Maddy Harradence, Branch Secretary
A couple of weeks ago, hundreds of ANMF Job Reps and HSRs – your colleagues – gathered for the 33rd ANMF (Vic Branch) Delegates Conference.
As established by the very first conference in 1993, this is the Branch’s permanent democratic mechanism that enables all members to make recommendations about our professions, and our union, to their elected ANMF leadership.
Many of the allowances and entitlements you receive are the result of this conference, where they started life as a motion that was debated and voted on. The Safe Patient Care Act is heavily influenced by debate and decisions made at the conference. Provisions now written into the Occupational Health and Safety Act originated from our conference.
This year’s was a conference of firsts in many ways: my first as Branch Secretary, Nicole Allan’s and Sam Casey’s as Assistant Secretaries, Emma Foreman’s as Branch President and conference chair. And, significantly, for many delegates it was their first conference.
This was due to a deliberate decision that meant some applicants missed out but also ensured representation across as many workplaces as possible – which was the goal. I’m happy to note that in addition to a record number of motions debated at the conference, we also welcomed the most workplaces ever (239), across public, private acute, aged care, local government and other sectors.
We also welcomed Premier Jacinta Allan to update delegates on government progress on election commitments to nurses and midwives – including the planned tabling, this month, of the hospital reclassification legislation, which is the most significant uplift to ratios in our history in Victory.
This announcement will mean improvements to ratios across 26 hospitals in emergency department staffing, medical and surgical wards and ICU. Importantly over 70 per cent of these uplifts will go to rural and regional hospitals, recognising the increasing demand and complexity in regional Victoria, but also other growth areas like the west. This outcome reflects years of member advocacy, including via ANMF Job Rep motions at annual Delegates Conferences, via local disputes and reporting, and local campaigns.
On Sunday 28 June, the Premier and Health Minister Harriet Shing confirmed this review will be enacted later this month with a Bill being brought to parliament before the end of July.
One of my favourite annual traditions at the Delegates Conference is the invitation we extend to a public charity. This year, we heard from former nurse and now St Mary’s House of Welcome CEO John Fogarty about the incredible and important work they do in supporting people in Melbourne who are experiencing homelessness. As John noted, life is tough for everyone right now, but it’s even tougher for those without a steady home. If you are able to, please consider a small tax-deductible donation: smhow.org.au.
At the conference I also updated delegates on some of the initial results from our recent member engagement survey. While we are still analysing the results and will share the details over the coming months, this data along with other feedback from members in local areas, via forums and meetings, will form the basis for the Branch’s three-year strategic plan. Unsurprisingly, a key theme will be action on occupational violence and aggression (OVA), a priority concern for the majority of members.
Addressing this is a key ANMF priority, beginning with the current review and revision – with members, HSRs and industry experts – of the evidence-based ANMF 10-point plan to end violence and aggression.
It’s also crucial to recognise that OVA includes the impacts of racism and harassment in the workplace, and we see this loud and clear in the survey results. Following the work of the NSWNMA, Nicole, Sam and I have had productive discussions with Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman around working with the Human Rights Commission on embedding anti-racism and cultural safety frameworks into the Branch’s ways of working / business as usual.
Given recent political narratives gaining traction, this work is more urgent than ever. The feedback from members, around what they have seen and experienced, is not just heartbreaking; it makes clear that racism is a public health issue.
It’s important to acknowledge here, as Commissioner Sivaraman has told us, that ‘there’s a difference between the racism a non-Indigenous person of colour suffers and that which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples suffer. Both will suffer in denial of equality, dignity and respect. But in addition, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it’s a denial of self-determination and sovereignty – and everyone else has benefited from that racism. Unless we confront and deal with that fundamental racism, which we have to do by truth and Treaty, we can’t progress as a society.’
With NAIDOC Week beginning this week, I encourage members to join the celebrations, to stand alongside First Nations members, colleagues, patients, residents and consumers, and to remember that when we stand together, we are all stronger.
