Albury-based Australian Paramedic Association delegate James Kydd said paramedics would not be paying the $80 fee to get their Working With Children Check, when the cost should be covered by NSW Ambulance or the government.

He said paramedics had no problem being required to have the check, but making them pay for it out-of-pocket was “tantamount to a pay cut”.

“We’re not against the check itself, it’s not a bad thing, but we do not want to pay the $80 because we have seen our entitlements eroded over a number of years and see this as another cynical cash grab,” Mr Kydd said.

The state government requires all paramedics to have the check by April 1 as a part of a phased policy role out which started in 2013.

A spokesman for NSW Ambulance said it will see paramedics brought into line with nurses, doctors, teachers and other health professions.

“The $80 fee is over five years, four cents a day, and is fully tax deductible for employees who are required to apply for this check,” he said.

The spokesman said Unions NSW lodged an unsuccessful application in 2015 to provide fee reimbursement to NSW public sector employees, which was dismissed by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.

Albury Member Greg Aplin said no one had raised the issue with him, but he supported the government’s view and believed there should be uniformity within professions.

He said while working in a service club role he had to get his own check and did not recall a significant cost associated with it.

Mr Kydd said paramedics had taken the matter to the state government and were asking to be exempt from the fee, like NSW police officers.

He said if the government would not concede, employees would consider industrial action.

Mr Kydd said management had been placing a lot of pressure on paramedics to pay up and get the check, even sending letters to their homes.

“In an already pressurised work environment this just adds to the negativity of the situation,” Mr Kydd said. 

“We don’t see why we should bear the cost, it should be the employer, we have people who have been doing the job for 30 or 40 years and suddenly they’re being asked to pay for the privilege to continue. 

“Also a lot of members already have volunteer working with children checks from their community involvement – it’s the same process and same check – but they’re being told it’s not sufficient.”