August 9, 2026

Northern Beaches

Tax ruling a relief for nurses

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Northern Beaches Hospital nurses have escaped higher tax bills thanks to lobbying by the NSWNMA. 

The mood among Northern Beaches Hospital (NBH) nurses turned from anxiety to relief when they learned they would avoid the risk of higher tax bills and loss of welfare benefits. 

This follows almost two years of sustained advocacy led by NSWNMA’s Northern Beaches Hospital branch.  

This was the effect of an Australian Tax Office ruling favourable to NBH staff who switched employment from Healthscope to NSW Health. 

NSW Health formally took control of NBH on 29 April, following Healthscope’s collapse into receivership. 

The Fair Work Act does not consider transfers of business from the federal system to state government ownership, which created a number of complexities for members at NBH in transferring their entitlements, as well as how they are taxed. 

Without the ATO ruling on the NBH workforce, the ATO would have treated annual leave transferred to NSW Health as taxable income in the 2025–26 financial year.  

For example, a nurse with $20,000 in leave value on top of $120,000 annual income would have been taxed as if she or he had earned $140,000, potentially pushing them into a higher tax bracket with negative impacts on means-tested benefits. 

Worse, they would be taxed a second time when they took the transferred annual leave as NSW Health employees. 

After lobbying by the NSWNMA, the ATO decided Healthscope did not have to withhold tax from any accrued annual leave entitlements transferred to NSW Health.  

The ATO also advised Healthscope did not have to report the value of transferred accrued annual leave as part of an employee’s income for the 2025–26 financial year.  

This means nurses fortnightly incomes will not be artificially inflated which would risk higher tax rate and negative impacts on Centrelink payments, Higher Education Loan Program repayments, child support payments and family tax benefit. 

Louise Russell, vice-president and delegate for the NSWNMA branch at NBH, said members were “very relieved and happy” when the news came through. 

“The tax issue was a major issue for our branch. People were really worried,” she said. 

“We had to wait a long time for a decision, but thankfully it was answered in our favour, which was great.” 

In a related decision, Healthscope agreed to a NSWNMA demand for more flexibility in how employees handle their accrued annual leave. 

Healthscope agreed to give staff three options: transfer all accrued unused annual leave to NSW Health, have all of it paid out, or transfer some leave to NSW Health and have the rest paid out. 

Previously, the company gave staff only two options: cash out all annual leave, or none of it. 

Louise said this was another important win for Healthscope nurses. 

“Many nurses and midwives were given large amounts of accrued annual leave late last year,” Louise said.  

“This was because Healthscope had under-accrued a lot of our annual leave since NBH opened.  

“This (along with unpaid leave loading) was won back after a long fight between the Association and Healthscope in the Fair Work Commission. 

“As a result, staff were looking at having to transfer a lot of leave to the public system, where you don’t get your leave paid out – you have to take it. 

“It would be hard for both staff and the hospital to manage the taking of such a lot of leave. 

“The best option for a lot of members was to get have some leave paid out – getting money in their pockets – and still have leave to take over.” 

Louise said members appreciated the Association’s role in achieving the ATO ruling and greater flexibility over annual leave. 

“The branch lobbied state and federal MPs and eventually the matter made its way to federal treasury and the ATO. It was time consuming and technical, but with support from NSWNMA officials, the right decision was made for Northern Beaches nurses and midwives.”  

She said there was bipartisan recognition that “the situation was not right”. 

“No matter what side of politics you were on, everybody knew it was unfair.  

“Why were we facing a bill for something that wasn’t our fault?  

“We never chose for the hospital to be a private entity. We said from the very beginning that privatisation wouldn’t work. It was never a viable option. 

“It was a political decision; the staff didn’t want it to happen and it wasn’t widely supported in the community.” 

Louise said the double taxation risk for annual leave could impact any worker transferring from a private business to a state government agency. 

“The NSWNMA will work with the ACTU and Unions NSW to investigate permanent protections for all workers.”  

Louise said NBH’s transition to public management was progressing smoothly from the perspective of nurses who experienced the chaotic early days when the hospital opened as a public-private partnership under Healthscope management in 2018.  

