❓ The Minister for Health updates the house on negotiations with the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF), announcing an in-principle agreement to call off industrial action following a new offer including nurse-to-patient ratios, a wages offer, and cost-of-living payment.
AnsweredQoN 682Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NURSES —
INDUSTRIAL ACTION
682. Ms C.M. ROWE to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to the McGowan government's commitment to supporting healthcare
workers across our state. Can the minister update the house on the
progress of the negotiations between the state government and the Australian
Nursing Federation in delivering historic nurse-to-patient ratios and a fair
and generous wages offer?
INDUSTRIAL ACTION
682. Ms C.M. ROWE to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to the McGowan government's commitment to supporting healthcare
workers across our state. Can the minister update the house on the
progress of the negotiations between the state government and the Australian
Nursing Federation in delivering historic nurse-to-patient ratios and a fair
and generous wages offer?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Belmont for
the question. I would also like to take the opportunity to personally thank the
WA healthcare workforce for its critical role throughout our state, supporting
our community, and particularly for its lifesaving work during the pandemic.
The whole system has worked together tremendously to support our community through COVID. The state government has
been working closely with the Australian Nursing Federation for some time now, including more recently in the
Industrial Relations Commission. As those negotiations continued , the
government asked the ANF to consider calling off its industrial action so that
we could come to an agreement for nurses.
I am pleased to update the house
that this morning agreement was reached with the ANF to call off all industrial action and to present the state government's
final offer to its membership. This is a new offer, presented this morning and agreed to in principle by the ANF. This is a very good offer. It is an
offer that provides a detailed commitment to
nurse and midwife-to-patient ratios, including babies, to ensure that midwives
can manage their workloads. It is an
offer that provides for a responsible and reasonable wages offer, and
allowances for experienced nurses to support them in the training of new
graduates and, importantly, the $3 000 cost-of-living payment.
These allowances for our more senior
nurses are an important initiative that recognises the mentoring role and the
greater responsibilities of experienced nurses and midwives as we bring new
graduates into our system. This offer will support WA Health to grow our own
and attract and retain experienced nursing staff into our system. This pay offer
is part of the state's wages policy and is one of the most generous in
the nation. The allowances, wages and conditions for Western Australian nurses
are now very competitive with other states and territories. I want to thank the
Australian Nursing Federation and the Department of Health for their work on
coming to this point in the negotiations. I look forward to the membership
ballot outcome and the registration of the new agreement.
the question. I would also like to take the opportunity to personally thank the
WA healthcare workforce for its critical role throughout our state, supporting
our community, and particularly for its lifesaving work during the pandemic.
The whole system has worked together tremendously to support our community through COVID. The state government has
been working closely with the Australian Nursing Federation for some time now, including more recently in the
Industrial Relations Commission. As those negotiations continued , the
government asked the ANF to consider calling off its industrial action so that
we could come to an agreement for nurses.
I am pleased to update the house
that this morning agreement was reached with the ANF to call off all industrial action and to present the state government's
final offer to its membership. This is a new offer, presented this morning and agreed to in principle by the ANF. This is a very good offer. It is an
offer that provides a detailed commitment to
nurse and midwife-to-patient ratios, including babies, to ensure that midwives
can manage their workloads. It is an
offer that provides for a responsible and reasonable wages offer, and
allowances for experienced nurses to support them in the training of new
graduates and, importantly, the $3 000 cost-of-living payment.
These allowances for our more senior
nurses are an important initiative that recognises the mentoring role and the
greater responsibilities of experienced nurses and midwives as we bring new
graduates into our system. This offer will support WA Health to grow our own
and attract and retain experienced nursing staff into our system. This pay offer
is part of the state's wages policy and is one of the most generous in
the nation. The allowances, wages and conditions for Western Australian nurses
are now very competitive with other states and territories. I want to thank the
Australian Nursing Federation and the Department of Health for their work on
coming to this point in the negotiations. I look forward to the membership
ballot outcome and the registration of the new agreement.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.