The Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF) is an Australian trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

, affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions

Australian Council of Trade Unions

The Australian Council of Trade Unions is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions.-History:The ACTU was formed in 1927 as the "Australian Council of Trade Unions"...

, that represents doctors who receive salaries. In Australia doctors operate as self-employed trades-people, or as salaried employees of clinics, hospitals, or other organisations. ASMOF represents the interests of salaried doctors as employees. ASMOF has a federated state-based structure, with state branches playing a major role in its operation. The state-based structure of the union is largely a function of Australian states being primarily responsible for health care regulation and funding. ASMOF represents more than 5000 doctors across Australia.

History

ASMOF affiliated with the ACTU in 1991. ASMOF was the result of a long federation process operating between different state-based salaried doctors' associations. In the early 1980s these organisations formed the Australian Council of Salaried Medical Officers' Organisations, though which they sought better coordination of the interests of doctors as employees.

State branches

Much of the history of ASMOF is the history of its state branches prior to federation.

• The NSW state branch was known as the Public Medical Officers' Association prior to 1991, an Association that had been in existence prior to 1972.
• The Queensland branch, ASMOFQ, was only registered as a state based union in 2000.
• In Tasmania and the Northern Territory, the state branch of ASMOF is also the state branch of the Australian Medical Association
  Australian Medical Association
  The Australian Medical Association is a professional association for Australian doctors and medical students.The AMA uses a representative structure involving state branches and committees to work with members to promote and protect the interests of doctors.The mechanisms that allow this include:*...