I am a public sector Clinical Nurse Consultant Grade 2. Management have indicated that they are considering downgrading my position to a Clinical Nurse Specialist Grade 2 on the basis that the position does not fulfill all the domains under IB2024_009 List of Domains and Functions for Clinical Nurses and Midwives. Is my manager correct?

Your manager is wrong. Some history is required to explain the domains. The Clinical Nurse/Midwife Consultant position was first created in 1985. It was a single grade. Around 2000, the Clinical Nurse/Midwife Consultant position was expanded from one single grade to three grades. To grade a particular position, NSW Health and the Association created the domains, as a way to differentiate the grades from each other by looking at where the majority of functions fell in a particular position.  The latest version of the policy is now found in IB2024_009. This policy states:

The domains / functions have been selected to differentiate between the grades of CNC/CMC and are not intended to describe the whole range of functions undertaken by CNC/CMC.

In the original policy when the Clinical Nurse/Midwife Consultant grades expanded and NSW Health and NSWNMA were educating the workforce about the positions, Circular 2000/1 (the predecessor of the current policy) explicitly identifies the position of NSW Health and NSWNMA:

“It is acknowledged … that not all functions listed at higher grades are necessarily required for the Area Health Service to establish a higher-grade Clinical Nurse Consultant position.
When determining the grade of a Clinical Nurse Consultant position to be established, the Area Health Service should clearly establish its requirements and then have due regard to the level that contains the majority of functions listed in the domains”