‘Undervalued’ NSW nurses, midwives awarded major pay deal

The agreement provides for a 16 percent increase for registered nurses and midwives, an 18 percent increase for registered nurses and a 28 percent increase for nursing and midwifery assistants over three years.

In a summary of its reasons, the committee said: “historically, the work value of feminised industries such as nursing has been undervalued”.

“The reasons are multi-faceted, but a key reason is that they relate to the exercise of caring or interpersonal skills for which women were considered to have a natural capacity, which resulted in these skills not being explicitly recognised, considered and valued,” the report said.

It also found that wages had not kept pace with inflation and the cost of living in recent years.

But it concluded any pay increase by the NSW government would have to be “debt financed”.

“For every one percent increase in wages, the NSW Government must fund an additional $74.5 million annually.

“These additional costs reduce the NSW Government’s ability to do other things, including funding infrastructure and providing services.”

It said these factors were relevant to the outcome but “do not constitute barriers to appropriate increases”.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) went to committee with the NSW government last year after pay negotiations stalled.

Secretary-General Michael Whaites said the decision was “historic” but did not go far enough.

“Today’s announcement provides a record-breaking pay deal for nurses and midwives in New South Wales. But for registered nurses and midwives, it is not enough to deliver the structural reforms we need in this state,” Whaites said.

“Registered nurses and midwives are the backbone of this workforce.

“They make up the majority of this workforce and we had hoped for a better outcome for them.

“This is a great result for nurses and assistants in nursing and midwifery.

“It recognizes the undervaluation of the work they do and gives them the recognition they rightly deserve.”

But he said the decision had weighed the value of nurses and midwives against the state of the NSW economy.

“During our campaign we heard politician after politician say that they know nurses and midwives are worth more, but we just can’t afford it. And yet today we hear again that registered nurses and midwives should be paid more, but we just can’t afford it.

“This is an outcome that says women’s work must remain undervalued because of the economy – that’s a terrible position for us in 2026.

“We will continue to campaign for our registered nurses and midwives to ensure they are valued for the work they do.”

The Minns government said it welcomed the decision.

“Nurses and midwives are the beating heart of our healthcare workforce and while we recognize this was a hard-fought dispute, we believe this is a fair outcome,” said Treasurer Daniel Mookhey.

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