October 12, 2026

Concord Hospital

Branch Beat: Branch officials now paid for some of their time

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Elected officials of NSWNMA branches in the public health system are now entitled to paid time to conduct union activity in the workplace.

The Association negotiated a new Public Health System Nurses and Midwives Award entitlement called Union Delegate Activity Time (UDAT) which came into effect from the first published roster on or after 1 November 2025.

This is a big win, achieved through the work of members and Delegates across the state. The entitlement is the first of its kind in NSW Health and will provide officials additional time during work hours to undertake their work and build our union’s power.

It gives elected branch delegates, secretaries and presidents eight hours of paid work time every eight weeks for undertaking branch business, including talking to branch members and potential members in the workplace.

Introduction of UDAT leave is a positive development that will help branch officials to engage with members and manage branch activities, while being paid.

The NSWNMA branch at Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Sydney Local Health District was among the first to take advantage of UDAT, in February this year.

The branch hopes UDAT will encourage more member involvement and make executive roles within the branch more sustainable and valued.

Branch officials now paid for some of their time

Concord Hospital branch has almost 1,000 members out of the approximately 1,250-strong nursing workforce at the hospital. 

Branch secretary Alison Brannelly is one of four elected officials along with president Rebecca Phair, vice president Joanne Kawtal and assistant secretary Mitzi Plaza.  

Using UDAT leave to support union democracy

Alison used Union Delegate Activity Time (UDAT) leave to organise and raise awareness of the branch’s recent Biennial General Meeting (BGM). 

She took eight hours UDAT leave on a single day to minimise staffing disruption.  

“For me, it was easiest to take the leave and do the rounds all in one day. Other branch officials might choose to take a couple of hours off at the end of their shift and another two hours off the following week, for example. 

“It really depends on your shift patterns and what’s feasible for you personally.” 

Before the introduction of UDAT, Alison and other branch officials would do branch related activities in their own time, which left fewer opportunities for conversations with members, and potential members.  

UDAT leave gave her more time for deeper engagement and to listen to members’ concerns. 

She used the time to visit every ward, speaking face-to-face with members to explain the Association’s democratic processes and answer questions. 

“I wanted to explain to members why we were having this BGM – explain the democratic process of nominations and elections of branch officials,” Alison said.  

“A lot of members don’t understand how the democratic process within the Association works – the nomination and election of branch officials, and the role of the returning officer at the BGM. 

“If they pay their membership fees and don’t become a bit more involved, they may not realise how the Association supports them not only for pay claims, but regarding many other aspects of their working lives as nurses or midwives. 

“Each time I go around and talk to people, I try to give them a little bit more information and understanding than they had before.” 

Visibility in the workplace

Showing her face around the hospital reinforces her visibility as the branch secretary, ensuring as many members as possible know who they can approach with workplace concerns. 

“You can put up as many posters and send as many WhatsApp messages as you like, but face-to-face interaction is the most effective form of communication with members. 

“Sometimes I’ll put things into our branch WhatsApp group. I assume that some people read them and some people don’t. Some people might think: ‘I wish Alison would stop WhatsApping us’, so I try to keep messaging relevant and current.” 

During her UDAT rounds, Alison worked to establish an informal network of contact people in every ward.  

“The UDAT leave gave me time to talk to people and ask if they would be prepared to be the branch contact person in their ward.” 

She said the branch prefers to avoid the formal title of “ward steward,” because many members are reluctant to take on a formal role. 

“We just say to them, would you be happy for us to contact you? And we keep a list of those who agree. 

“That gives us one person to contact in every area, who can use the ward/unit internal WhatsApp group to pass on messages.” 

Making Union roles more sustainable

Alison believes that by providing paid time for activities previously done unpaid in personal time, UDAT leave may encourage more members to take on branch roles.  

“Most branch officials have tended to do a lot of their union activities out of work hours in their own time. And I still do a fair bit in my own time,” she said.  

“But having the flexibility to use UDAT may make branch officials feel more valued, and make these positions more sustainable and appealing to more members in the future.” 

