nurses and midwive sin nsw

Unions push for wage increases to counter housing crisis

February 10, 2026 by Rayan Calimlim Leave a Comment

The Australian union movement has launched a strategic push for significant wage increases in the upcoming Annual Wage Review, arguing the deepening housing crisis is making life unaffordable for the nation’s lowest-paid workers.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has formally identified housing costs as a central pillar of its advocacy for 2026. In its advocacy to the Fair Work Commission regarding the Annual Wage Review, the ACTU called for a wage increase that not only matches inflation but accounts for the “crushing” cost of rent and mortgages that disproportionately affects essential workers.

The Housing-Wage Gap

Industrial data highlights a widening chasm between stagnant wages and the skyrocketing cost of living. For many nurses, midwives, and healthcare workers, the inability to find affordable housing near their places of work is no longer just a personal hardship—it is an industrial issue affecting workforce retention and recruitment.

“Working people will be pushing for pay rises this year because housing costs, rents and mortgage payments risk taking up more wages,” said ACTU Secretary Sally McManus.

“Too many people cannot afford to live near where they work, even in regional parts of the country.”

The ACTUs submission argues that wages need to keep pace with essential expenses including rental costs, which have risen by 4% in the past year on top of steep rises over the past five years.

Advocacy Beyond the Pay Packet

While the focus remains on the Fair Work Commission, the union movement is also pushing for broader structural reforms. This includes advocacy for increased investment in social and affordable housing, stricter regulations on the rental market to provide more security for tenants, and reforms to our country’s tax system to allow workers to better afford their first homes.

“Australia’s tax system is upside down – working people pay first and in full, while wealth and windfall profits are undertaxed,” McManus commented.

“When tax concessions push investment into property speculation instead of new housing and productive businesses, working people lose twice – through higher house prices and weaker wage growth.”

By framing the housing crisis as a core industrial priority, the Australian union movement is signaling the fight for fair pay can no longer be separated from the fight for affordable housing.

This article is based on the ACTU’s push around housing pressures and the Annual Wage Review. For specific information on how the NSWNMA is progressing our own Special Case for a 35% pay rise in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, see our Value Us campaign updates.

More staff for Lismore ED

June 1, 2021 by Rayan Calimlim Leave a Comment

Lismore Hospital’s NSWNMA branch is leading a campaign to get more nurses rostered in the hard-pressed emergency department.

Lismore Base Hospital’s emergency department is getting more nurses thanks to a strong campaign by the hospital’s NSWNMA branch.

The campaign has secured the employment of an additional RN as an ED resource nurse on every shift.

Staff are also seeking the employment of another RN on night shift. The proposal is being discussed by the hospital’s reasonable workloads committee (RWC).

Meanwhile, the hospital is recruiting to provide additional nurse practitioner staffing (equivalent to 1.4 full-time employees) as a result of changes to the model of care.

The call for more staff was unanimously supported by well-attended meetings of the NSWNMA branch and endorsed by 285 staff members, who signed an open letter to management.

NSWNMA member and ED clinical nurse educator Rebecca Austin said the campaign had raised the profile of the branch among nurses and “reinforced to everyone the power of numbers”.

She said presentations and acuity at Lismore ED have risen over the past three years, with ATS1 (resuscitation) cases up by 23 per cent and ATS2 (emergency) cases up by 41 per cent. However, staff numbers did not increase.

“The highest risk area was the drastically understaffed and over-utilised resuscitation room,” Rebecca said.

“Also, we were maintaining the same acuity and same utilisation throughout the night, when we had one less nurse on shift.”

ED nurses took their concerns to the RWC, which supported staff increases for the ED.

Management responded by asking for more data and the NSWNMA branch passed a resolution supporting the RWC recommendation.

Northern NSW Local Health District management said it would increase nurse practitioner staffing but rejected other requests for more nurses.

The branch decided to hold a lunchtime community rally outside the hospital. However, it was called off after hospital chief executive, Wayne Jones, offered to employ an additional resource nurse on each shift seven days a week.

Rebecca said the resource nurse works as the second nurse in the resuscitation room when it has  two or more patients. At other times the nurse assists other areas of the department.

“We felt we achieved something important by getting the resource nurse,” she said. “Our request for an additional RN on night duty is back with the RWC for the time being.”

Rebecca said it was encouraging to see large numbers of NSWNMA members attend branch meetings during the campaign.

“We also welcomed non-members to the meetings as observers. They couldn’t speak or vote, but they could see how the branch was working to improve the safety and conditions of both patients and staff.”

Employers need guidance on psychosocial hazards, says minister

June 1, 2021 by Rayan Calimlim Leave a Comment

Two Association members recently met with Kevin Anderson, the NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, to discuss the urgent need to combat non-physical hazards in the workplace.

Nick Howson, an RN and branch president at Cumberland Hospital, and Skye Romer, secretary of the Prince of Wales Mental Health Branch, spoke to the minister about their harrowing experiences of psychosocial hazards at their workplaces.

Nick and Skye, accompanied by NSWNMA professional officer Veronica Black, met with Kevin Anderson at his Martin Place office, ahead of a meeting of all Australian ministers responsible for workplace health and safety laws.

