Career prospects for nurses have been boosted by federal Labor government changes to the role of nurse practitioners.

In its first term of office, the Albanese government has:

• Changed the law to enable nurse practitioners (NPs) to prescribe a broader range of medications under the PBS without the need for  ‘collaborative arrangements’ with doctors. More NP-friendly changes to the PBS are due later this year.
• Enabled NPs to participate in allied health multidisciplinary case conferences by giving them access to Medicare Benefits Scheme case conferencing items. More changes to the MBS, such as two new long consult general attendance items for NPs took effect on 1 March 2025.
• Funded a 30 per cent increase in Medicare rebates for a consultation with a NP.

Funded 1850 postgraduate scholarships for RNs to become NPs between 2023 and 2025.
Labor promises to fund a further 400 scholarships over the next two years.

NSWNMA member Patrick Fahy is one of many nurses now taking advantage of Labor’s reforms.

After eight years as a nurse, Pat is undertaking a master’s degree at the University of Sydney to become a NP.

Before starting his master’s, he was employed as a clinical nurse specialist in the paediatric Emergency Department of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

He’s currently working there in a Transitional NP role and will be able to practice independently, with full prescribing rights, once he has finished his master’s degree and undergone endorsement through AHPRA.

“Removal of a legislated need for collaborative arrangements is a huge step in the right direction,” Pat says.

“Allowing NPs to access a broader scope of practice will improve access to health care for people across the state, especially in rural and remote areas which find it hard to attract GPs.”

A big step forward for NPs

He says making it easier for NPs to bulk bill is a big step forward. This is possible thanks to Labor’s abolition of the law requiring  “collaborative arrangements” between NPs and doctors in November 2024.

Without such arrangements, patients were denied Medicare rebates on the cost of NP services and PBS subsidies on prescriptions written by NPs.

“There are a high number of disadvantaged people living in rural and remote areas,” he says. “If they can see a GP who is able to bulk bill, why would they see a NP who cannot?

“One benefit of NPs is that they tend to stay in the community and build important long-term therapeutic relationships with their patients.”

Pat is studying under a Commonwealth scholarship designed to encourage nurses to become NPs.

Thanks to the scholarship, his degree will cost well under half the usual $30,000.

“A full-priced degree would be a massive prohibitive factor for many nurses, “ he says.

“My lecturers at Sydney Uni say the NP student cohort has increased substantially in recent years, possibly as a result of the scholarships, as well as now having the prospect of being able to work in more areas across NSW.

“I love working in ED but it can be stressful. The fact that NPs can now move into the primary healthcare setting will give nurses other long-term career and living options with less burnout.

“In the past, NPs had a narrower scope of practice which often meant their employment options were tied to working almost exclusively in public hospitals.”