“Healthscope no longer have a role – they’re not in the building anymore. There are still areas such as pharmacy and pathology that are in private hands.” 

‘We lobbied anyone who would listen.’ 

NSWNMA General Secretary Michael Whaites described the wins on annual leave and tax for NBH nurses and midwives as “a direct result of collective action taken by members who were relentless in ensuring the transition to NSW Health didn’t come at a cost – and strong advocacy from your union by bringing the issue to state and federal governments.” 

He said the Association and NBH branch members “left no stone unturned; we lobbied anyone who would listen”. 

“They included state and federal MPs, the Health Minister, Federal Treasurer, the Federal Assistant Treasurer, the ATO and Healthscope.”

Northern Beaches Hospital transitions to public ownership

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Northern Beaches Hospital is due to move to public ownership on 29 April – an outcome the NSWNMA campaigned strongly for. The Association is working to ensure the transition does not unfairly disadvantage the nurses and midwives who have loyally served the Northern Beaches community and strongly support the government takeover.

Transfer of the 494-bed Northern Beaches Hospital (NBH) from a failed public-private partnership under Healthscope to the public system brings both significant wins and complex challenges. 

On the plus side, nurses and midwives will be covered by a generally more favourable public health system award and the NSWNMA helped achieve a major win for overseas-recruited staff employed by Healthscope on short-term visas (see story page 16). 

Meanwhile, the Association is trying to resolve issues relating to tax, a dispute over cashing out excessive leave, and a potential reduction in annual leave for certain workers. 

“These issues are causing a lot of anxiety among nurses and midwives,” said Sheridan Brady, president of the NSWNMA branch at Northern Beaches and a member of the Association’s Council. 

The NSWNMA wrote to Health Minister Ryan Park seeking support to fix the problems. 

The tax issue arises because many members have unusually large annual leave balances as a result of the Association’s win in an 18-month battle over Healthscope’s incorrect leave calculations in the Fair Work Commission. 

Under the commission decision, Healthscope was forced to review the accrual and payment of annual leave entitlements for all current and former nurses and midwives, from Jan 2012 to May 2025. 

Some workers had more than 400 hours of accrued annual leave restored to them. 

Due to a loophole in the Fair Work Act, when an employee transfers annual leave from a private business to a government agency it is treated as income for tax purposes. 

Employees will therefore be viewed by the Australian Tax Office as having significantly higher incomes, without actually receiving additional income. 

In the letter to Ryan Park, the NSWNMA said employees not only faced unfairly high tax bills but “it also has the potential to have a significant impact on Centrelink payments, the repayment rates of Higher Education Loan Program debts, child support payment rates and family tax benefit. 

“We understand that this is an issue that can be raised with the Australian Tax Office, and a ruling sought to ensure employees transferring their leave are not negatively impacted.  

“We seek the government’s advocacy to ensure this issue is remedied prior to the transfer of leave entitlements.” 

Sheridan Brady said that in order to avoid these problems, some nurses and midwives sought to have part of their leave paid out before the April transition date – in line with the Healthscope enterprise agreement which allows staff to cash out excessive leave by agreement. 

“However, staff were advised that we could cash out all of our leave, or none of it,” Sheridan said. 

“Therefore, we have gone back to the Fair Work Commission to try to get a ruling to allow a partial payout as per our EBA. 

“We are seeking to have some of our leave paid out and some transferred. In the interest of fatigue management, we don’t want to transfer across with no leave.  

“There is a lot of stress around these issues and we are trying to avoid a big tax bill for members.  

“We are also trying to minimise the potential impact in other areas, such as single parents losing child support, larger repayments due on HECS debts, increased Medicare levy and reduced government rebates for private health insurance. 

“Transferring large leave balances from Healthscope would also hurt NSW Health through accrued liabilities and workforce availability, due to its strict excess leave policies.”  

In the letter to Mr Park, the NSWNMA also raised a looming reduction in annual leave for part-time shift workers. 

Employees who are part-time, but are classified as shift workers under the Healthscope enterprise agreement, get a minimum of five weeks of annual leave (pro rata). Under the Public Health System Nurses and Midwives’ (State) Award this leave entitlement is only four weeks. 

