August 16, 2026

aboriginal nurses and midwives

New voices on NSWNMA Council

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The Lamp welcomes two new councillors representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives.

Mat Grant, Nurse Manager

Newly appointed NSWNMA councillor Mat Grant first put his hand up to become secretary of

the Justice Health Bathurst Branch when he noticed “an absence of a voice for employees within the prison”.

One of the first issues he took on was the policy on handling medications such as methadone. The branch successfully fought for a change in the policy that said that anyone, including correctional officers, could be a second signatory.

The issue highlights nurses’ central role in the correctional system, says Mat, a Wiradjuri man. “It is a very autonomous role for nurses. We don’t have doctors regularly on site, so often nurses are the only clinicians.”

The branch also took on the way AINs were being rostered instead of senior nursing staff. “Management was trying to implement them instead of qualified nurses, but they don’t have the clinical scope.”

Mat’s experience in the health system is broad.

He is currently seconded to the position of nurse manager of clinical practice and risk improvement at Bloomfield Hospital. His substantive role is the nurse unit manager of the mental health intensive care unit.

Now, as one of two new members on the NSWNMA Council representing the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members, he will bring his hard-won knowledge and experience to the Association’s highest decision-making body. Mat wants to see more recognition of the achievements of nurses and midwives who identify

as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, who’ve faced more adversity “to get to where we are”. “Mentoring programs targeted towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are needed, as well as professional programs and opportunities.”

He will be advocating for issues that disproportionately impact the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, such as kidney health, heart disease, diabetes and liver disease and mental health care.

Rebekah Henderson, RN

As a student, Rebekah Henderson, now a dual- registered RN and midwife, joined the NSWNMA when her mother – a “big unionist” – told her: “You’ve got to be in the union because the union is for the people”.

More recently, in 2023 Rebekah spent a week in Brisbane working on the Unions for Yes campaign, an experience she says opened her eyes to the possibilities of solidarity within the union movement

“The union was saying ‘Ok, we are going to support you,’ because it is there to support all the people including Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people.”

Rebekah, a Wiradjuri woman, was a founding member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Member Circle, and now she is one of the two members elected from the circle to sit on the NSWNMA Council.

As a council member, Rebekah wants to bring issues that impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members to the Association’s governing body.

One of Rebekah’s priorities is for the Association to tackle the culture values that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members hold, as well as the cultural barriers they face.

“Improving understanding of cultural values, such as leave around sorry business as well as cultural practices, and support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses in the workplace culturally is a priority for me.”

Championing appropriate health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, from issues around diet and obesity to birthing on country is another priority, says Rebekah, who has worked as a nurse and midwife in various roles, including in oncology, haematology, and now works in a primary care role in Sydney’s Western Suburbs.

“I think there is a long way to go, but things are changing. Recognition for birthing on country, and the value of having an Aboriginal or Torres Islander midwife, is groundbreaking for women accessing maternity services. They feel

safe having an Aboriginal or Torres Islander practitioner assist them through the antenatal, birthing and post-natal journey.”

Indigenous members seek representation

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The NSWNMA has embarked on a path towards representation and leadership for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members within the Association.

Our annual conference will consider a NSWNMA Council proposal to support the formation of a statewide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander branch of the union.

The Council also proposed creating two dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander positions on Council, one each for a nurse and a midwife.

Both proposals will be put to a vote at the union’s annual conference in August.

The proposals came from the first meeting of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of the Association in February.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members at the meeting included Jo Burton, a primary healthcare nurse practitioner for Justice Health.

She said the inaugural meeting of Indigenous members was initiated by General Secretary, Shaye Candish, and Assistant General Secretary, Michael Whaites, after they took over leadership of the union in mid-2022.

“The new leadership team wanted to find out what we wanted and how they could help us achieve it,” Jo said.

“Our group came up with some important ideas on developing the leadership skills of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members.

“We agreed the best format would be to create a branch for Indigenous members with similar interests and needs to discuss issues separate from those a normal branch would deal with.”

Overcoming prejudice

She said Indigenous members “carry an extra load taking on responsibility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients and the health and wellbeing of our community”.

“First Nations members have a unique experience of the systemic, entrenched racism in society that occurs on a daily basis.

“It’s not necessarily malicious, and a lot of non-Indigenous people would not even recognise or understand it.

