Ask Maddy: How do I progress through ‘annual increments’?

The Nurses and Midwives (Victorian Public Sector) (Single Interest Employers) Enterprise Agreement 2020—2024, provides ‘annual increments’ for a number of grades, in particular enrolled nurses, and commencing registered nurses and midwives.

An increment is usually described as a ‘year’, such as Grade 2 Year 5, or EN 2 Year 4.

You progress from one increment to the next, on your “anniversary date” provided you have completed sufficient shifts/hours in the preceding year. Your anniversary date is the date you commenced work as a registered nurse, registered midwife or enrolled nurse following registration.

To progress through an increment in one year, you need to average three shifts or more per week, or average 48 hours or more per fortnight, in your anniversary year.

If you average less than three shifts per week or 48 hours per fortnight (whichever is the lesser), you will need to complete an additional year to advance to the next increment.

Note 1: that for RUSONs and RUSOMs, a year is 12 months of service, regardless of the hours, to progress between year of experience in a RUSON or RUSOM role.

Note 2: that for a registered nurse who subsequently becomes registered as a midwife, previous experience as a registered nurse counts towards year of experience as a midwife.

Example:

Your first nursing/midwifery shift commences on 10 January 2017.

The date you commenced work after registration becomes your “anniversary date”. If that date was 10 January 2017 (and you can provide evidence to support your experience) the table below would be a way to determine your increment in Victoria:

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What if my previous experience was outside Australia?

If you were educated and commenced your career outside Australia, previous service will count, provided your education is deemed to be equivalent to Australian nursing and midwifery pre-registration education.

If you were required by the Australian professional registration body to undertake either a bridging program or outcome-based assessment (OBA) this means your case was not deemed equivalent, and your previous experience is not counted. In this case your anniversary date is the date of the first shift you do following registration in Australia.

Example:

Your first nursing/midwifery role in Australia commences on 4 June 2021. You receive unconditional registration as a registered nurse without an OBA and have four years overseas experience.

The date you commenced work after registration (no matter the country) becomes your “anniversary date”. If that date was 10 January 2017 (and you can provide evidence to support your overseas experience) the table below would be a way to determine your increment in Victoria: