August 9, 2026

Public Health

What the IRC said about our pay claim

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Three factors underpinned the NSWNMA’s Special Case: the impact of inflation, the changed nature of nurses’ work, and the historical gender-based undervaluation of the nursing and midwifery professions.

The Full Bench of the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) agreed that nurses and midwives deserve a pay increase that recognises three factors: inflation, work value and gender undervaluation. 

They were the basis of the Association’s claim – along with our argument that wages were too low to recruit and retain the workforce needed. 

The Association told the IRC that nurses and midwives deserved a wage increase on cost-of-living grounds. 

We argued that the COVID-19 pandemic had restrained wage increases and fuelled inflation. 

Wages were also deliberately suppressed by the state government’s cap on public sector wages growth between 2011 and 2023. 

In that period the government restricted wage increases to a maximum of 2.5 per cent per year. 

The Association asked the IRC to award a wage increase that restored the real value of wages to pre-2020 levels, provided for real wage growth, and protected the real value of wages in future years. 

In its decision, the IRC agreed that the real value of nurses and midwives wages had fallen since the last time it heard a major case to set their rates of pay. 

 “The extraordinary and unexpected high inflation caused by the COVID-19 crisis provides a proper basis for a one-off reset,” the IRC concluded. 

Work value 

The Association argued a wage increase was also justified because the work done by nurses and midwives had changed since the IRC last examined it. 

The Association said there had been “a tectonic shift” in the complexity, responsibility and level of skill required by nurses and midwives. 

This was due to the continuing transformation of the NSW public health system in response to increased demand, chronic disease, acuity and diversity of patients.  

The IRC noted that the last major arbitration of wage rates in 2002 and 2003 had lifted rates by a combined 9.5 per cent in two stages. 

The combined increase recognised “significant changes to the way that nurses and midwives work in the seven years since their work value had been assessed”. 

The IRC said it was satisfied by the evidence that “since the most recent datum point of 1 July 2009, there has been a further significant change to the way that nurses, midwives and assistants in nursing work.” 

“Given those changes, the work of nurses, midwives and assistants in nursing are currently undervalued and they deserve a one-off increase.” 

Gender undervaluation 

The IRC agreed that, “Historically, the work value of feminised industries such as nursing has been undervalued.”  

“The reasons are multifaceted, but a key reason is that they involve the exercise of caring or interpersonal skills that women were considered to have a natural capacity to perform which led to those skills not being expressly recognised, considered and valued.” 

The IRC noted that in 1990, NSW RNs “were for the first time recognised as professionals and paid accordingly”. 

“That change properly recognised the technical and professional skill of degree-qualified nurses and addressed a significant undervaluation to that point.  

“However, neither then nor before or after, has any work value review expressly considered caring, communication and related interpersonal skills, skills which historically have been overlooked when valuing female-dominated occupations such as nursing (and which are considered ‘invisible skills’ as a result). 

“Against that background, we consider it necessary to address the uncontested expert evidence that nurses and midwives perform invisible skills and that there is (at least) a real possibility that their work is undervalued for gender reasons.” 

The IRC said it was given extensive evidence that established that caring and other interpersonal skills are not only integral to the work of nurses, but of high work value.  

“We have determined to reset pay for nurses and midwives having express regard to those skills.” 

“Further, following findings of the Fair Work Commission at a federal level in respect of gender-based undervaluation of enrolled nurses and assistants in nursing in aged care nursing, those classifications require higher increases than the increases for registered nurses to properly value their work and to ensure they are set at or above the federal minimum pay standard.”

Transferring long service leave accruals

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I currently work for public health and have just been offered employment at the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) in Potts Point. I have heard that even though MSIC is run by Uniting Care, I can transfer my long service leave accruals from my current public health employer. Is this true?

Yes, when Uniting Care first became responsible for the day to day running of MSIC, Uniting and NSW Health agreed that MSIC will come under the umbrella of the War Memorial Hospital Waverly and as War Memorial is a schedule 3 listed facility (as per the Public Health Act 1997) employees of MSIC can transfer their entitlements.

Further information on this can be found in clause 18.1.4 of the Leave Matters Manual (PD2023_045).

Stronger union rights will improve workplace communication

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The introduction of paid time for NSWNMA PHS branch officials will help to keep members informed about vital employment and workplace issues.

Gosford Hospital NSWNMA delegate Deearne Dobson thinks the public health system  interim  pay  and conditions offer was “a good win for everybody”.

“It gets us a 3 per cent interim increase backdated to July 1, while we wait for the result of our special case at the Industrial Relations Commission, where we are seeking a 35 per cent increase over three years,” Deearne said.

“We also get a guaranteed increase in night shift penalty rates, which will make a significant difference to people such as me as I do 50 per cent night shifts.”

Deearne said all four NSWNMA branches on the Central Coast voted to accept the interim offer.

“The vote at Gosford Hospital branch was close while the others – Mental Health, Wyong and Woy Woy Hospitals – voted overwhelmingly in favour.

“I don’t think anyone is 100 per cent happy with the offer the government has put forward, but I think members who voted to accept it considered the information the union put out and decided they wanted the money now.

“Some who voted No may have misunderstood the situation and believed the interim offer was the final deal.

“Others didn’t want to accept the offer believing it just wasn’t enough.

“Our union was happy to act on our vote either way, but ‘accept the offer’ is what the members have voted for.

“Two people told me they voted No ‘because we’re worth so much more’. They had not understood that our special case at the IRC is still going ahead.

20 PER CENT NIGHT PENALTY RATES

“There was also some anger that we were accepting a 20 per cent night penalty rate when some other states get more.

“Yes, some other states do get a higher penalty rate but we are  dealing with NSW politicians not WA politicians.

“We went to the IRC in 2009 with a similar case and got no increase to night penalty rates.”

The interim offer includes an expansion of union rights such as eight hours paid time every two months for branch officials to distribute NSWNMA materials and talk to employees.

Deearne said this would give her and other branch officials more time to meet staff and explain issues face to face, rather than relying solely on written material.

“Most people are really time poor these days,” she said. “Some feel they don’t have the time to read a two-page document even if it directly affects them.

“At present, I can talk to my colleagues that I work alongside but it’s hard for me to get to other areas of the hospital to talk to people.

“Like other branch officials I go in to work on my days off to put up flyers and hand pamphlets around, or I do it before and after my shift.

“Paid time for branch officials will allow us to go around the floor and inform and educate people, which will be invaluable in the future.”

MACARTHUR BRANCH VOTED YES

At Macarthur branch, which covers Campbelltown and Camden hospitals in South Western Sydney Local Health District, almost 70 per cent of members voted to accept the interim offer.

Branch president Nichole Flegg said members saw the increase in night shift penalty rates as an important part of the government’s offer, “once the history of previous claims and the advice from the NSWNMA legal team was explained to members”.

“Most members do some degree of night shift and they were happy with the shift loading going up for the first time since 1972,” she said.

“We would have liked the 30 per cent we asked for but we weren’t guaranteed to get any penalty increase at all out of the IRC, considering the history of our previous claims.”

Nichole said increased union rights such as paid time for branch officials to do union work was a welcome feature of the offer.

“I explained to members that this will allow us branch officials to spend more time explaining issues and getting feedback from them.

“It will be protected time that’s actually going to allow us to get around and see everybody and deal with issues, instead of having to do it in our own time on breaks or days off.

“People understood the value of that improvement, especially when I explained that branch officials normally have to do all union work in our own time.

“I think the protected time being allocated will lead to a better informed and more active branch.”

Nichole said members welcomed the improvements to rostering in the interim offer.

“ The ‘no night shift before annual leave’ provision was a big selling point.

“It has been a common practice for some to be put on night shift the day before they are due to start their annual leave, which means they are actually working into their annual leave.”

Nursing wages must increase – minister

Health Minister Ryan Park has said the state government understands it needs to increase the wages of nurses and midwives. He added that the Industrial Relations Commission’s examination of the gender pay gap is critical to this.

“I want to say this about the interim pay offer and I want to be very explicit about this: it’s an interim pay offer. The government in no way, shape or form is doing some victory lap or patting itself on the back,” Mr Park told the NSWNMA annual conference in October.

“We are not doing that – we understand it is an interim offer. We understand very, very clearly, we need to increase your wages.

“We understand the work that the independent Industrial Relations Commission is doing – particularly from my perspective around the gender pay gap – is absolutely critical.

“So, by no means are you going to see me, [Mental Health] Minister [Rose] Jackson, the premier, or the treasurer do some form of public victory lap about where we are up to at the moment.”