“However, as an Indigenous workforce we need to address it.

“We need a forum to discuss and act on issues specific to the experiences of First Nations nurses and midwives.

“By having a platform within the union, we will be able to represent First Nations members in a way that reflects their cultural needs.” – Jo Burton, primary healthcare nurse practitioner for Justice Health. 

As an example, Jo cited the need for industrial awards to recognise ‘sorry business’ – Indigenous cultural practices and obligations associated with grief and mourning.

“Our award allows for family leave but not necessarily in the context that First Nations people define and experience family.

“It is cultural practice for many Aboriginal people to be raised by their grandmother or auntie – but if they die, nurses and midwives can’t normally get bereavement leave.”

Jo said the existence of a formal network for Indigenous members would make the union “more relatable and relevant” to Indigenous nurses and midwives.

“I think a lot of members joined the union before they had the option of identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander on the membership form.

“A formal network specifically for Indigenous members will give people an opportunity to identify and embrace their culture in a more supported way.”

On the agenda

Issues discussed at the inaugural meeting of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander NSWNMA members included:

  • cultural safety
  • creating opportunities for members to identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
  • empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members
  • advocating for better health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients
  • staffing issues
  • industrial entitlements around culturally specific issues such as “sorry business” and the Yes for Voice campaign.

New training resource for Indigenous end-of-life care

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Palliative Care Australia has released a new online video to support health professionals working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Filmed on Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory, the video, Discussing Choices – Indigenous Advance Care Plans, is a practical case study for professional health, Aboriginal and community workers.

“For Aboriginal people, when it comes to end-of-life care, culture, kinship and Country are probably our most important things,” says Palliative Care Northern Territory (PCNT) President, Jonathan Dodson-Jauncey, who guides viewers through the video.

On Groote Eylandt, local health centre professionals have been working with the local Anindilyakwa people to complete an individual Advance Care Plan (ACP) called a ‘jura’.

Community members are empowered when health workers communicate clearly and respectfully, use translators whenever needed, involve the right family members, and are very specific about alternatives and options in different scenarios that may occur, as well as a person’s right to change their jura at any point.

Conversations between health professionals and clients around end of life are challenging. The same is true for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: talking about death and dying can be uncomfortable. As Dodson-Jauncey explains, discussing the end of life can be viewed as “tempting fate”.

Not a taboo subject

Dodson-Jauncey says the success health workers on Groote Eylandt have had working with the Anindilyakwa community is due to the support of the community and the elders, who have said that “this is not a taboo subject; I can talk about it”.

“We have to go from the community up to the clinic, as opposed to from the clinic down to the community.”

Dodson-Jauncey says preparing an ACP is also an opportunity to share culture and stories. It becomes a time of “actually getting time to spend with family, and time to share those stories. There might be things that we’ve never actually told, or expressed, to our family”.

He adds that an ACP document can include health and medical choices, and it can also include financial information. Being able to have your wishes written down in terms of returning to Country is really important, he says.

“It may be important for a person’s individual beliefs on the afterlife. For some Aboriginal people, we need to be back on Country to ensure the next part of our journey can continue. There are obviously some important things about being on Country, such as having access to our traditional bush foods, having access to our traditional healers.”

Where to find the video

Health trainers and health professionals are invited to incorporate the video into their suite of existing training resources: https://palliativecare.org.au/discussing-choices-indigenous-advance-care-planning/

Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may find content in this film upsetting.  

Money cannot be used as an excuse for failure in aged care

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Warren Ross AiN decries the use of budgetary excuses for the failures in the aged care sector.

For years, staffing ratios in many aged care facilities have been appallingly inadequate. Without sufficient staff, it is impossible to provide the level of service that families think their loved ones are receiving.

Since the Howard government’s Aged Care Act 1997, the federal government has sought to distance itself from responsibility for aged care outcomes. It is as though there is a deal between government and providers that the former gives the money, and the latter wears the odium for less-than-adequate service. This situation continued along happily until the ABC’s Four Corners exposed the extent of problems in the sector. Recent financial stresses have caused additional fractures to this arrangement.

Suddenly, we had a problem that someone had to own and then fix. Media, since the publication of the Aged Care Royal Commission’s final report, has focused on two issues.

