Nurses and midwives’ pay held to ransom by Healthscope

ANMF (Vic Branch) has today applied for a protected industrial action ballot order after Healthscope largely rejected ANMF’s latest reasonable enterprise bargaining proposal, which would result in market comparable wages and conditions for nurses and midwives employed in Healthscope’s 13 Victorian facilities. 

ANMF is seeking the following wage increases, over the life of the agreement:

·       1 July 2025 – increase of 4.25%

·       1 October 2025 – increase of 3.5%

·       1 July 2026 – increase of 4%

·       1 July 2027 – increase of 5%

In addition, it appears that Healthscope will now only proceed with finalising the enterprise agreement in a timely way if a new salary packaging clause (which would result in nurses and midwives receiving only a fraction of any benefit) is included in the enterprise agreement. This is despite this matter not being discussed at any stage of negotiations.

This means that improvements to nurses and midwives’ pay and conditions are being held to ransom until they agree that the unprecedented salary packaging arrangements can go ahead.

ANMF members have been asked by Healthscope management to support the creation of a not-for-profit entity – PurposeCo – as a means of keeping as many of Healthscope’s current 37 facilities within the one organisation as possible. If accepted by employees, Healthscope will receive the considerable majority (up to 90 per cent) of staff salary packaging benefits to support operational costs, including servicing corporate debt.

Allowing an employer to use an employee benefit to support the usual costs of business has never been considered in Victoria. ANMF (Vic Branch) has never considered it appropriate to bargain away nurses and midwives’ salary packaging benefit – especially with no guarantee that jobs will be saved and no tangible demonstration of a greater focus on patient care (such as provision of nurse/midwife patient ratios). It is unclear what ANMF members and the community gain in return, particularly given Healthscope have provided no commitments to the continued operation of Victorian facilities.

Healthscope’s rejection of the ANMF proposal means that rates of pay, which are already significantly behind industry standard, will continue to be behind all comparable employers, including St Vincent’s Private Hospitals, St John of God and Epworth (all of which also provide the full benefit of salary packaging) throughout 2025 and 2026, and will be approximately 1 per cent behind by mid-2027.

It will also lock nurses and midwives out of another wage increase until mid-2028, by which point Healthscope rates of pay will be at least 10 per cent less than public sector rates of pay.

ANMF lodged a bargaining dispute with the Fair Work Commission today to gain assistance in the resolution of the enterprise agreement negotiations.

‘It beggars belief that Healthscope think nurses and midwives should be sacrificing their entitlements to help bail them out when they are in financial strife because of the reckless pursuit of profit by private equity. The onus is on Healthscope,’ ANMF (Vic Branch) Secretary Maddy Harradence said.

‘Healthscope nurses and midwives, who keep showing up to work and caring for patients while they face job uncertainty, deserve a fair and reasonable enterprise agreement without having to compromise any entitlement to salary packaging to achieve it. No other Victorian nurse or midwife has been asked to do so.’

 ANMF members have unanimously voted to direct ANMF to the Fair Work Commission to apply for a protected industrial action ballot.