Policies and goals
What we will actually do.
This is the whole platform, from the changes we can make inside twelve months to the longer fights that will take a full term and a friendly government to win. We would rather be judged on a plan you can actually check than on a slogan that asks you to take us on faith.
On this page
01
Our first year
Five things we can deliver inside twelve months.
02A union that answers to members
Fees, affiliations, transparency and internal reform.
03The NSW state election
Pay, salary packaging and safe staffing levels.
04Equity, safety and respect
First Nations health, racism at work, and childcare.
05AHPRA and registration
Where we think the regulator has overreached.
01
Our first year
Five commitments we believe are achievable within twelve months, without waiting on any government.
01One organiser in every Local Health District+
At least one organiser per Local Health District. This is achievable by changing the internal structures of the union and directing resources towards members on the ground.
02Increase WHS officers by at least 50 per cent+
The NSWNMA currently has four Work Health and Safety officers. We will increase that number by at least half, and focus on safety in health care from day one through targeted, on the ground campaigns run with members.
03Increased responsiveness+
We will review our first lines of contact to ensure the response rate to members is increased, especially for those going through a sudden issue who need support as soon as possible.
04Payslip checks on site+
We will run a campaign of union staff attending workplaces to check payslips and confirm every allowance is being paid correctly. This will extend to aged care facilities and private hospitals, with the NSWNMA reading across agreements to verify members are paid what they are owed.
05Review every affiliate membership+
We will review all NSWNMA affiliate memberships to ensure member fees are not funding political organisations or overseas associations that deliver no direct benefit to nurses, midwives and carers.
02
A union that answers to members
Members fund this union. These are the changes that put them back at the centre of it.
01Part time membership fees+
We will explore the viability of introducing part time membership fees, as is already done in other states, so that what a member pays better reflects the hours they actually work.
02A full review of union affiliations+
The NSWNMA currently spends members' funds on affiliation fees to a range of organisations. If elected, we will conduct a comprehensive review of every organisation the NSWNMA is affiliated with, to ensure those memberships deliver a clear and measurable benefit to nurses, midwives, carers and our patients.
Members deserve to know how their fees are being spent. We will improve transparency by clearly reporting what affiliations cost and what value they return to the membership.
We believe members' funds should be directed towards advancing the industrial, professional and workplace interests of nurses, midwives and carers. We will not support the use of members' funds for political donations or political events.
Members deserve to know how their fees are being spent. We will improve transparency by clearly reporting what affiliations cost and what value they return to the membership.
We believe members' funds should be directed towards advancing the industrial, professional and workplace interests of nurses, midwives and carers. We will not support the use of members' funds for political donations or political events.
03Staff excluded from leadership elections+
We will remove the ability of NSWNMA staff to donate to union leadership election campaigns. We believe staff employed by the NSWNMA should be entirely uninvolved in leadership elections, and we will write that exclusion into the rules.
04The President role returns to a non salaried position+
The role of President will return to the same remuneration package it held historically. Under the NSWNMA Rules, the President's role is essentially to preside over Annual Conference, Council and Committee of Delegates meetings, to hold the presiding vote where required, and to act as a conduit between members, delegates, Councillors and the leadership. There is minimal evidence to support the current level of remuneration for that role.
05Preference for nurses and midwives in NSWNMA jobs+
Preference will be given to job candidates with a background in nursing or midwifery, rather than treating it as merely desirable. Advertisements should say plainly that the NSWNMA is looking for someone with a nursing or midwifery background, and that the role is well suited to someone from the professions it represents.
03
The NSW state election
There is a state election coming, and it matters which priorities the NSWNMA carries into it.
We have begun setting meeting times with the National Party and the Greens, and will be reaching out to every party to discuss how these policies can help retain nurses and midwives in NSW.
01100 per cent of salary packaging benefits+
We will lobby all political parties to ensure that 100 per cent of the financial benefit of salary packaging is passed on to NSW Health nurses and midwives, rather than a portion being retained by Local Health Districts.
Nurses and midwives should receive the full value of the salary packaging available to them. We will advocate for a fair and transparent system that maximises the benefit to frontline health workers.
We will campaign for NSW nurses and midwives to receive the same level of salary packaging benefit already available to many other healthcare workers in NSW, and to nurses and midwives in other Australian states.
Nurses and midwives should receive the full value of the salary packaging available to them. We will advocate for a fair and transparent system that maximises the benefit to frontline health workers.
We will campaign for NSW nurses and midwives to receive the same level of salary packaging benefit already available to many other healthcare workers in NSW, and to nurses and midwives in other Australian states.
02Cost of Living Adjustments when pay falls behind+
We will pursue Cost of Living Adjustments whenever wage increases negotiated by the NSWNMA fall below the Consumer Price Index.
A COLA payment is not a permanent wage increase and does not compound into future salary rates. It is a one off payment designed to offset the loss of purchasing power when a wage increase fails to keep pace with inflation.
No nurse or midwife should be worse off because their wages have fallen behind the cost of living. We will advocate for COLA payments to protect members' incomes through periods of high inflation.
A COLA payment is not a permanent wage increase and does not compound into future salary rates. It is a one off payment designed to offset the loss of purchasing power when a wage increase fails to keep pace with inflation.
No nurse or midwife should be worse off because their wages have fallen behind the cost of living. We will advocate for COLA payments to protect members' incomes through periods of high inflation.
03Full implementation of Safe Staffing Levels+
The NSW ALP promised Safe Staffing Levels that would be mandated, applied shift by shift, and populated with nurses and midwives. The rollout has been extremely slow, and we believe it has been hampered by the low pay of NSW nurses and midwives. We will fight any watering down of the ratios that were promised, and hold the government to account where a hospital is not compliant.