In the thick of the campaign

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Zoom conferencing with the Opposition leader, demonstrating outside state parliament and meeting face-to-face with the Treasurer of NSW are some of the actions taken by nurse Cindy Bulaon in the campaign to overturn the public sector wage cut.

As the NSWNMA’s assistant branch secretary at Concord Hospital, (she has since left Concord) Cindy Bulaon found herself in the thick of the anti-wage freeze campaign.

One of the branch’s first actions was to set up an online meeting between state Labor leader Jodi McKay and branch members Alison Brannelly, Mavi Giacomello (branch steward) and Cindy.

“The branch had worked with Jodi during the ratios campaign and we wanted to make sure she would continue to support the nurses and midwives by campaigning to stop the wage freeze,” Cindy said.

“Jodi pledged to continue to support us and arranged to attend a media conference with the Shadow Minister for Health, Ryan Park, and Concord nurses in front of the hospital.

“Alison, Mavi, branch delegate Stephen Mansfield and I got together to make placards and posters for the media conference.

“It got a lot of coverage, with Alison and Mavi both interviewed on television, and sent a strong message against the wage freeze. Our general secretary, Brett Holmes, also attended and spoke to the media.

“We had to limit the numbers in attendance because of Covid social distancing.

“But those who did attend were senior nurses with long service at Concord.

“The next day, Jodi and Ryan Park joined our branch meeting online to thank us for our work during Covid and assure us we had their support.”

Putting our case to Treasurer Perrottet

With the pay freeze legislation due to be voted on by parliament’s Upper House, Cindy decided to write a personal letter seeking support from Christian Democratic Party leader, Fred Nile, who had not indicated his position on the legislation.

“I thought that maybe I could get through to Fred Nile as a fellow Christian,” Cindy said. “He replied within 24 hours to say he did support the nurses and would vote against the wage freeze.

“I wrote back to say it was fantastic to have his support and I would love to see him at the forthcoming nurses’ rally outside Parliament House.

“I didn’t speak to Reverend Nile at the rally but he did come outside and indicate support for nurses – only to turn around and vote with the Liberals on the day.

“I was really angry, because he’s supposed to be a Christian minister. But a lot of politicians will say one thing and do the opposite.”

During the protest, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet agreed to meet three NSWNMA representatives in his Parliament House office. So Cindy joined a NSWNMA organiser and RN Lisa Barry, Branch Secretary, POW at the meeting.

“It was nerve wracking, but I wanted Mr Perrottet to know how strongly I felt about the wage freeze,” Cindy said.

“I told him we deserve this pay increase because we work very hard for it in very difficult conditions – and not only during this pandemic. The money will go back into the economy through our local shops and to pay our bills.

“For instance, on 1 July the government introduced a toll on the M5 East tunnels, which my husband uses to get to work every day. That’s $6.95 for a one-way trip.

“Mr Perrottet obviously wasn’t open to changing his mind; it felt like he just wanted to show that 
he was willing to listen to us.”

A slap in the face

Cindy says the pay freeze had made her feel “very undervalued” by the state government.

“They don’t understand what we face every day, especially in trying to keep ourselves and the public safe during COVID.

“This pay freeze was a slap in the face and to do it on International Nurses Day was horrendous.”

“We should also remember the cleaners who have had a big increase in their workload. They were already short-staffed and then had to clean to a higher standard twice a day.

“Cleaners work just as hard as nurses and doctors and don’t get the accolades they deserve.”

Cindy says she is particularly upset by Premier Berejiklian’s decision to freeze nurses’ wages while awarding huge increases to some politicians and top public servants.

In July, it was revealed that Ms Berejiklian had quietly handed a $17,000 pay rise to her finance minister, Damien Tudehope, and a $90,000 pay rise to police commissioner, Mick Fuller.

She did this despite saying “The only way NSW will come out of this crisis in a strong position is if we all make sacrifices, and that’s what we’re asking our own workforce to do.”