“This means that part-time shift work employees who transition from Healthscope to NSW Health will accrue less annual leave after the transition occurs. 

“It is difficult to reconcile a clear reduction in conditions of employment with the government’s goal of ensuring employees are treated fairly during a process over which they have little control … We ask that this decision be reversed, and that transitioning employees be advised that they may continue to accrue annual leave at the higher rate.” 

Sheridan said Mr Park promised that Northern Beaches staff would be no worse off by moving to the public system, and “the branch aims to hold him to this commitment.”  

She pointed out that many NBH nurses and midwives were previously public employees at Manly and Mona Vale hospitals before the government closed Manly and downgraded Mona Vale. 

The new NBH operated by Healthscope under the public private partnership model was the replacement acute hospital. 

After NBH opened in 2018, Healthscope was bought by Brookfield – a New York-based asset and private equity fund manager – in 2019. 

Brookfield then sold the land under Healthscope hospitals which gave Brookfield a cash injection but forced Healthscope hospitals to pay land rent. 

Healthscope collapsed into receivership in 2025 owing $1.6 billion, which forced NSW Health to take over NBH.  

NSWNMA welcomes public takeover of Northern Beaches Hospital

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The Association welcomes the facility’s transfer to public ownership but questions remain about proposals to retain private beds within the public hospital. 

In October 2025, the state government announced it would spend $190 million to buy back Northern Beaches Hospital (NBH). 

The government said it would put the entire 488-bed hospital under the direct control of Northern Sydney Local Health District by mid-2026. 

All hospital clinical and support staff would be offered jobs by NSW Health at the facility and staff entitlements would be transferred to NSW Health. 

As The Lamp goes to print the NSWNMA has become aware that some doctors are pushing for exclusively private beds and services to remain within the public hospital. 

“This would have serious ramifications for the operating capacity of the public hospital,’ said NSWNMA General Secretary Shaye Candish. 

The state government promised that there would a three-week consultation period on the operating models within the new entity. 

“We will continue to advocate for Northern Beaches Hospital to be a public hospital which allows for patients to elect and access private services as we see in other NSW public hospitals,” Shaye said. 

Healthscope, which went into receivership in May 2025 with $1.6 billion in debt, will exit its contract to operate the hospital until 2038. 

The announcement followed months of negotiations between the government, Healthscope and its receivers, to unwind what Health Minister Ryan Park called one of NSW’s worst privatisation experiments. 

Mr Park said the in-principle agreement marked the beginning of NBH’s transition into the public health system. 

“I want to be upfront that this will not be without its challenges, but patient safety sits at the very heart of this hand-back to public ownership,” he said. 

“We have worked with urgency and speed to provide certainty for the community, patients and staff. 

“We thank the staff for their hard work and cooperation as we continue to work through the transition.” 

Hope for stability, transparency, and accountability

Shaye Candish said the government had assured the union that no nurse or midwife at Northern Beaches Hospital would lose their job and leave entitlements would be transferred when the hospital transitions to the public system. 

“We are pleased to see Healthscope and the state government working collaboratively to reach an outcome and provide job security to the thousands of staff employed at NBH,” Shaye said. 

The NSWNMA campaigned against the Baird Liberal government’s public private partnership (PPP) deal with Healthscope in 2014 (see story p14). 

A report by the Auditor-General this year justified the union’s opposition to the deal. 

The Auditor-General found that the privatisation model did not allow NBH to deliver adequate health services and created tension between profit motives and health outcomes. 

“We warned the previous government this would be detrimental to the community and people of the Northern Beaches, but we were ignored,” Shaye said. 

She said transitioning to the public system gives Northern Beaches nurses and midwives “hope for stability, transparency and accountability”. 

“We also look forward to the implementation of the public system’s nurse-to-patient ratios which will provide safer workplaces and quality care that our Northern Beaches community deserves.”

Nurses and midwives welcome public takeover of Northern Beaches Hospital

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Following months of uncertainty for staff, the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) has welcomed news an in principle agreement over the future of Northern Beaches Hospital has been reached between the state government and Healthscope. 

NSWNMA General Secretary, Shaye Candish, said today’s announcement has come as a relief to local nurses and midwives. 

