Paramedics in New South Wales are refusing to collect billing information from patients in protest against being forced to pay for Working With Children Checks.

The industrial action began at 9:00pm yesterday and means patients are not being charged for ambulance rides, which usually cost hundreds of dollars.

Ambulance officers are furious that police and firefighters are exempt from paying the $80 fee for their checks, while paramedics are forced to pay from their own pockets.

Australian Paramedics Association NSW secretary Steve Pearce said the Government was treating ambulance officers unfairly.

"Paramedics have had enough," he said.

"Their working conditions have been eroded for years now and then this ignorance from the Government about their concerns ... is an opportunistic cash grab for the Working With Children Check.

"It's just the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Our members, especially in the last week, have been harassed over and over by management about getting their Working With Children Checks. It's hardened their resolve and they demanded that we take action."

The Working With Children Check has been phased in since 2013 for all NSW Government agencies.

It consists of a national criminal history check and a review of reported workplace misconduct.

NSW Ambulance said the $80 fee was paid over five years, averaging 4 cents per day, and was fully tax deductible. It is free for volunteers.

Other government workers have to pay

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was pleased with the way Health Minister Brad Hazzard was handling negotiations with paramedics.

She said paramedics were not the only government employees who paid for their own checks.

"A number of other staff in different areas of government already do pay for these checks," she said.

"I know the paramedics have raised that issue with the Health Minister and we're actually discussing those issues as we speak."

Ms Berejiklian acknowledged the work done by paramedics.

"Of course their union has issues they would like to discuss with us, and we look forward to continuing those discussions and again I know the everyone in New South Wales would want me to thank the paramedics for the great job they do."

Mr Pearce said paramedics were happy to undergo the check, but not to pay for it themselves.

He said refusing to collect patients' billing details was a tactic designed to hit the Government in the hip-pocket.

"This is a way that we can get the message out to the public, that we want to make sure that they continue to be safe and we want to continue to deliver the service that we always do, but at the same time we need the Government to listen and reverse this ruling."