Nurses and midwives in Victoria are set to receive a 28.4 per cent pay rise over four years in a new pay deal that has ended months of negotiations.
On Wednesday, members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation voted overwhelmingly in favour of the deal. It comes after 51 days of industrial action.
The deal will also see improved working conditions, including an allowance for ward changes, better night shift penalties, a right to disconnect clause, and a reduction of the qualifying period for parental leave from six months to zero.
It comes after nurses and midwives previously rejected an in-principle agreement that had been made by the union and the Allan government.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said her government was “proud” to give nurses and midwives better pay and improved conditions.
“It’s absolutely what they deserve,” Allan said.
“It’s a win for all Victorians, because better paid nurses and midwives means a better health system.
Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas called it “a once-in-a-generation pay increase” and said it would help Victoria strengthen and grow its existing and future workforce.
“We’ll always back our nurses and midwives and the extraordinary work they do to keep each and every one of us healthy and safe,” Thomas said.
In Victoria, as with the rest of Australia, the nursing and midwifery workforce is overwhelmingly dominated by women. The new pay deal comes after the Fair Work Commission (FWC) found that the profession has been historically undervalued based on unfair assumptions about gender.
It will now go to a members’ ballot and need to be approved by the Fair Work Commission.
In 2022, the Victorian government announced it would make the degrees of nursing and midwifery students free, as part of a $270 million initiative. Under the five-year policy, domestic students enrolling in nursing and midwifery courses in 2023 and 2024 would receive a scholarship of up to $16,500 to cover the costs of their course.