Firstly, who is going to manage and implement the Commission’s recommendations? Commissioner Briggs called for a revised management structure to be developed within government; Commissioner Pagone wants government responding to a structure outside its control. I have eight hard-copy volumes from 1A to 4C to consume before I can form a valid opinion.

The second and most important issue is: where will the money come from? This issue will dog this debate unless we get a few things clear. Money cannot be used as an excuse for failure. The only true shortage can be of labour and resources. If we lack the staff needed to fill key roles, we must train them. If we lack the resources to support these staff, we must use money to obtain them. We have just seen through the recent COVID-19 crisis that money is not the problem if the battle is to save our economic system. The superficial financial needs of this system have been placed above our social needs for far too long.

The support I have seen in two community rallies I have been part of in the Blue Mountains showed us there is a strong will in communities to see these problems fixed. We now need to locate a comparable political will. Politicians who play games do so at their peril.

COVID in the air that we breathe

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COVID-19’s airborne transmission poses a challenge to hospital infection control, says an Australian biosecurity expert.

Studies that show the SARS-CoV-2 virus can travel as far as 4.8 metres are challenging the 1.5-metre rule for physical distancing, according to Professor Raina MacIntyre, the Head of the Kirby Institute’s biosecurity program.

Professor MacIntyre spoke to Association members at a safe work webinar last month.

She says one study showed a viable virus 16 hours after aerosolisation. Another found the virus could be detected “everywhere – on the floor, the bedrails, on locker handles, the cardiac table, electric switch, the chair, the toilet seat and flush, and the air exhaust vent” in a hospital setting.

Large droplets emitted by infected patients travel much further than conventionally thought, Professor MacIntyre said. While the WHO has defined “large droplets”, which are assumed to fall close to the patient, as anything greater than five microns, Professor MacIntyre argues that droplets up to a hundred microns can potentially be airborne.

“Droplets that are less than a hundred microns will stay in the air and can be inhaled. But there’s this belief in hospital infection control that only … smaller airborne particles [travel a] great distance. The notion that one or two metres is a safe distance is therefore an ‘arbitrary rule’,” she said.

The initial response to the virus from the WHO was to focus on its spread by droplets and direct contact, Professor MacIntyre said.

“But the WHO response wasn’t based on any evidence; it was only based on an assumption.”

One recent study has found that some of the earliest studies that did not detect viable virus in the air were using air sampling methods that appeared to kill the virus. A more recent study “used a different kind of air sampler and found a viable virus in the air samples up to 4.6 metres in the absence of aerosol generating procedures”.

Speaking transmits more than coughing

Known outbreaks of coronavirus have also clearly demonstrated airborne transmission. In one case somebody was infected after passing by the open door of a patient room multiple times. Other infections have occurred on buses and restaurants, despite people having no close contact with the infected.

“Other outbreaks include a choir where people rehearsed indoors for two and a half hours with physical distancing and [yet] 86 per cent of them got infected.”

In an outbreak documented in China, the virus travelled well beyond the five people first infected on the 15th floor of a building.

“There was a vacant apartment on the 16th floor and the bathroom of that apartment was covered in virus … which means it became aerosolised through the sewage pipes and then deposited. People on the 25th and 27th floors also got infected,” Professor MacIntyre said.

“The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 really is about the air we breathe,” Professor MacIntyre said.

While we may think of coughing and sneezing as two key sources of virus transmission, in absolute terms far greater amounts of virus are emitted when people are speaking, singing or shouting, she says.

“The total amount of aerosol that’s generated is probably far greater from speaking and breathing because those things happen constantly. Whereas sneezing and coughing happen very occasionally.”

Aerosols accumulate in closed settings

The virus can build up in the air of an infected patient’s room.

“Essentially, one minute of loud speaking can produce thousands of droplets per second. And at least a thousand virus-containing droplet nuclei could remain airborne for more than eight minutes. Opening a window will disperse the aerosols, but unfortunately, many health facil-ities don’t have windows that can be opened.”

Professor MacIntyre cited one study that investigated the effect of HEPA air purifier filters in classrooms. Without air purifiers, the concentration of the airborne virus will increase in a closed room, whereas if you add an air purifier it decreases substantially.

Professor MacIntyre said: “I think we need to shift our mindset from transmission being a one hit event where somebody sneezes and this ballistic droplet comes and lands on your eye or in your nose, to [understanding] a more cumulative exposure.

