realised the immense value of having a strong industrial organisation that could fight for and support doctors, and the medical profession,” Hau said.

“In medicine, prevention is always better than cure, and being proactive in maintaining a fair and stable industrial relations environment is essential. The public hospital system is vital to Queensland and the community, and that has never been more important than now when we’re still in the middle of a global pandemic.

“With the borders opening up soon, we expect a massive increase in ED presentations and hospital admissions. It’s crucial that we prepare and manage the hospital system appropriately to deal with this upcoming surge.

“During the pandemic, we have successfully advocated on behalf of doctors on important health and safety issues such as proper supply of PPE, fit-testing of P2/N95 respirators and mandatory vaccination of health care workers.

“We are no doubt going to encounter more challenges along the way during this pandemic. And it is crucial that doctors and the medical profession are represented properly so that their issues are raised and addressed effectively.”

Despite the extra work and time away from family, Hau has no regrets with being ASMOFQ President.

“We have had some big collective wins this year, but also many wins for individual members with issues such as having their employment threatened, unsafe work conditions or not being able to access their entitlements. We have also taken several matters to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission this year with successful outcomes.

“Looking forward into next year, we have MOCA 6 negotiations with Queensland Health, and also re-negotiation of the Mater enterprise agreements coming up. We have a large number of matters on the go at the moment, there’s always so much to do in the workplace and industrial relations space, and we are always striving to provide our members with high quality representation, advocacy and support.

“ASMOFQ is a membership organisation, so we rely on members to be able to operate and function. The more members we have, the stronger we are as an industrial organisation, and the better we can serve our members.”

Likewise, Hau has never regretted his decision to go into medicine.

“What I really enjoy about being a doctor is being able to care for and support patients, particularly in their time of need,” he said.

“It’s a very rewarding career. Yes, there are obviously the tolls that come with the job, such as long hours, stressful clinical situations and being on-call. But on balance, I love being a doctor, and I love what I do each day.”

ASMOFQ is The Doctors’ Union. As a salaried medical officer, if you are a member of AMA Queensland, you are also automatically a member of ASMOFQ at no additional cost.

Hau and his older brother, practising medicine from an early age