PCA Portal
The PCA Portal is everything that your need during your professional career in Australian Pathology. You will never be alone with this fantastic community and tool at your fingertips!
Click the Login button below to access your member account.
Professional Development for Pathology Workers - only available through the PCA
Education equals Empowerment
Individual Technicians need Individual Support ... Here it is!
Working in solo workplace environments can be challenging, especially when it comes to navigating the emotional situations you face every day. When you have no colleagues to turn to for advice, who do you rely on?
That’s where PCA steps in! We have partnered with Danny Simms, a learning and development consultant who is committed to support the PCA and its members.
We held focus groups with PCA members to identify the training they wanted most and together, we’ve designed the PCA Professional Education Series tailored just for you.
This education series is the result of collaborative efforts between the PCA Learning and Development Team and PCA members, designed specifically for today’s Pathology Workers.
We understand that clinical and technical training has been lacking in our industry for years, and that’s why this core behaviour training is unique and essential.
The suite of programs and an AI coach provide you with a unique, relevant, easy to access set of learning experiences.
It has been designed to equip you with the primary behavioural skills needed to excel as a Professional Pathology Worker, no matter who your employer is or workplace!
You can learn on the way to work, in your lunch break by accessing the bite-sized lessons, on your phone, a tablet or a computer. Grow your professional skills and become more confident every day.
At PCA, we are dedicated to empowering professional pathology workers through education. As individual technicians, it is crucial that you take ownership of your ongoing professional development.
Don’t let your current employer hinder your learning or growth—we are here to support your continuous progress.
This is available as a Member Benefit designed by you for you!
Founded in 2019
The Phlebotomists Council of Australia (The PCA) was established in 2019 as a supportive community network for phlebotomists, many of whom often work in isolation.
Over time, the PCA has evolved into the Professional Association and Peak Body for all Professionals in the Pathology Industry.
Pathology workers work predominately in isolated environments, therefore need a Professional Association that empowers them with their workplace rights in one Online Portal, Professional Development, Online Community of like minded Pathology Professionals and much more.
Pathology Workers taking control of their Association
Under the dedicated leadership of its founder, Bec Luxton, the PCA has attracted other Professional Pathology Workers who know this career can be so much more rewarding than what it is being restricted to currently.
Forming a Executive Council and becoming Active Workplace Delegates, the Professionals are bringing back to focus to Patient Care and the Innovation of Pathology. We know that Pathology is not a standby career but a Specialist Healthcare Profession, these members are in the workforce and the PCA, ensuring that our association stays relevant the daily issues our members face and have a friendly face to turn to.
Providing the Professional Development that has been withheld in the attempt to continue to undervalue Frontline Pathology Professionals.
Phlebotomists play a pivotal role in the Australian healthcare system, which became more apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic. These professionals were at the forefront, conducting PCR tests, and have long been integral members of patients' care teams.
Their skills include precision in venipuncture, a comprehensive knowledge of the tests they perform, and expertise in sample collection methods. Pathology, as a diagnostic tool, is fundamental to achieving positive healthcare outcomes.
Currently there are no requirements for formal qualifications for entry to this profession and our members receive minimal technical training with a increasing reliance on inconsistent, in-house training to fill the Staffing and Skills Shortage caused by undervalued wages.
PCA provides curated micro-learning Core Behaviour Skills developed specially for the Pathology Environment covering:
- Emotional Intelligence
- Problem solving and critical thinking,
- Negotiation and dealing with difficult situations
- Coaching/mentoring/supervising others
Additionally, we have your professional development coach, Patience, available to answer any question 24/7 in every language.
Challenges Faced by the Sector
The Covid-19 pandemic laid bare the critical importance of the pathology sector. It also highlighted issues within the industry, such as inhumane working conditionsand wages that do not reflect the value of the work.
Private Pathology, in particular, profited from Commonwealth funds while failing to meet commitments to job security and accessibility.
Despite facing life-threatening risks during the pandemic, phlebotomists received little recognition or support.
This emphasised the need for industry regulation and oversight.
The Misrepresentation of rights to formal qualifications have been grossly devalued since the Covid Pandemic and in some private pathology services, Pathology Collectors receive only 2 weeks training before being sent to collect blood sample, this is to fill the staffing shortage in Bulk Billed Outpatient Pathology Services owned by ASX owned companies.
The skill required to do this role well has be grossly devalued by a business model that does not belong in Healthcare.
The Members of the PCA are determined to ensure that Pathology is available for all Australians, in safe environments and the Innovation of Pathology in Australia continues.
One of the greatest benefits of being a member of the PCA, we provide the support a Professional Association and Peak Body should because you are a Professional.
Share the Professional Association and all the benefits with all your Coworkers by ensuring there is one of these posters in EVERY Collection Room you work in, if not ask the Medical Centre and they will be more than happy to put it on their Staffroom wall to share with other visiting Pathology Workers.
Members request a poster to be mailed from this link: https://www.pathologycouncil.com.au/servicedesk
To Join: https://members.pathologycouncil.com.au/signup
Sign up today! From only $20 a Fortnight.