From the 2024 ratios claim the NSW ALP undertook to adopt: the government committed to deliver 2,480 Full Time Equivalent positions in public hospitals. As that reform progresses, further FTE positions are needed to achieve full implementation across the five agreed clinical areas: Emergency Departments, Intensive Care Units, Maternity (including a review of Birthrate Plus and 1:3 in postnatal wards), Multi Purpose Services, and converting Nursing Hours Per Patient Day wards and units to a shift by shift system.
Under the current rollout, Assistants in Nursing or Midwifery cannot be introduced into a staffing profile where they do not already exist unless the NSWNMA is consulted, and the number per shift counting towards the ratio is limited. Our claim for AiNs to be supernumerary remains. The government should fund this workforce initiative within this term so that NSW is competitive nationally on workloads.
Read the 2024 ratios claim to government
From the 2024 ratios claim the NSW ALP undertook to adopt: the government committed to deliver 2,480 Full Time Equivalent positions in public hospitals. As that reform progresses, further FTE positions are needed to achieve full implementation across the five agreed clinical areas: Emergency Departments, Intensive Care Units, Maternity (including a review of Birthrate Plus and 1:3 in postnatal wards), Multi Purpose Services, and converting Nursing Hours Per Patient Day wards and units to a shift by shift system.
Under the current rollout, Assistants in Nursing or Midwifery cannot be introduced into a staffing profile where they do not already exist unless the NSWNMA is consulted, and the number per shift counting towards the ratio is limited. Our claim for AiNs to be supernumerary remains. The government should fund this workforce initiative within this term so that NSW is competitive nationally on workloads.
Read the 2024 ratios claim to government
04
Equity, safety and respect
Who gets good care, and who gets to work safely, are the same question.
01Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health care+
We believe the gap in health outcomes will continue to widen as regional and remote health services close, particularly in communities with large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. We are also concerned by the reduction and privatisation of services designed specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
When a model of care is being discussed in NSW, in any sector, best practice means an Aboriginal person elected to represent their community, generally an Elder or culturally important person, is invited to take part in those discussions and speak to what is best for the communities that model of care will affect.
Nurses and midwives working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services are well placed to see these changes coming, and should advocate for a model built on self determination, so that NSWNMA resources are prioritised towards addressing health disparities in line with Closing the Gap. Those same nurses and midwives are also best placed to report on and advocate for Closing the Gap efforts in their region, and to inform the elected Elders and culturally important people at those meetings.
When services are reduced or withdrawn from regional and remote communities, the people who rely on them face even greater barriers to care, which further entrenches health inequity. We are committed to advocating against those cuts, and to equitable access to quality health care for every community.
We also believe lasting improvement in health outcomes will only be achieved by supporting the self determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and ensuring they hold the authority and the resources to shape the services that affect their communities.
When a model of care is being discussed in NSW, in any sector, best practice means an Aboriginal person elected to represent their community, generally an Elder or culturally important person, is invited to take part in those discussions and speak to what is best for the communities that model of care will affect.
Nurses and midwives working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services are well placed to see these changes coming, and should advocate for a model built on self determination, so that NSWNMA resources are prioritised towards addressing health disparities in line with Closing the Gap. Those same nurses and midwives are also best placed to report on and advocate for Closing the Gap efforts in their region, and to inform the elected Elders and culturally important people at those meetings.
When services are reduced or withdrawn from regional and remote communities, the people who rely on them face even greater barriers to care, which further entrenches health inequity. We are committed to advocating against those cuts, and to equitable access to quality health care for every community.
We also believe lasting improvement in health outcomes will only be achieved by supporting the self determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and ensuring they hold the authority and the resources to shape the services that affect their communities.
02Racism is a work health and safety hazard+
Two thirds of culturally and linguistically diverse nurses and midwives working in NSW have experienced hate speech in the last six months, according to the NSWNMA occupational violence report. That same report shows CALD nurses and midwives are less likely to report violence in the workplace.
Racism is a hazard to the health and safety of members, and the NSWNMA will treat it as one.
Racism is a hazard to the health and safety of members, and the NSWNMA will treat it as one.
03Childcare in new public hospital builds+
We will lobby governments to include childcare centres in new public hospital builds. Nursing and midwifery are female dominated workforces, and the barriers to re entering the professions need to be removed, not tolerated.
05
AHPRA and registration
We disagree with AHPRA's overreach on a range of issues, and with a registration process that quietly costs members hours and thousands of dollars.
01The IHRA definition of antisemitism+
We do not support AHPRA's adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism. We support the position of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, which has stated the definition can be used to silence Australian healthcare workers, and conflates legitimate, lawful criticism of the State of Israel with antisemitism. Our concern is that it will lead to more vexatious complaints against Australian healthcare workers.
02A review of how complaints are handled+
AHPRA should undertake a review of how all complaints are handled. Nurses and midwives report the complaints process being used to bully and harass healthcare workers, including cases where it has been weaponised by perpetrators of domestic violence.
03A registration process that respects your time+
We will lobby AHPRA for a more user friendly registration process. Nurses and midwives lose valuable hours to registration every single year, and that is not acceptable.
04Re registration after a career break+
AHPRA should make it easier for nurses and midwives to re register after a lapse of between five and fifteen years. That process can currently cost close to $20,000, which puts experienced clinicians permanently out of the workforce.
05Recency of practice requirements+
The current requirement is 450 hours over three years, or 150 hours in the preceding twelve months. We suggest reverting to 450 hours over five years. Recency of practice commonly lapses during periods of parenting, ill health, or burnout, and AHPRA should be finding evidence based ways to remove barriers to nurses and midwives keeping their registration.
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