
ANMF members the statewide public sector EBA meeting in Melbourne, 21 March 2024. Photo: Christopher Hopkins
In early 2024, ANMF (Vic Branch) reached a remarkable milestone with membership surpassing 100,000 nurses, midwives and personal care workers. By the end of the year, that number had increased to over 105,000 members.
As a member of the largest branch of the largest union in the country, you have extraordinary power. It is your strength in numbers that provides this power and helps us – and you – to achieve extraordinary outcomes for Victoria’s nurses, midwives and carers.
Outcomes like the historic 28.4 per cent (compounded) public sector pay increased achieved in mid-2024.
The year had its fair share of far less welcome moments, of course, but the strong solidarity of a united membership working towards the same goal ensured that 2024 had plenty of wins worth celebrating. Below are some key events and highlights (and some lowlights).
End of an era
The year began under a dark cloud for the ANMF (Vic Branch), however, with staff – and many members – reeling from the unexpected death in December 2023 of Brendan Soraghan. Brendan was a longtime industrial officer with the Branch; a much-loved and respected friend, colleague, comrade, leader, teacher and mentor to many ANMF staff.
For 27 years, Brendan supported countless members individually as well as collectively at the bargaining table – he was a highly-skilled negotiator working to improve the wages and conditions of ANMF members, and as a strategist he was integral to countless successful enterprise bargaining campaigns.
He was also Branch Secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick’s husband, and father to their children.

ANMF (Vic Branch) Industrial Officer Brendan Soraghan
In December 2024, Lisa announced that she will not contest the 2025 Branch election. Lisa has represented members as Branch Secretary since 2001, and has lived and breathed ANMF since she became a Job Rep as a Prince Henry’s nurse in 1982. Her current term, and tenure, as Secretary finishes on 30 November 2025.
Also announcing his retirement in the closing days of 2024 was Assistant Secretary Paul Gilbert. Paul was an enrolled nurse at Bendigo Health when he became an ANMF Job Rep in 1989. He joined the Branch as an Organiser in 1991. He completed industrial relations postgraduate studies and was appointed Senior Industrial Officer in 2005. He was elected to the Assistant Secretary position in 2009.
Longer term members will understand and have witnessed Paul being the mastermind behind many industrial and EBA wins and he has devoted his career to improving the working lives of nurses, midwives and carers. Paul will finish with the Branch in late February 2025.
2024 also saw the end of a different, but related, era with the May retirement of longtime ANMF (Vic Branch) legal counsel Philip Gardner. An industrial lawyer acting for the Branch over three decades, and involved with the union over four, Philip was instrumental in – among many other things – the passage of the Safe Patient Care Act as well as the more recent acceptance by the Fair Work Commission of the argument that nurses’ work was undervalued for gender-based reasons.
In our EBA era
The first half of 2024 was dominated by negotiations for the public sector EBA, and the 51 days of protected industrial action that members took in order to help secure an historic 28.4% (compounded) wage increase over four years, plus more than 70 improvements to allowances, penalties and terms and conditions.
The negotiations were some of the most complex in the Branch’s history, and the campaign was, at times, extremely gruelling. There were some very tough weeks experienced, both by staff and by members.
After rejecting an offer on 17 May a further statewide meeting on Wednesday 26 June saw members vote overwhelmingly to endorse the government offer, and when it was put to all public sector nurses and midwives for a formal vote in September, the result was an overwhelming 99.5 per cent YES.

