The statewide ANMF members’ meeting on Friday 28 March endorsed the government’s revised offer of settlement.
The offer includes 44 relevant parity claims from the general nurses agreement outcome including wage parity pay increases for all mental health nurses by the end of the agreement (28.4 per cent (compounded) inclusive of the 1.5% 1 July 2024 increase). It also includes the majority of members’ specific mental health nursing claims.
ANMF is holding further discussions with senior government representatives in relation to the timing of the proposed increases, particularly in relation to the RPN2 and PCNS rates. Once discussions are finalised, a detailed spreadsheet will be provided to members.
- We have provided an FAQ document [PDF]
- Read an explainer of why the mental health EBA is not a part of the general public sector EBA [PDF]
The following provides an ‘at a glance’ list of the proposed agreement’s key wins.
Wage increases
1. A 28.4% (compounded) wage increase for all classifications by the end of the four-year agreement (inclusive of 1.5% July 2024). It has achieved the top end of the Fair Work Commission’s expert panel’s forecast increase in ANMF’s work value case.
New and improved allowances and penalties
2. In addition to wage increase adjustments, on 1 July 2027 the qualifications allowance will increase by a further 50%. By the end of the agreement it will have increased by approximately 90%. Access to this allowance will be improved and streamlined.
3. Where minimum 17.5% annual leave loading applies this will now be calculated on five weeks of annual leave rather than four.
4. Non-casual night shift allowance (includes permanent night shift):
ND (Mon to Thurs) – Current $87.60+ 12.5%
ND (Fri and Sat) – Current $87.60 + 12.5%
ND (Sunday) – Trial Rate ($154.60) + 12.5%
5. Weekend casual rate to be to be standardised at 187.5%
6. Change of ward allowance (COW) of $36.10 per shift for permanent staff with a home ward. The intention of this allowance is to discourage redeployment as a ‘business as usual’ rostering practice.
7. Increased on-call rates (inclusive of telephone allowance):
a. Weekday = current plus Telephone Allowance x 103%
b. Saturday = Weekday x 150%
c. Sunday/Public Holiday = Weekday x 175%
d. Weekend Public Holiday = Sunday/Public Holiday x 150%
8. Casual ND rate increased as per other allowances
9. Insert Travelling and Relocation allowance provisions to cater for living away from home
10. Restrict the payment of meal allowance in cash to where practicable.
Staffing and additional mental health nursing EFT
11. Provision that clearly sets out the minimum staffing profiles for all bed-based services, as an important foundation step towards achieving ratios.
12. Extension of the successful ANMF Graduate Support Nurse pilot to all 19 mental health services, with 32 EFT to be allocated across adult acute inpatient units.
13. 21 EFT for additional mental health nurses in Parent Infant Units, to achieve consistent staffing across the state.
Additional improved pay rates/classifications
14. Nurse Practitioners to have an additional yearly increment at 1.9% above the current rate.
15. Unpaid 10-minute breaks during overtime will now be paid.
16. Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing (RUSON) – pay rate to increase from 75% of the graduate rate to 81.5%.
17. When working away from home, employees will be able to access the Australian Tax Office-stipulated rates for accommodation, meals, beverages and travel. This is expanded to include all work, not just work during a natural disaster.
Superannuation
18. Superannuation, which is already paid on unpaid and paid components of parental leave, will now be paid during workers compensation, defence leave, jury duty and no safe job leave (whether paid or not paid).
Leave improvements
19. Alignment of personal leave evidence requirements to National Employment Standards, requiring evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person, and with no limitations.
20. Enrolled nurses undertaking the Bachelor of Nursing can access paid study leave.
21. Interstate public sector nurses relocating to Victoria will have their service recognised for the purposes of personal leave and long service leave. The same for nurses working in the Victorian local government sector.
22. If you move employers within the public sector, the 180-day cap on transferable personal leave will be removed.
23. Long service leave will be calculated on the more advantageous of your contracted hours, or your average hours in the 12 months before commencing leave.
24. Employees will be able to take long service leave in single days.
25. For those transitioning to retirement the employee will be able to use their long service leave where a definitive date of retirement is provided.
26. Paid family violence leave will attract penalties rather than base rate only. Extend paid entitlement to casual employees, clarify the meaning of year, and ensure minimum entitlement for part timers of 10 days per anniversary year.
27. Paid parental leave qualifying period for non-casual nurses will reduce from six months to zero.
28. Paid parental leave will be calculated on the more advantageous of your contracted hours, or your average hours in the 12 months before commencing leave.
29. Prenatal leave will be expanded to cover assisted reproduction appointments that are only available during the employee’s ordinary rostered shift.
30. Employers cannot unreasonably refuse employees on parental leave who want to work keeping in touch (KIT) days.
31. Annual leave and long service leave can be used during your parental leave if you choose.
32. A single test for accessing the sixth week of leave for weekend workers.
33. Payment of disaster leave will now be per disaster occasion rather than per year.
34. 20 days paid leave per year, plus up to 48 weeks of unpaid leave, are available for gender affirmation procedures.
35. Two days leave for foster or primary carers on up to five occasions per calendar year.
36. Ceremonial leave for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses has been improved recognising the need to access leave for ‘sorry business’.
37. Adoption has been redefined to include kinship care, where kinship care is comparable to adoption.
Community
38. A new provision to ensure where there is a RPN3 in community mental health teams, there is also an RPN4, in addition. This is to ensure there are nursing discipline leads in each team.
39. Strengthened nurse for nurse replacement provision, with six monthly reporting of nursing position data in the community, to unions via the central consultative forum.
40. Record existing staffing profiles for community teams within 6 months of operation of Agreement to ensure the current composition of nurses working in community mental health is not reduced to a minimum.
41. Funding to develop a standardised and partially automated CWMS tool.
42. Amended CWMS clause to introduce penalty of 1 additional non direct clinical day and no additional direct clinical work per reporting period for non-compliance with workload requirements.
43. Amend CTWMS to remove the reference to ‘worked’ at 61.2 and insert a threshold for when planned leave impacts upon non-direct clinical time.
Right to disconnect
44. A right to disconnect clause – a new process for employers to follow to fill shifts so that nurses are not continually contacted to work shifts they are not seeking.
Rosters
45. The return of permanent night shift (employee choice only). This is part of a number of changes designed to address the difficulty of filling night duty rosters and too much rotation onto night shift.
46. Stronger provisions to enable employees to schedule their accrued days off (ADOs) on a date they request.
47. A minimum 47-hour break following night shifts before working other shifts (for non-permanent night shift).
48. If the 10-hour break between completion of overtime and your next shift would result in commencing ordinary hours with three or fewer hours of your shift remaining, you will be paid for the entire shift without a requirement to attend for duty. Employers cannot adjust the roster to avoid the 10-hour break requirement. Clarity that the overtime can be immediately before or after the rostered shift.
49. Insertion of 12-hour shift arrangement provisions to mitigate fatigue.
50. Amend professional development (PD) and associated entitlement clause to separate out PD, Study and Examination leave.
51. Employers will provide transport for nurses following overtime, including the return when their vehicle remains at work (previously only for double shift).
52. Overtime now applies for mandatory training that does not occur in rostered time. Deduction from professional development leave is prohibited.
General
53. Amend Agreement to ensure gender neutral language is utilised throughout the Agreement
54. Update anti-discrimination clause to reflect amendments to protected attributes within the Fair Work Act
55. Improved Gender Based Discrimination provision inclusive of Gender Based Standing Committee
56. Improved Consultation clause
57. Improved Disputes Resolution Clause to accommodate collective disputes
58. Amendments to Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedure to streamline administration of classification disputes.
59. Improved Managing Conduct and Performance clause to include sexual harassment as an example of serious and wilful misconduct
60. Place positive obligation on Employer to recover overpayment to salary packaging Amend Union Rights clause to accommodate National Employment Standards – Delegates rights (Amendments to casual conversion clause to align with National Employment Standards).
61. Amend fixed term contracting arrangements to align with National Employment Standards Improved
62. Improved transition to retirement provisions
63. Updating Public Holidays clause to expressly refer to Easter Saturday and Grand Final Eve. Update to Kings Birthday.
64. Amend ‘Gender Transition Leave’ to ‘Gender Affirmation Leave’.
65. Updated Flexible Working Arrangements clause plus removal of Qualification period if the employee circumstances have changed since commencement of employment.
Occupational health and safety
66. Employers and ANMF will jointly focus on psychological injury and return to work, including returning to work with a different employer where appropriate.
67. A Central Building Consultative Committee will be established to ensure consultation on construction and refurbishment.
68. Audits of manual handling incidents will take place to inform whether manual handling training can be improved.
69. Lists of Designated Work Groups (DWGs), Health and Safety Reps (HSRs), their training dates and vacancies will be provided to ANMF twice a year.
70. ANMF will be given an opportunity to discuss occupational violence and aggression (OVA) incidents with employers where this does not already occur.
71. Inclusion of gendered violence and harassment provisions
Discrimination
72. The following attributes have been added to the discrimination clause: breastfeeding, gender identity, intersex status, an experience of family or domestic violence.
Climate
73. New climate change clause recognises climate change as a health issue and establishes processes both central and per employer to consult over environmental sustainability and climate change.
Next steps
Pending HACSU’s formal response to the government’s revised offer, the ANMF stands with our non-nursing mental health colleagues. ANMF encourages all available ANMF members to support the HACSU 2 April rally if not rostered for work at the time.
Bargaining meetings continue on 1 April at ANMF, and as mentioned, ANMF is in discussions with senior government representatives about the timing of percentage increases in this revised offer. Finalising drafting and other matters will be a priority consistent with all parties’ commitment to do so at the commencement of bargaining.