Australians are in more pain – and our new data shows it’s not just due to ageing

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The degree of bodily pain reported by Australians has grown over the last two decades, and this increase cannot be attributed only to an ageing population.

Pain is a serious public health issue and can have devastating consequences for individuals, affecting their ability to have fulfilling relationships, work or look after kids.

The new findings come from the latest Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey Statistical Report, released today. I am part of the team that collects and analyses the data – here’s what we found.

How we measured pain

The HILDA survey has been following the same people every year since 2001, which makes it possible to examine how the lives of Australians have changed across several aspects.

Each year, we survey roughly 16,000 individuals aged 15 and older on various topics, including how often they experience bodily pain, and to what degree it affects their day-to-day life.

In the survey, we used two questions to construct a measure of overall bodily pain.

First, we ask respondents to report how much bodily pain they have had during the past four weeks: no bodily pain, very mild, mild, moderate, severe or very severe.

The second question asks all respondents how much pain interfered with their normal work (including both outside the home and housework) during the same period: not at all, slightly, moderately, quite a bit or extremely.

We then combined the scores from these two questions to form
an overall bodily pain measure ranging from 0 (no bodily pain) to 100 (severe bodily pain). This was the “bodily pain score”.

Gender makes a difference

The new data shows almost 79% of women and 74% of men had experienced at least some physical pain in the previous four weeks.

Women reported more pain than men – and it was more likely to affect their day-to-day activities.

For example, one in four men (26.2%) said they had no pain, compared to one in five women (21.5%).

The proportion of women who rated their pain as “severe” or “very severe” (8%) was also higher than men (5.1%).

The more extreme the pain, the more it restricted general home or work duties. About 2.4% of women and 1.3% of men reported that pain interfered “extremely” with their day-to-day activities.

Age, health and wealth also play a role

As expected, older age groups report more pain than younger people.

Whereas just 3.4% of people aged 25–34 reported that pain interferes “quite a bit” in daily duties, among those aged 65 and older this jumped to 14.6%.

We also found that higher levels of education and income are associated with less pain.

In terms of occupation, bodily pain tended to be most severe among labourers, followed by machinery operators and drivers.

The least pain was reported by those who worked as managers or professionals.

Pain is also much worse among people with a chronic health condition, including diabetes, arthritis and any type of cancer.

Health behaviours matter as well. For example, smokers report greater pain than non-smokers.

Pain is increasing

Most striking is the rising trend in average bodily pain over the past two decades. This increase is consistent with a rising prevalence of pain globally.

Age is strongly linked to the development of chronic conditions. So, one main reason why pain increases over time is due to population ageing.

But even after adjusting for population ageing, we found reported bodily pain increased by about 5.6% among women and 4.8% among men between 2001 and 2023. This suggests other factors may be behind the rise in pain.

So, what are some of these factors?

Evidence suggests people have become more likely to report that they have pain.

But there is also a growing prevalence of chronic conditions in Australia, which are strongly linked to pain. Obesity rates have also increased, and we know obesity can increase physical pain, for example by putting more stress on joints.

However, we still need more research to understand what is driving the increase in pain, and how it affects different groups.

The impact of pain

Pain can have a devastating effect on wellbeing and quality of life, with serious flow-on effects. For example, people who experience significant pain are more likely to lose their jobs.

Our analysis can’t establish causal relationships. But it does reveal that those who experience severe bodily pain also report substantially worse mental health and lower life satisfaction.

Given these debilitating personal impacts of severe bodily pain – and the costs it puts on our health-care system and economy – reversing the rising trend in pain is imperative.The Conversation

Ferdi Botha, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Impacts of racism in health and aged care workplaces exposed

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Racism experienced by nurses, midwives and carers in the workplace has been uncovered in a damning report released by the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA).

More than 3,200 NSWNMA members took part in a survey from across all sectors and health settings including public health, private hospitals and aged care.

The survey found 64% of nurses, midwives and carers had been a direct victim of racism at work, while almost three quarters of respondents believed racism existed in their workplace. The main forms of racism were racial bias, stereotyping and gaslighting

According to the survey findings, 88% of nurses, midwives and carers who reported an incident of racism received no support, while 73% didn’t report it to management at all due to a lack of confidence in the system.

NSWNMA General Secretary, Shaye Candish, said the report revealed that systemic racism was rife in the workplace.