Wangaratta members at the 26 June 2024 statewide meeting celebrate the historic public sector offer. Photographer: Natalie Ord
Perhaps inspired by their public sector colleagues’ campaign success, during the second half of the year many private and not-for-profit sector members voted to take protected industrial action in support of claims for their EBAs.
Through July and August, almost 1800 members at Bolton Clarke stood firm for 64 days of protected industrial action, loudly and publicly telling their employer that its zero per cent, then two per cent, then three per cent offers were unacceptable. The new Bolton Clarke EBA, endorsed by members on 16 September and approved by the Fair Work Commission on 29 November, now contains starting rates of pay, wage increases and allowances which are at, or exceed, industry standards.
In August and September, maternal and child health and immunisation nurses at City of Boroondara took 33 days of industrial action to achieve an acceptable EBA offer from their employer.
By October, members at Churches of Christ aged care were taking protected industrial action, and in November they were joined by nurses at Healthe Care, and nurses and midwives at St Vincent’s Private Hospitals.
This was the first time in ANMF history that members in these workplaces had ever taken industrial action.
Churches of Christ and Healthe Care members voted just before Christmas to approve their employers’ new offers. The St Vincent’s Private campaign is ongoing at the time of publication.

Members from St Vincent’s Private Hospitals stopped work in November as part of their campaign for improved staffing levels. Photo: Penny Stephens
Midwifery
Despite ongoing challenges within the sector, it was a big year for Victoria’s midwives, especially in the second half.
In June, of course, the Branch finalised a new public sector EBA, with midwifery-specific wins including the sole midwife allowance and the endorsed midwives allowance.
The $58.10 per shift sole midwife allowance, which is backdated to 1 May 2024, is payable to a midwife if they are the sole midwife working on the maternity services ward. This new allowance recognises the clinical accountability and autonomy of the sole midwife role.
The endorsed midwives allowance, aligned to the graduate diploma qualification allowance, is paid on all hours, including overtime and leave entitlements, and it is payable in addition to any existing qualification allowance.
Endorsed midwives scored another big win in September with the removal of the formulary. For over a decade, Victoria was one of the only states that limited endorsed midwives to prescribing via an outdated, restrictive formulary that no longer conformed to best practice or new evidence. Its removal was game changing.
Endorsed midwives – alongside nurse practitioners – scored yet another win with the November scrapping of requirement for a ‘collaborative arrangement’ with a medical practitioner. The amendments removed the outdated and restrictive barriers that prevented endorsed midwives and nurse practitioners from working to their full scope of practice.

Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney announcing the removal of the ‘collaborative arrangement’ model for NPs and EMs, as Health Minister Mark Butler, ANMF (Vic Branch) Secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick and nurses and midwives look on. 30 October 2024
In October, the Branch welcomed the Allan Government’s decision to establish the Victorian Maternity Taskforce to focus on the challenges in our maternity and newborn services. The Branch Maternity Services Officer Nicole Allan sits on this taskforce.
After being promised by the Andrews Government in 2022, the neonatal / postnatal support nurse trial finally began towards the end of 2024.
The two-year pilot program places a dedicated RN on each postnatal/antenatal ward on all shifts, above ratios, in the three trial maternity services: Western Health Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s, University Hospital Geelong and Werribee Mercy. This RN is to support the work of a neonate requiring clinical care and to assist with care of the post-surgical workload of caesarian birth women.
Women’s pain
In March, the Branch welcomed the Allan Government’s decision to hold a landmark inquiry into women’s pain.
The Branch surveyed members to ensure their voices informed our submission. Almost 800 responses were received in just four days, with responses and feedback overwhelmingly supporting the existing evidence that chronic pain affects a higher proportion of girls and women than men, but that women are less likely to receive appropriate treatment for it.
In September, Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas announced the preliminary findings of the inquiry – among them, that:
- nurses made up the majority of healthcare workers who participated
- those nurses’ professional observations included that treating practitioners’ lack of knowledge about women’s health was the biggest barrier to care for many of their patients.
Presenting the findings to members in November at the Branch’s inaugural Women’s Pain Matters forum, Safer Care Victoria’s Dr Louise Reynolds said that the report (due in February or March 2025) would outline four key areas for recommendations: improved models of care, policy, research, and education.
Education was also the key theme that emerged across the forum – from speakers and attendees. The resounding message of the day was that more comprehensive women’s health education is required in all spheres of healthcare, and across all facets of society.
The Inquiry’s final report and recommendations is due in early 2025.