“Fit testing is extremely important”

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Katina Skylas, NSWNMA Branch President  at Concord Hospital, tells The Lamp how fit testing works.

“We put a mask on our face that is connected to software that measures particulate level inside the mask to assess effective mask seal.

“As part of the test we do a range of activities, such as bending up and down, turning your head left and right and saying a phrase that has a mix of all the possible consonant combinations to emulate every shape our face would move in when we are talking.

“There is a threshold number it has to reach for it to be a good fit.

“We need to reduce the risk of potential exposure to any pathogens, so fit testing is extremely important. I need to know that a particular mask fits me, and every time I put that mask on, I need to know it works properly.

“At Concord we had a stock of masks that everyone thought were superior, but on testing they actually failed the fit test for a number of people: it wasn’t the best mask for them, but it did fit others.

“Conversely, there were a lot of P2 masks that we thought were ineffectual: we didn’t think they provided a good seal, but in testing it was actually a very good mask for many staff.

“Staff try a range of masks that are available, and if they don’t fit it is deemed not safe for them to walk into the infectious room, and they aren’t allocated to those patients.

“About nine per cent of tested staff have failed the fit test, which highlights the need to find other solutions.

“We’ve been able to get access to other masks, including reusable battery-powered face masks. They are expensive but important to maintain workplace safety.”

Concord members win ‘Nurse Bank’

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A big public rally over unsafe staffing has helped to persuade management to fill vacant nursing positions.

Concord Hospital will get more nurses to help ease a severe staff shortage, thanks to a campaign by the hospital’s NSWNMA branch.

The branch has been campaigning for about a year to get long-standing vacancies filled.

Sydney Local Health District has agreed to employ another 10 FTE (full-time equivalent) registered nurses and five FTE enrolled nurses at Concord Hospital.

The recruits will form a pool of permanently employed nurses that will operate as a “Nurse Bank” to help fill gaps in rosters across all wards.

Advertisements for these positions have been posted.

LHD management finally agreed to employ more nurses after the branch organised a big lunchtime rally outside the hospital.

In July, the branch carried a resolution that called on management to stop the unsafe practice of opening extra beds without extra staff.

“The branch does not support surging of wards when there is insufficient skilled staff to safely cover the shift and subsequent shifts,” the resolution said.

The following month, a branch meeting attended by 95 members called for:

  • surge beds not to be opened without sufficient staff numbers, or correct skill mix
  • no more replacement of RN shifts with AiNs (assistants in nursing)
  • permanent and temporary vacancies to be filled urgently.

The meeting unanimously voted to hold a lunchtime rally to inform the community about inadequate staffing.

155 nurses attend rally

The resolution said the branch would escalate a community awareness campaign until staffing levels were made safe.

About 155 nurses attended the rally, which was addressed by NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes, Branch President Katina Skylas, Branch Secretary Rebecca Phair, other staff members and patients.

Brett Holmes said an increase in presentations had led the hospital to regularly open extra beds without employing additional staff.

As a result, the hospital was relying heavily on RNs being replaced by AiNs, overtime and casual staff.

An increase in the number of patients needing one-to-one care, known as specialling, had added to pressure on nurses.

These patients were often being specialled within staffing numbers and often resulted in other patients getting less care.

Brett said nurses felt let down by the LHD, which had failed to adequately address their concerns or offer any long-term solutions.

“With increasing workloads and little relief, our members are experiencing fatigue and burn-out. They want to provide the best care possible, but they feel management has not supported them,” he said.

After the rally, the branch voted to ask for a meeting with senior LHD management.

The branch resolution said that if that meeting did not result in suitable solutions, members would vote on industrial action including a stopwork meeting.

Management agree to 15 extra permanent staff

At negotiations following the rally, branch members told management that understaffing had led to an increase in the number of falls, medication errors, pressure injuries and complaints from patients’ families about delays in providing care.

Members said senior nursing staff such as NUMs, CNCs and CNEs regularly worked on the floor to support their colleagues due to poor staffing and skill mix, with wards dangerously over-reliant on AiNs.

