Hi All! Christmas and the New Year have passed, so may I offer my thanks for the efforts made to get applications in before the processing deadline in December. The minimal backlog meant that we were in a position to deal with queries and “unforeseen” promptly and reduce the pre-Christmas hassles none of us love.
Thanks too for the kind messages received as I take on this challenging role. CASA medical manpower is thin on the ground and we are grateful for the support of colleagues working on contract to provide interim assistance. The practical impact is that it is harder for us to put your calls through to a doctor as I feel we should. I will be pushing for this to be rectified as I believe this to be essential.
The replacement MRS 2 system is nearing its launch. It is a major upgrade and offers much more involvement to DAME’s in the assessment process. We are keenly aware of the range of locations and users, and are developing a number of training options to cater for these. Please look at the material we are sending. MRS 2 will be very different and it will be a bad Monday morning in the practice if the first applicant appears and no preparation has been made for the changes. We want to help applicants and DAME’s through this change.
On the basis of your responses, the Townsville training session has been replaced with Newcastle. They are scheduled through the months of March/ April. We are currently organising venues to accommodate the numbers that are planning on attending. Once this information is available you will all be notified.
You will be accommodated in in your chosen location and we will do our best to ensure you are placed into your desired time slot. However this may not always be possible.
Final locations, dates and times are;
| Date | Location | Session (1) | Session (2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Mar | Adelaide | 9 am -1 pm | |
| 7 Mar | Hobart | 9 am -1 pm | |
| 7 Mar | Cairns | 1pm - 5pm | |
| 14 Mar | Darwin | 9 am -1 pm | |
| 14 Mar | Newcastle | 9 am - 1 pm | |
| 21 Mar | Brisbane | 8.30am -12.30 pm | 2pm - 6pm |
| 22 Mar | Brisbane | 9am - 1 pm | |
| 28 Mar | Sydney | 8.30am - 12.30pm | 2pm - 6pm |
| 29 Mar | Sydney | 9am -1 pm | |
| 11 Apr | Melbourne | 8.30am - 12.30pm | 2pm - 6 pm |
| 12 Apr | Melbourne | 9am - 1pm | |
| 18 Apr | Perth | 9am - 1pm | |
| 18 Apr | Canberra | 9am - 1pm |
If you have not already done so, please email your preference to dame.liaison@casa.gov.au
To accommodate those of you who are unable to attend a scheduled session, webinars will be run as demand indicates though the months of March and April. These webinars will be run in the evenings during the week so as to reduce the impact on your business. Please indicate by email if you wish to be involved. An indication of numbers will enable the Project Manager to organise the Web based Conferences.
It is an enormous task to coordinate these training sessions and we do appreciate your patience during this process. Suggestions and ideas are much appreciated, so please keep them coming.