Australia’s largest union has taken a major step towards securing long-overdue pay rises for hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers, commencing its landmark Nurses and Midwives Work Value Case before the Fair Work Commission (FWC) in Melbourne.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) is seeking significant wage increases for nurses, midwives and assistants in nursing (AINs) to recognise the true value of the work they perform across the Australian healthcare system. The hearing is scheduled to run over five days before an Expert Panel of the FWC.
The case builds on the ANMF’s earlier Aged Care Work Value Case, which resulted in nurses and personal care workers in aged care receiving minimum award rate increases of between 15 and 30 per cent. The federation has committed to ensuring those same increases apply to all nurses, midwives and AINs regardless of their work setting.
The ANMF argues that current wage rates under the Nurses Award 2020 no longer reflect the true value, complexity and responsibility of nursing and midwifery work, and is seeking increases for all covered workers employed outside the aged care sector.
Federal Secretary Annie Butler said the case rests on the basis that nursing and midwifery work has been undervalued for many decades.
“We look forward to ANMF members from across the country and a wide range of health settings providing evidence about their changing work,” Ms Butler said. “From our perspective, this will demonstrate that nursing, midwifery and care work has become more complex and requires higher levels of responsibility and skill than previously.”
Central to the case is the argument that nursing skills have long been mischaracterised as innate female qualities rather than genuine professional competencies, a perception that has shaped wage-setting in female-dominated industries for generations.
“This landmark case will address the long-standing set of assumptions that have shaped wage setting in female dominated industries for far too long,” Ms Butler said.
The ANMF also contends that the demands of nursing and midwifery work have grown and intensified over the years, without wages keeping pace.
“The work of nurses and midwives has grown and intensified over the years, yet their wages have failed to keep pace and simply do not recognise the true value of the care they deliver,” Ms Butler said. “The nature, skill and responsibility required to perform nursing and midwifery work in modern health settings certainly justifies increases to award wages.”
Beyond wages, the case also seeks to reform the award’s classification structure to better reflect work value and support career progression. The ANMF is additionally seeking a name change to the award, from the Nurses Award to the Nurses and Midwives Award, in formal recognition that it covers midwives.
Ms Butler said the federation was proud to be running the case on behalf of its members.
“The uplift of award wages will play a significant part in lifting wages for all nurses, midwives and AINs, together with overcoming the impact of historical gender-based undervaluation of nursing and care work,” she said.