“It has been an extremely unsettling and stressful time for staff working at Northern Beaches Hospital following months of public scrutiny. Today’s developments that a deal is close to being finalised which will see the hospital transition into public hands soon, will help allay fears among our members,” said Ms Candish.   

“We have been given assurances no nurse and midwife at Northern Beaches Hospital will lose their job and leave entitlements will be transferred when the hospital transitions to the public system.  

“This is much-needed certainty for our hardworking and dedicated nurses and midwives. We are pleased to see Healthscope and the state government working collaboratively to reach an outcome and provide job security to the thousands of staff employed at Northern Beaches Hospital.” 

Ms Candish said the union strongly opposed and fought hard against the then Baird government’s public private partnership (PPP).   

“The NSWNMA has campaigned against this PPP and the privatisation of healthcare services for more than a decade. We warned the previous government this would be detrimental to the community and people of the Northern Beaches, but it was ignored,” said Ms Candish. 

“We feared this model of healthcare would fail the Northern Beaches community and now that’s been realised. 

“NSWNMA members at Northern Beaches Hospital have been raising staffing and safety concerns for years. Every step of the way they have advocated for safe patient care and quality health services, and they never gave up the fight to have the hospital taken out of private hands. 

“The uncertainty felt has only worsened since the Healthscope receivership, so for nurses and midwives at Northern Beaches Hospital, transitioning to the public system gives them hope for stability, transparency and accountability. 

“We also look forward to the implementation of the public system’s nurse-to-patient ratios which will provide safer workplaces and quality care that our Northern Beaches community deserves.” 

Northern Beaches public-private partnership “at risk of failure”

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A report by the NSW Auditor-General questions whether a public- private partnership “is the appropriate model to deliver the best quality integrated health care”.

In the report, released in April, the NSW Auditor-General found that the Northern Beaches Hospital – operated by Healthscope – failed

to reach the standards and key objectives outlined in its contractual project deed and, ominously, that the partnership was at risk of failure.

Other key findings were:

  • The hospital “recorded concerning results for some hospital-acquired complications and has not taken sufficient actions to address some identified clinical safety risks”
  • The project deed, which governs the partnership, did not support the hospital’s integration into the local health district and broader health network
  • Healthscope has no obligation or commitment to implement NSW Health initiatives – such as the Safe Staffing Levels initiative.

The report said the hospital “has recorded elevated rates of falls, third- and fourth-degree perineal lacerations, and birth trauma during the review period” and despite efforts to resolve these issues “repeated patterns of poor results are a cause for concern”.

It continued: “Healthscope is unable to determine the extent to which factors such as insufficient staffing or equipment result in minor harm or near-miss incidents at the Northern Beaches Hospital.”

The report noted Healthscope’s request in November 2023, and again in December 2023, that the return of the public portion of the Northern Beaches Hospital be brought forward by 14 years.

In its requests, Healthscope noted the risk to the viability of the Northern Beaches Hospital, citing insufficient funding, a lack of integration into the wider health network, and strained stakeholder relationships.

In January 2024, the Ministry of Health formally declined Healthscope’s requests, noting that Healthscope has no legal or contractual entitlement to withdraw from or vary the project in the manner proposed.

The Ministry of Health reaffirmed that Healthscope must continue to provide services under the terms of the project deed.

“ Recent reported financial challenges for Healthscope confirm this is an ongoing risk for NSW Health to manage,” the Auditor-General said.

TENSION BETWEEN PROFITS AND CARE

In recent months, Healthscope, which was bought in 2019 by private equity firm Brookfield, has revealed that it is $1.6 billion in debt.

The report pointed out that the Northern Beaches Hospital public- private partnership is expected to provide services at a lower cost than if the state operated the hospital.

“However, the public-private partnership structure creates tension between commercial imperatives and clinical outcomes,” it said.

It points out that there have been several funding increases provided to Healthscope by NSW Health.

“In June 2024, the Northern Sydney Local  Health  District calculated that over $73 million in additional funding had been provided to Healthscope to operate the Northern Beaches Hospital since the hospital opened in October 2018.”