Attendees at the Women’s Pain Matters: Rethinking Care forum. Photo: Penny Stephens
Mental health nursing
While the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act came into force in September 2023, one of its many significant changes – regulation of restrictive interventions – was not fully enforced until April 2024, when regulation in emergency departments and urgent care centres of designated mental health services began, aligning legislation on restrictive interventions in these settings with the rest of Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing system.
Under the Act, the use of all restrictive interventions – bodily restraint, chemical restraint and seclusion – are now reportable to the Chief Psychiatrist.
Due to a quirk of history, Victoria is the only state or territory that has separate EBAs for nurses in public health services and public mental health services. This situation is often frustrating for mental health members. It’s further complicated by the fact that the public sector mental health agreement also covers all other employees in these services – including allied health and admin.
In 2024, bargaining for the public mental health agreement began in July, and with the EBA expiring on 31 December with an inadequate first offer from government being rejected, the year closed with mental health members resolving to apply for a protected industrial action ballot to progress their claims – including maintaining wage and allowance parity with general public sector nurses and midwives.

ANMF (Vic Branch) mental health nursing officer Jade Chandler, industrial officer Rima Niroumand and assistant secretary Madeleine Harradence taking questions at the December 2024 public sector mental health members EBA meeting. Photo: Paul Jeffers
Mental health support for nurses and midwives
Following the long-standing success of the Nursing and Midwifery Health Program Victoria (NMHPV), the service went national in 2024. The launch of the Nurse and Midwife Health Program Australia in May was a resounding testament to the critical role and vision of the Victorian service, which has provided free, confidential and independent support to the nurses and midwives of this state for almost two decades.
ANMF (Vic Branch) worked with the then Nurses Board of Victoria to establish the independent service in 2006 and has enjoyed a close working relationship with the service ever since. It was with sadness, then, that we learned of the retirement of longtime NMHPV CEO Glenn Taylor in late 2024. The Branch is extremely grateful to Glenn for all his work over the years supporting Victoria’s nurses and midwives.
An example of the positive working relationship between ANMF and the NMHPV is the Take a Minute (TAM) card released by the Branch in January 2024. The brainchild of member Sinéad O’Flaherty, the TAM card was born when Sinéad, an ICU nurse, was suffering burn out but didn’t know where to find the support she needed.
Her idea – a licence-sized card for your lanyard, containing relevant mental health tips and contacts – was initially prototyped at her hospital, where it was enthusiastically received. When her story reached ANMF we were so impressed that, with the help of NMHPV, we worked with Sinéad to produce enough cards for every ANMF member in the state!

Sinéad O’Flaherty shows off the Take a Minute card. Photo: Christopher Hopkins
Aged care
In March, the Fair Work Commission handed down its final decision in Stage 3 of the ANMF’s Aged Care Work Value Case. This decision was more complex than Stage 2 (which saw all direct-care nurse and carer Award rates increased by 15 per cent) but it contained substantial increases of a further 6.96 to 7.5 per cent in award rates for personal carers.
A decision on aged care award rate increases and classification structure for nurses was deferred, however. When that decision finally came, in December, it was . The ANMF was disappointed by the Commission’s decision to set the graduate Award RN level 1 pay point in the Award at 95 per cent of the benchmark rate, which is an RN Level 1 pay point 2, set at $1525.90.
OF most concern is the Commission’s decision in relation to the enrolled nursing structure in the Award, which will now provide only one classification level. Importantly the Award is the minimum safety net only and Victorian Aged Care nurses and carers are almost all covered by more comprehensive EBAs.
Speaking of enrolled nurses in aged care, in May the federal government announced that ENs would be recognised for delivering 10 per cent of care minute targets mandated for delivery by registered nurses. While the change showed the government was in part listening to nurses’ and carers’ concerns ANMF is of the view that the 10 per cent figure does not adequately reflect the reality of the EN nursing workforce in aged care.
Likewise, the November passage of the federal government’s Aged Care Act 2024 ensured some long-overdue improvement over the existing Aged Care Act 1997, but the ANMF was disappointed that it ultimately missed the opportunity to embed meaningful and substantive change in the aged care sector, particularly in relation to workforce and provider accountability.
Nurses Award
In February, the ANMF made another application to the Fair Work Commission, to increase the Nurses Award (as opposed to the Aged Care Nurses Award) by 35 per cent. The outcome of this case – which is ongoing – has the potential to increase pay rates for members employed under the Award in a range of smaller workplaces including GP medical and specialist clinics, small day procedure and endoscopy centres, some private drug and alcohol services, cosmetic surgery services and some private at-home dialysis services.
A positive outcome would also mean a higher safety net minimum for some EBAs.
Sustainability and reconciliation
Coming off the back of ANMF House winning a major sustainability award at the Victorian architecture awards, the Branch continued to be a leader in sustainability space in 2024 with, for example, our 2024–2029 Environmental Management Plan committing ANMF to net zero emissions by 2035 – 15 years ahead of national targets.