They said that supplying staff with the wrong skills was not assisting nurses to maintain safe patient care and reasonable workloads.

At the negotiations, manage-ment agreed to employ another 15 permanent staff, boost the casual pool of RNs and fill roster vacancies earlier.

Branch Secretary Rebecca Phair said the well-attended branch meetings and rally showed nurses felt strongly about staffing issues and were determined to act to 
win improvements.

Rebecca said members hoped that the creation of a “Nurse Bank” would reduce reliance on over-time and use of AiNs to fill vacant RN positions.

“We hope the Nurse Bank RNs and ENs can be allocated to fill vacancies before rosters are posted. Fifteen extra nurses won’t be enough to solve all the problems related to understaffing, but it is a good starting point and they will certainly help,” she said.

“Only two wards have AiNs in their staffing profile, yet most of the staff replacements we have been getting are AiNs.

“A shift that is supposed to have seven RNs might end up with four RNs and three AiNs.

“This has been very stressful for the RNs who effectively have to look after two lots of patients.”

Rebecca said CNEs and other senior clinicians had to work on the floor partly because they were needed to manage the work of AiNs.

Our kids’ strike for climate deserves our support

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When school kids are brave enough to “tell it like it is” and their claims on climate change are overwhelmingly backed by science, maybe its time for their elders to listen and to offer their support.

In the feverish and dysfunctional debate over climate change that has taken place in Australia over the last decade it is easy to lose sight of what should be the decisive factor: the overwhelming scientific evidence that shows climate change poses an existential threat to humanity.

That evidence has steadily accumulated as more and more resources have been put into research and the tone of the scientific message has turned to alarm as the sheer magnitude of the emergency becomes clearer and clearer.

Without urgent and substantive change, calamity awaits.

The power and influence of highly-placed climate sceptics in the Morrison government and the media, particularly the Murdoch press, means this message has been effectively obfuscated in Australia.

But while these apologists for inaction on climate change can grandstand with their lumps of coal in parliament, or abuse their power on the airwaves to demonise children fighting for their future, the inconvenient truth remains: the planet continues to warm dangerously and that change is accelerating. 

This is important for nurses and midwives because climate change ultimately manifests itself in deteriorating health. It is a core issue for health practitioners.

The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has put this clearly: “We cannot delay on climate change. We cannot sleepwalk through this health emergency any longer.”

Before the last federal election there were clear signs that the sands were shifting and that a clear majority of Australians were supportive of significant action on climate change.

The election result dampened this optimism with the status quo maintained at the government  level.

But this is no reason to give up the fight. Elections are not the only pressure point for change.

Remarkably, leadership on this issue has come from an unlikely source – our kids.

On 20 September, school children around the world will again strike to save our planet from environmental catastrophe. They have asked older generations to join them.

The Australian union movement, including the NSWNMA, has committed its support.

In striking for substantive action on climate change our kids are also striking for health and I would urge all nurses and midwives to support  them by attending in person or taking some action during your breaks at work via social media in supporting their inspirational stand.

Concerns about staffing aren’t being addressed

Over the last month, throughout the state, our members have been telling us of severe shortages of nurses and midwives in our public hospitals.

At Campbelltown, Concord and Maitland the frustration of nurses and midwives led to well-attended rallies where our members alerted their local communities to the risk of errors or incidents from inadequate staffing.

While winter is always a time when the capacity of our public hospitals is tested with a pronounced spike in demand it would be disingenuous to attribute the problems solely to this.

Our members have spent months raising their concerns about staffing levels in reasonable workloads committees. These concerns have not been adequately addressed.

They are feeling fatigued, are experiencing burnout and feel unsupported by management. They are losing confidence in the current processes for addressing staffing shortages and genuinely fear for patients’ safety.

These problems have been obvious for a long time. The state government recognised this when it made an election promise to bring more nurses and midwives into the public health system. It feels like a promise to give with one hand and take with another.

The government and local managements should heed what nurses and midwives are now telling them: these resources are needed now.

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