Self-Insured Workplace Survey
If you work or have worked at Dorevitch and have had serious problems with their Self Insurance Work Cover then we want to know about it.
Media Release 1st November 2024
The Phlebotomists Council of Australia (PCA) members have delivered their submission into the Fair Work Commission Gender Undervaluation Review demonstrating that Phlebotomists and Pathology Collectors are facing serious financial hardship and have been historically undervalued and under-appreciated. Following the Covid Pandemic these Medical Technicians have faced nothing but staff shortages, cuts to their “tools of trade”, cuts to preventative occupational safe environments to save costs, no discussions with them before large business changes, especially ones that include an increase to their duties without any financial remuneration.
The other issue facing our “local Pathology Collector/Phlebotomists” you visit in Outpatient Pathology in Australia is that they will most commonly be employed by a private pathology provider. Our three largest in Australia are all ASX Listed companies driven to appease the Shareholder. Therefore your “local Pathology Collector/Phlebotomists” is earning roughly $5-$7 less an hour than the Public Sector Employed Pathology Collector/Phlebotomists in Inpatient Pathology (State Run Hospitals).
For Phlebotomists and Pathology Collectors, this review marks the first time their industry has been represented in a review of this scale. Beyond teaching Australia the correct pronunciation of "Phlebotomists," this is a historic achievement, with a worker-driven and industry-recognised Peak Body now advocating for these essential healthcare professionals. These are the workers who stood on the front lines of a deadly disease about which we knew very little, enabling Australia to keep moving. Despite this, they received no additional pay and have since experienced only a decline in their financial situation and workplace conditions.
During COVID-19, private pathology providers were among the few businesses to profit, largely due to an increase in the Medicare Rebate by the Morrison Government, to conduct PCR testing. This benefit was enjoyed by shareholders, who did not pass it on to workers but instead needed to sustain these higher profit margins.
Unfortunately, there is opposition in the Fair Work Commission’s Gender Undervaluation Review to the Phlebotomists Council of Australia’s submission advocating for an overdue quality pay increase to address years of wage suppression. Meanwhile, PCA members working in certain private pathology providers are being trained to take payments in clinics before collecting pathology samples, using newly introduced software. The “Keep Pathology Bulk Billed” campaign is setting the stage for gap payments to be introduced, with PCA members and their pathology worker colleagues likely to bear the brunt of frustration with this shift. Some phlebotomists start with a wage only slightly above the Australian National Minimum Wage, which is simply not fair considering the skill and expertise required for the role.
To effectively represent the Australian Phlebotomists in a challenging review, against private companies with millions to spend on litigious legal representation, PCA need the support of the community who support a fair wage increase being passed on to the Australian Phlebotomists and Pathology Collectors. PCA needs to pay for a Legal Team to support their submission in light of recent opposition, and need your help. As a volunteer organisation still in its growing stages, we strive to maintain low membership fees to ensure accessibility for all Pathology Workers. However, the costs associated with securing legal support for this essential review are significant.
The Phlebotomists Council of Australia being a grassroots organisation started by Phlebotomists who found the Trade Unions representing the workers to be ignoring the sector, the PCA has made such a considerable difference in their actions, first as a volunteer organisation before accepting payments for member associations benefits. This has been demonstrated in the Fair Work Review with a separate Statement of Facts being submitted on the Pathology sector by the PCA with the support of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), demonstrating PCA as representatives of Professional Pathology Workers.
Learn more about the PCA: Home | The Phlebotomists Council of Australia (PCA Union) Pathology Union
Read the FWC Gender Undervaluation Submission here: fwc.gov.au/documents/sites/am2024-19/am202420-sub-statements-pca-231024.pdf
You can donate either anonymously or you can contact us at PCA and for a Sponsored Support donation and have your logo displayed on our Website and internal PCA Portal (Personal Portal for every PCA Paid Member) demonstrating your support to the Pathology Professionals. Email us at: Info@pathologycouncil.com.au
Pathology Qualification review ... first time since 2015! We have been campaigning for this on your behalf, now it's time to get involved!
The Pathology Industry Stakeholders have been invited to attend live roadshows and online events across the country to give HumanAbility, the national job skills council feedback on the Pathology Collector and Laboratory Assistant Qualifications to meet the requirements in today's workplaces. As the workers, your feedback is valuable to this review.
The Professional Association and Peak Body for all Pathology Workers
"PCA is the ONLY entity that has the Pathology/Phlebotomists best interest at heart. It is run by people with great knowledge within the industry, understanding and the backbone to actually stand up for what is fair and deserved. PCA I have found to be far more supportive regarding ANYTHING work related i.e. Bullying, Work Conditions, Wages etc."
"The benefit of belonging to a National Community that is specifically created for the Pathology Sector has been overlooked in the past. Having experts that know what needs to be reviewed for change is so beneficial for all parties involved."
"They’re working overtime to ensure those working in the Pathology Industry are represented & taken care of in the workplace after years of being neglected and overlooked"