An overwhelming majority (83 per cent) of Queensland nurses and midwives have voted in favour of a new pay deal with the state government.
Worth $1.8 billion, the agreement will give Queensland’s 57,000 nurses and midwives an 11 per cent wage increase over three years, including a 3 per cent Government Election Commitment uplift in the final year.
These healthcare professionals will also get enhancements to the career structure, such as 14 weeks of paid parental leave and 10 days of domestic violence leave.
In addition, all shift workers will receive nation-first double-time-for-overtime rates.
The bargaining deal ballot closed on Tuesday and followed 10 months of negotiations between the Queensland government and nurses and midwives.
Before the agreement, around 45,000 nurses and midwives had taken part in industrial action with the union initially seeking a 13 per cent pay rise over three years.
The industrial action included nurses and midwives around the state refusing to do tasks that were unrelated to clinical care.
“For months, QNMU members across the state have shown what true collective strength looks like. You’ve attended meetings, shared your stories, undertaken historic industrial action, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder through every stage of this campaign,” the Queensland Nurses & Midwives Union said in a statement to its members.
“The strength of our union comes from you – nurses and midwives united by a shared goal to make healthcare better. You continue to push back against unsafe staffing, you advocate fiercely for your patients, clients, and residents, and you demand the respect our professions deserve.”
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Tim Nicholls said the state’s new pay deal was nation-leading for nurses and midwives.
“The deal has the interests of nurses and midwives working in rural and remote areas at its core, with a commitment to expand the Remote Area Nursing Incentive Package,” Nicholls said.
“Our health workers are critical to healing Labor’s Health Crisis and we have delivered a nation-leading deal for our nurses and midwives, just as we said we would.”
“I’m pleased Queensland Health and the unions worked constructively to reach a deal now agreed to by the workforce which is focused on attracting, retaining, valuing and respecting nurses and midwives.”
The agreement will now go to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) for certification. Once certified, nurses and midwives will receive back pay from 1 April 2025.