“We have a shared duty to address racism and chart a positive path forward for all communities. It’s heartbreaking so many of our members are experiencing racism, and this survey highlights the profound impact racial discrimination has had on their mental, emotional and physical wellbeing,” said Ms Candish.

“The survey reveals the negative personal and financial impact racism has had on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and those from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds, with respondents missing thousands of days in work combined as a direct result of racism.

“With half saying they felt unsafe to report or intervene, primarily due to fear of repercussion and self-preservation, we need to strengthen bystander education and remove barriers to reporting racism. We are calling for bystander education programs to be rolled out in all healthcare workplaces to equip staff with the skills and confidence to step in when acts of racism occur.”

Along with ensuring all staff complete bystander action education, the report makes eight recommendations including:

  • Prioritise elimination of institutional racism by implementing policies that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion
  • Policies and training on incident reporting to ensure workers are knowledgeable about, and supported to, report psychosocial hazards including racism
  • Anti-racism framework co-designed with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander workers
  • Employers implement and monitor the effectiveness of co-designed anti-racism training
  • Systems be implemented to assess and report on the personal and fiscal impacts of racism on workers and the workplace.

NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary, Michael Whaites, said the survey results showed urgent improvements were needed in racism education to ensure all workers were safe at work.

“Employers have a responsibility to create a safe working environment for all employees and employees have an obligation to ensure that they do not contribute to an unsafe workplace through acts of discrimination,” said Mr Whaites.

“It’s alarming how many members said they didn’t receive support after reporting an incident, that their cases were poorly managed, ignored or trivialised. For some respondents that meant leaving their job, or their profession entirely, because of the lack of action to address racial abuse and discrimination.

“We hope that by working in collaboration with the Australian Human Rights Commission, employers and government we can bring about meaningful change for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and those from other racially marginalised communities by finding permanent and scalable solutions to mitigate racism in health and aged care workplaces.”

A new initiative between the NSWNMA and the Australian Human Rights Commission is being established to collaborate on improvements to racism education and reporting.

“The very positive news is that today key stakeholders including the Association, the Human Rights Commission and employers from public, private and aged care are coming together in a closed meeting to look at how we can work together to create safer workplaces. This continues the work of removing racism from our workplaces,” said Mr Whaites.

Race Discrimination Commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, said nurses and midwives deserved to be treated with respect and dignity.

“This report is yet another example of how racism is a public health emergency that must be met with the same urgency and seriousness as any other threat to life. We need the federal and state governments to commit to the health-based recommendations in the National Anti-Racism Framework,” said Sivaraman.

A copy of the Standing Together Against Racism report is available here.

Unions and governments seek stability during Healthscope’s administration

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The interests of patients and staff are paramount in the period leading to the sale of the troubled company.

The NSWNMA and the ANMF have been in regular contact with Healthscope management and the NSW and federal governments to advocate on behalf of our members since the private hospital operator’s parent companies went into receivership, says NSWNMA General Secretary Shaye Candish.

“We’ve spoken with the state government about the potential impact on the public-private partnership at Northern Beaches Hospital.

“Separately, we have also held talks with the federal health minister, Mark Butler. He has told Healthscope administrators they must do the right thing by the community, nurses and midwives. We welcome this support,” she said.

“We will continue to hold regular meetings with the federal health minister during this process. We’re also coordinating our efforts on behalf of nurses and midwives with other unions representing non-nursing/midwifery employees as part of an Australian Council of Trade Unions affiliates group, and this is central to our advocacy efforts.”

Healthscope’s parent companies went into receivership on May 26 after accumulating $1.6 billion in debt and defaulting on its lease payments.

“This is the outcome of a series of poor financial decisions by the previous owners, Brookfield. Instead of investing in the company to ensure it could provide quality patient care for the community in the long-term, Brookfield decided to strip Healthscope of its key assets by selling off its hospitals and entering lease agreements with the new owners,” Shaye said.

“This is a typical strategy that private equity firms like Brookfield use when ‘investing’ in healthcare – they want to secure short-term gains for their investors.”

Shaye said the union was focused on supporting our members during this uncertain time.

It had prepared resources to answer members’ numerous questions, had conducted several webinars and had prepared services for members to access if they were anxious or stressed by the insecurity surrounding the company.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the company had adequate funds to maintain operations during the administration process leading to a sale and he expected “that the interests of patients and hard-working staff will be the highest priority through this process”.

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