The NSW Industrial Relations Commission ruled in April that nurses and midwives, working in NSW Health, would receive between 16-28% pay rise over three years.

But many are unhappy with the three-year plan, which the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) says “doesn’t address structural issues and wage reform that’s desperately needed”.  

Viola Morris told Green Left that nurses and midwives would keep fighting for a better deal. She said the highly complex work of these professionals is undervalued.

“NSW nurses and midwives are among the lowest paid across the country, not just in hourly pay rates, but other allowances like night shift loading and overtime rates. Nurses and midwives are highly skilled professionals. The work they do is incredibly complex. It means that many cannot afford not to do overtime.

“Overtime leads to fatigue and is a major contributor to medical errors which impact patient care. Overtime is also linked to increased burn-out.”

Morris said the IRC also decided not to increase sick leave to 20 days, after it was included in the NSW Nurse and Midwives Association claim and leave it at 10 days (teachers receive 15).

“The reason given by the IRC was that unstaffed shifts put too much pressure on wards and leads to burn-out. At the moment, even with overtime, many wards are running with many unfilled shifts. A pay offer which brought nurses and midwives pay in line with other states would lead to fewer nurses and midwives leaving the profession entirely, or moving interstate.”

After Labor took office in 2023, it removed the public sector wages cap. Morris said the NSWNMA took strike action three times in 2024, with more than 50,000 nurses and midwives participating to “attempt to bargain directly with the........

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