Wagga members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association have been calling for better nurse-to-patient ratios. Photo: Shri Gayathirie Rajen.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) has slammed the NSW Treasurer’s third budget for being a “missed opportunity” to tackle the fact NSW nurses are paid less than their counterparts in Victoria and Queensland.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey announced $34 billion in health funding and $3.3 billion in capital investment in the 2025/26 state budget, but no extra funds were allocated to improving the ratios between staff and patients in NSW public hospitals or to grant frontline health staff a pay rise.
NSWNMA General Secretary Shaye Candish said this was unacceptable.
“The Queensland and Victorian governments are investing in nurses and midwives’ wages to help grow their frontline health workforce, yet we are not seeing this long-term planning in NSW,” she said.
“We welcome the additional money that’s been allocated for infrastructure upgrades and hospital redevelopments such as Bankstown and Rouse Hill, but unless the NSW Government is prepared to direct serious funding towards public sector nurses and midwives’ wages, we will remain behind.
“The Special Commission of Inquiry acknowledged nurses and midwives are struggling, and that the state’s public health system is stretched and underfunded, but rather than act with urgency, the government has chosen to leave it for the industrial umpire to decide an outcome.
“Until the government invests in our workforce, more nurses and midwives will continue to flee NSW for better pay and conditions to the north and south.”
Nurses and midwives have taken strike action several times since the NSW Labor Government was elected in 2023, protesting poor pay, conditions and chronic staff shortages.
At a rally late last year, NSWNMA Griffith branch secretary Kristy Wilson said staff were working double shifts and regional hospitals were facing staffing issues.
“We’re very tired, we are working double shifts, we are struggling to recruit; all these things are going to make it so much harder for regional hospitals,” she said.
“We want safe staffing levels, not for us, but for our communities.”
Wagga councillor and nurse educator Karissa Subedi previously warned that the government needed to prioritise its health professionals to avert a crisis and stop staff leaving for other states, after ABC’s flagship investigative program Four Corners highlighted doctors’ warnings that we are witnessing the collapse of the public mental health care system in NSW.
According to NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary Michael Whaites, the $83 million dedicated towards maternity care, including 53 additional midwives for regional areas, could improve access to continuity of care models but better pay and conditions would attract and retain staff.
“Creating additional midwifery positions is important, but we know sites like Tamworth struggle to recruit to existing positions. Unless we close the pay gaps for our nurses and midwives, they’ll struggle to fill the positions,” Mr Whaites said.
“Despite acknowledging the pressures families are under, the Treasurer has focused on private sector investment and capital works over improving the lives of nurses and midwives.
“It’s important to address housing supply and affordability and to ensure there’s new developments for population and productivity growth, but the government also needs to significantly lift its investment in its biggest public sector workforce.
“Money that’s been allocated to better support injured workers is welcome, but we remain opposed to the government’s cruel proposal to stop workers compensation claims for psychological injuries.”