“In a closed setting, where there’s no good ventilation, the aerosols are just going to keep accumulating like cigarette smoke, but you can’t see it. The longer you’re in that closed space, the greater your risk, and that risk 
is there just from patient’s breathing or speaking.”

Ordinary air conditioning recirculates the air rather than bringing in fresh air. An effective air conditioning system in the presence of SARS-CoV-2 needs to replace and purify the air, she said.

Because the virus is shed in faeces, toilets are another huge risk. When toilets are flushed’ you “get massive upward aerosolisation of virus particles”.

Since many hospital toilets do not have lids, there is the “potential for 40 to 60 per cent of the particles to rise above the toilet seat lid, leading to widespread contamination in bathrooms. Once aerosolised, this material can be deposited on surfaces and then re-aerosolised by human activity, like shaking out the bedsheets.”

Professor MacIntyre urged hospital staff to lobby for lids on all toilets.

Picking the pockets of nurses and midwives

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NSW Treasurer, Dominic Perrotet, thinks a miserly 0.3 per cent pay increase for the next 12 months followed by a pay cap of 1.5 per cent in following years is “completely fair and very generous”. Nurses and midwives think otherwise.

The Berejiklian government has dealt a double whammy to nurses and midwives by taking fair wage increases off the table for the foreseeable future.

The government announced in the budget that a paltry 0.3 per cent pay increase over the next 12 months will be followed by a pay cap of 1.5 per cent in future years.

“I think if you look at our wages policy here in NSW compared to anywhere else in the country, it’s completely fair and reasonable and very generous,” the NSW Treasurer, Dominic Perrotet, told The Sydney Morning Herald.

NSWNMA General Secretary, Brett Holmes, rubbished this claim.

“If the NSW Treasurer thinks paying a pittance to the health workforce that stopped COVID-19 in its tracks is ‘fair and generous’, he must be living in a parallel universe to the nurses who have put their lives on the line for the wellbeing of this state this year,” he said.

The government’s latest wage policy comes after an attempt earlier this year to impose a public sector wage freeze.

In May, the Association along with other public sector unions brought the case before the NSW Industrial Relations Commission after the government ignored members’ claims for a new Award and with a 2.5 per cent wages cap still in place.

After a campaign across the state, and with the support of local businesses in communities where 
the spending by public sector workers is vital for economic recovery, MPs blocked the freeze in the upper house.

The government consequently argued vigorously for a zero-percentage increase in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.

The Commission ruled a 0.3 per cent wage increase for the next 12 months to 30 June after years of 2.5 per cent wage increases.

In 2021, members will be forced again to argue our case in the Commission for anything above zero up to 1.5 per cent.

A low-wage low-growth future

Brett said the government’s new wage policy was flawed economics and ran contrary to the global trend to stimulate economies out of the COVID-induced downturn.

“At a time when the Berejiklian government should be investing in nurses and midwives’ wages and securing the future of our health workforce, they are locking NSW into a low-wage, low-growth future,” he said.

Brett said the NSW Government was an outlier in Australia, with other states boosting the wages and conditions of their nursing and midwifery workforces.

“Why wouldn’t a nurse or midwife want to flee to Queensland or Victoria where they can work with better pay and legislated nurse-to-patient ratios?

“Queensland, Victoria and South Australia have all managed to recognise the contribution of their public sector workforces with modest increases, yet the Berejiklian government refuses to acknowledge their worth in NSW.”

NSW Opposition leader, Jodi McKay, said the government’s attack on public sector wages was an act of economic vandalism and a betrayal of public sector workers.

“The Treasurer is picking the pockets of workers to pay for his economic mismanagement,” she said.

Other states reward their nurses and midwives

NSW stands alone in the Commonwealth in targeting nurses and midwives to carry the brunt of the economic fallout from the coronavirus.

  • In South Australia, nurses and midwives have reached agreement on two per cent increases per year over the next three years.
  • In Victoria, nurses and midwives will receive a three per cent increase in December 2020.
  • In Tasmania, public sector nurses and midwives received a 2.3 per cent pay rise from 1 December 2019, to be followed by a 2.3 per cent, a 2.35 per cent, and a 2.35 per cent increase in the following years to 2023.
  • Queensland has delayed a 2.5 per cent pay rise for the public sector this year. But unlike NSW, Queensland is proposing to catch up by paying two increases next year.
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