The ministers will be voting on the 34 changes recommended by Marie Boland, a former executive director of SafeWork SA, who recently conducted an independent review of Australia’s model workplace health and safety legislation. In her review, Boland found that workplace health and safety laws lacked regulations and specific guidance for managing psychosocial risks.

“In submissions to Boland’s review process, the NSWNMA argued that occupational violence and other psychosocial hazards were not being effectively addressed and prevented under the existing system,” said NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary, Judith Kiejda.

“A lot of psychosocial injuries in the workplace occur when there are feelings that there is no organisational justice, leaving workers feeling unsupported,” Judith said.

“When Marie Boland’s recommendations came out, she was really clear that employers don’t have any guidance to help them understand what their obligations are in managing hazards such as workloads, bullying and sexual harassment. SafeWork inspectors can’t write notices for things that aren’t in the law, so we argued that psychosocial injuries must be clearly identified and be notifiable injuries.”

Currently, the onus is on workers in the healthcare system to follow up if they need mental health support. Nick told The Lamp, “If big organisations like health aren’t able to psychologically protect workers, what chance do other organisations have?”

Skye spoke to the minister about the lack of workplace support she received after an attack by a consumer that resulted in surgeries and an ongoing recovery process.

“I’ve had firsthand experience of what it is like to be injured in the workplace. It has been absolutely horrendous. Coming into work after you’ve already been injured, your body is in a flight-or-fight response. At the same time, you are investigated by the insurers in a way that is verging on stalking.”

A lack of support

Skye has had to attend multiple medical appointments and undergo numerous treatments.

Skye also suffered a “massive drop in pay” and had to move out of her home when the workers’ compensation system did not take into account her history of overtime.

“In my mind, I was paying for being assaulted at work.”

Nick said they asked the minister to support all 34 of Boland’s recommendations, as well as implement the proposed code of practice.

“When we spoke to the minister, he conceded that there is clearly a problem, and that bosses need guidance,” Nick said.

In a separate process to the Boland recommendations, the NSW government has released a draft code to cover psychological risks.

“The code gives an outline for everyone to work to, so they don’t have to make it up,” Nick said.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the minister’s willingness to listen. He even went as far to say that he thought the input of unions was of vital importance, because they see how it affects workers.”

Beefing up the law

In 2011, Australian states and territories began to harmonise the different acts and regulations covering workplace health and safety so that there was consistency between the rules and regulations in each jurisdiction.

In 2019, after a long-delayed independent review of the model act, Marie Boland made 34 recommendations for changes. Ministers from all jurisdictions will soon meet to vote on whether to update the act with each of Boland’s recommendations. Each recommendation needs a two-thirds majority vote to change the act.

In a separate process, the NSW government has released a draft code of practice for managing workplace risks to psychological health. The code – developed by a working group that included Safe Work Australia and SafeWork NSW, unions, employers and academic experts – provides detailed information on how to manage risks to psychological health in the workplace.

New South Wales will be the first Australian state to develop a code of this kind.

“We strongly support a code of practice,” NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary, Judith Kiejda, said. “It is a good document, and while it doesn’t do everything, it goes a long way to filling the gap.”

STOP PRESS

As The Lamp goes to press the WHS ministers have agreed to regulate psychosocial hazards.

The ACTU said the decision “was a major step towards the prevention of mental illness”.

“Years of campaigning from working people and their unions have gone into winning this regulation. It will make Australian workplaces safer for future generations of workers,” said ACTU assistant secretary Liam O’Brien.

ACTU warns of COVID-19 recovery built on low wage growth and insecure jobs

April 28, 2021 by Rayan Calimlim Leave a Comment

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has released a report calling on the Morrison Government to commit to a fair economic recovery in their upcoming 2021 Federal Budget.

The For a Stronger, Balanced and Inclusive Recovery Report was launched by ACTU President Michele O’Neil at the National Press Club. It highlights the four central problems of the current COVID-19 recovery: the extremely rapid growth of insecure jobs, historically low wage growth (despite strong growth in profits) which threatens consumer spending, and the overall unevenness of the recovery, with many sectors and millions of workers still struggling.

The report argues that low wage growth and insecure work will negatively affect our country’s consumer confidence and national resilience in the future.

“It is way past time our Government and their budget speeches delivered on this most fundamental part of the great promise of Australia – a fair go,” Ms O’Neil said.

To remedy the problems inherent in the current system, the report makes seven key recommendations for the upcoming budget, including investments in age care, clean energy and public service. It also calls on the Morrison Government to enact measures to arrest the record low wages crisis and the surge in insecure work.

The report also recommends measures aimed at improving gender equality and women’s workforce participation, including free child care, domestic violence leave, and an improved paid parental leave scheme.

“This is a fragile moment for Australia’s recovery,” Ms O’Neil said. “The budget must address inequality and the massive shift of the nation’s prosperity into the hands of a few”.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association will continue to campaign with the ACTU to deliver improved wages and conditions for workers. You can join the Association today here.