Three years ago, NSWNMA member and theatre RN Nanette Nowakowski from Kempsey Hospital returned to NSW after working in Queensland hospitals – public and private, city and rural- for eight years.

Speaking at the Sydney rally, she sharply contrasted working conditions in the two states.

“Everywhere I worked (in Queensland) the staff were working to ACORN standards and I was surrounded by medical and nursing professionals who valued the standards that should guide our practice,” she said.

“We always had the required staff, and staff were never expected to push beyond a reasonable workload.

“It’s not that every day was a perfect day but I definitely felt valued by every hospital I worked in. I was never made to feel bad if I couldn’t work an extra hour or extra shift.

“In Queensland… nurses are valued with education, supervision and guidance. Nurse educators educate

100 per cent of the time. Nurses are encouraged to know the standards and implement them in their practice.

“When I got to NSW, I was shocked by the pay difference and by the expectation that I will do overtime and sometimes be expected to not claim it.”

She said the NSW government “has money for other essential services but not enough money to properly resource the healthcare system and definitely no money for nurses.”

“It’s time for us to say I’m not afraid anymore, I deserve to earn the same amount as my interstate colleagues and I won’t work for less.”

Interstate pay disparity for midwives

Regional, rural and remote area midwives face “staff deficits, outdated ratios and outdated pay”, Tamworth midwife and NSWNMA member Nami Munikwa told the Sydney rally.

She said midwives just four hours away in Queensland are earning 18 per cent more than her and her NSW colleagues.

“We’re working for a government that encourages our colleagues to move to interstate, retire early or change profession,” she said.

Minns ‘out of step’ with Labor nationally

The NSW Labor government is out of step with Labor government in Queensland, Victoria and federally that have acted to support majority-female workforces in public sector nursing, aged care and childcare, said NSWNMA President O’Bray Smith.

“This (NSW Labor) government got elected on the platform of supporting essential workers. What they meant were just the male dominated workforce,” O’Bray, a midwifery manager told the Sydney rally.

She contrasted the Minns government’s hardline stance against NSW nurses with federal Labor’s support for nurses and other workers in aged care.

“They have also supported early childhood educators in another female dominated industry to get an historic pay rise, recognising gender inequity,” she said.

“Victorian Labor has recognised the undervaluing of nurses and midwives by giving them a once in a generation pay rise.

“The Queensland Labor government implemented proper gender assessment tools that resulted in night shift penalties, overtime rates and pay rates that recognise the gender pay gap and fixed it.”

‘Disrespect will only make us fight harder’

The state Labor government has widened the gender pay gap for nurses and midwives, NSWNMA member Belinda Renshaw, Macarthur Branch, told the Sydney rally.

“I stand here today as a single mother and registered nurse and midwife of 21 years,” she said.

“To make ends meet I work full time 12-hour night shifts, one or two overtime shifts a fortnight and babysit two days a week – all of it possible with the help of my retired mother.

“I tell my daughter every day that she is amazing and can be whatever she wants to be when she grows up, but the reality is that’s not true, is it?

“The state government proves it by perpetuating the gender gap and making it harder for women to reach their full potential.

“Why will you not pay us what we are worth? Your counterparts across the border are doing the right thing.

“Your disrespect will only make us fight harder.”