The Northern Beaches Hospital is currently the only public-private partnership for comprehensive public hospital services operating in NSW. It serves 270,000 people on Sydney’s northern beaches.

The Auditor- General’s report recommended that “NSW Health should consider issues raised for this public-private partnership for any future arrangement”.

The NSW government has recently enacted laws that will prevent future public-private partnerships.

Healthscope has since renewed its offer for the state government to take over the public component of the Northern Beaches Hospital.

 More folly and failure from the ideologues of privatisation

 From the moment the privatisation of public health services on the Northern Beaches was mooted by the Liberal-National government led by Mike Baird the NSWNMA raised concerns that the model would lead to profits being put before care.

Before the 2015 state election the then Liberal health minister Jillian Skinner said the hospital would cost the taxpayer $1 billion. Two months after the election the contract details were revealed showing

that the private consortium, which included Healthscope, Leighton Holdings and Thiess would be paid more than $2.14 billion over the life of the contract until 2038.

Previous experiments in privatising public hospital services in Australia, including at Port Macquarie in NSW, read like a catalogue of folly and failure.

The then Liberal premier Mike Baird hinted at the ideological nature of the decision in the face of opposition from health leaders and experts, including the NSWNMA.

“I will support partnering with the private sector if we can deliver better facilities, improved services and great outcomes for the community. That’s what I believe in,” he said.

He wasn’t the only one who believed in the superiority of the private sector in health.

At the same time, the federal Liberal government led by Tony Abbott, with Peter Dutton as health minister, was conducting a full-blooded attack

on Medicare and was drastically slashing funds to public hospitals.

NSWNMA OPPOSES PRIVATISATION

Leading up to the 2015 NSW state election the NSWNMA ran a very strong campaign against this “Americanisation” of public health, including the privatisation of Northern Beaches Hospital.

At the time this led to substantial criticism from conservative politicians and media.

In September 2016 health minister Jillian Skinner doubled down on the privatisation mania and announced she intended to privatise five more regional hospitals – at Maitland, Wyong, Goulburn, Bowral and Shellharbour.

Strong campaigning by NSWNMA members and community engagement stopped these privatisations in their tracks.

NSWNMA General Secretary Shaye Candish says upholding the integrity of public health is part of the union’s DNA.

“The NSWNMA not only sees itself as a defender of the nursing and midwifery professions, but also as a defender of the public health system,” she said.

“We were right to stand up for public health through the years and we will continue to do so into the future. If nurses and midwives don’t stand up for public health and safe patient care, who will?”

Northern Beaches Hospital audit report highlights failings

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The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) has welcomed the NSW Auditor-General’s report into Sydney’s Northern Beaches Hospital which has found the public-private partnership (PPP) is at risk of failure.

The independent audit highlighted the hospital has not been effectively delivering quality health services to the Northern Beaches community and systems within the hospital need improvement.

NSWNMA General Secretary, Shaye Candish, said the Association was not surprised by the findings after campaigning strongly against the PPP when it was announced by the former Coalition government.

“We have been vocal from the start about our opposition to PPP models and the privatisation of healthcare services. We were incredibly concerned that we would see the deterioration of services as profit became one of the key drivers of this hospital, and sadly our fears have been realised,” said Ms Candish.

“One of the Auditor-General’s key findings is that patient care may be affected over time because Healthscope is not required to implement Safe Staffing Levels unlike the public health system, which is currently rolling out nurse-to-patient ratios across its public hospital emergency departments.

“Our members are currently fighting for staffing ratios as part of their bargaining campaign with Healthscope. It’s been incredibly difficult for our members who’ve felt patient safety and care have been compromised because of insufficient staffing and a lack of resources.

“We have seen through the transition process over the last five or so years a significant deterioration in the number of staff available to deliver equivalent health services compared to other public hospitals. As a result, the pressures on staff have been immense.

“The Minns government must seriously consider the long term viability of this hospital and its ability to deliver quality care to its community at the standard expected. Healthscope has offered to transfer the public portion on two occasions in recent years and we call on the government to make this a priority because the Northern Beaches community deserves quality and timely access to public healthcare.”

The NSWNMA intends to make a submission to the NSW Government’s second parliamentary inquiry into the Northern Beaches Hospital.

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