For too many nurses, midwives and carers, the idea of owning a home has become increasingly out of reach.

We are hearing from members across the country who cannot afford to live anywhere near their workplace and are spending hours commuting between shifts. Members like NSW EN Talei Williams, who is living pay cheque to pay cheque and has been forced to live with her parents more than an hour from her workplace, with little hope of entering the housing market or affording rent closer to work.

When healthcare workers cannot afford stable housing, when they are carrying growing financial stress on top of already demanding workloads, it contributes directly to burnout, exhaustion and people leaving the professions altogether. At a time when Australia is facing workforce shortages across healthcare and aged care, we simply cannot ignore the growing pressures facing the people we rely on to care for the community. 

The ANMF welcomed the government’s proposed tax reforms in the May Budget, aimed at improving fairness in the housing market. These reforms will not solve the housing crisis overnight, but they are an important acknowledgment that the current system is not working for everyone. Proposed changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax concessions and family trust taxation are intended to help rebalance a system that has increasingly favoured wealth accumulation through property investment over access to affordable housing for working Australians.

Right now, many nurses and midwives are questioning why working people who pay tax on every dollar they earn can face a significantly higher tax burden than wealthy investors able to minimise tax through concessions, offsets and investment structures. For workers already struggling with rising rents and housing insecurity, that imbalance only deepens the sense that the system is stacked against them.

Nurse and Midwives Work Value Case

The ANMF’s landmark application to improve wages and conditions under the federal Nurses Award 2020 continues to move forward through the Fair Work Commission. This important case seeks to address the long-standing undervaluation of nursing and midwifery work by increasing minimum award wages for nurses, midwives and care workers employed outside aged care, while also recognising midwives through a proposed name change to the Nurses and Midwives Award.

This case matters because nursing and midwifery work has changed significantly over recent decades. The complexity, responsibility and skill required of nurses and midwives continues to grow, yet award wages have not kept pace with the realities of modern practice. As nurses and midwives deliver increasingly complex and person-centred care in a wide range of settings, and it is only right that this work is properly recognised and valued.

Importantly, this case has the potential to benefit members working in smaller workplaces not covered by enterprise agreements, including GP clinics, specialist practices, day procedure centres and other private health services. Hearings commenced in Melbourne last month and the ANMF provided a submission and witness statements. We will continue to keep you updated as the matter progresses.

The work of the ANMF remains critical as we continue to advocate for reforms that improve fairness, strengthen workforce retention and properly recognise the vital contribution nurses, midwives and carers make every day. Because the decisions made now will not only shape the future of these professions, but the future of healthcare in Australia itself.

Annie Butler

ANMF, Federal Secretary

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