ANMF House 240-248 Victoria Street, Melbourne. Photograph by Christopher Hopkins
Among the many significant achievements of the public sector EBA was the inclusion of a climate change mitigation and sustainability clause which acknowledges that climate change affects the health and wellbeing of Victorians, and includes an obligation on employers to encourage up to two employees per ward or unit to become a sustainability nurse/midwife, with time release to participate in sustainability activities.
Already a patron of Medical Pantry, in 2024 the Branch also became an Education Partner of the service. Medical Pantry salvage medical stock in Victoria to avoid it going to landfill. About 90 per cent of what they salvage is unopened and unexpired. As an Education Partner, ANMF’s Education Centre is now able to obtain items from Medical Pantry for our training school. This not only helps reduce medical waste, it saves the Branch and its members tens of thousands of dollars a year.
The Branch’s Environmental Health Officer has continued to work with various government bodies to progress sustainability projects and policies. This has included working with:
- the EPA to ensure members are provided with appropriate disposal bins for pharmaceutical waste
- the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation to ensure that the healthcare industry is included in planned national packaging and stewardship reforms
- Climate Health Victoria on various projects including developing guidance for health services to better understand and manage climate risk and a climate risk assessment for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations.
Students and grads
After long advocating for paid clinical placements for students, the ANMF welcomed the Universities Accord higher education review’s recommendation in February that student nurses and midwives (including enrolled nurses) should receive a payment while on placement, as part of tackling ‘placement poverty’.
The union applauded the Albanese Government when, in August, it acted on that recommendation and legislated a $319.50 per week payment for eligible means-tested undergraduate nursing and midwifery students and diploma of nursing students during their mandatory clinical and professional training periods.
While the payment – which is set to begin from 1 July 2025 – was set lower than we’d like, it is welcome that it will be paid on top of any other income support a student may also receive, and is an important starting point.

ANMF (Vic Branch) graduate and final year student support officer Alice Permberton at the 2024 Ace It final-year student event.
The Vic Branch also continued its partnership with HESTA to provide clinical placement grants to eligible student members, scholarships with Aware Super and our own grants to assist hundreds of students during their academic years.
With the endorsement of the new public sector EBA in the middle of the year, RUSON/Ms and graduate nurses and midwives achieved some significant gains, including pay rises between 14 and 17.5 per cent in 2024 alone, and 28.4 per cent by November 2027.
Unfortunately, the news for final-year students seeking to commence their graduate year in 2025 was not so positive towards the end of 2024, with three major Melbourne hospitals announcing in November and December that they were reducing the contractual EFT of graduate nurses and midwives from .8 to .6 EFT. These decisions were a slap in the face – not only to early-career nurses and midwives but to all public sector members, who spent the first half of 2024 campaigning to rebuild and recruit our workforces.
The Branch had urgent meetings with those services, as well as with government. This ANMF advocacy helped convince health services (other than The Alfred) to retain their graduates at 0.8 EFT. As 2024 drew to a close, discussions remained ongoing with a strong focus on those who have completed their program in 2024 and are seeking ongoing employment in 2025.