Apart from implementation of the public sector Nurses and Midwives EBA and the negotiation of the public sector mental health agreement, the Branch and our members have been incredibly busy over the last eight months with negotiations in a range of areas.
Private acute
All of the major private acute providers have come up for negotiation from late last year through to September 2025. Already we have finalised Healthecare and St Vincent’s Private, with Epworth out to ballot and St John of God well advanced. That leaves Cabrini, Healthscope and Ramsay to go.
Members at Epworth Medical Imaging (in Richmond and Geelong) and Aurora Healthcare (South Eastern Private Hospital and Brunswick Private Hospital) are currently taking protected industrial action to further their claims. Epworth Medical Imaging members are seeking 4.5 per cent per annum increases and a $9 lead apron allowance. Aurora Healthecare members are seeking 12.5 percent over a three-year agreement, with the first 4.05 per cent backdated to March 2025, as well as improvements to nursing resources.
The aim is to get wage parity with the public sector as at 29 November 2026 or the increase of 15 May 2027. In addition, we aim to get as many as possible of the 80+ conditions and improvements achieved in the public sector into our private acute agreements.
With respect to wages, so far we have made really strong progress.
| Public Sector at 29/11/26 | St Vincents Private 1/7/26 | Epworth offer
1/7/26 |
St John of God offer
1/7/26 |
Healthecare
1/4/27 |
Aurora offer
1/4/27 |
|
| EN Diploma Rate | $1558.30 | $1594.90 | $1603.23 | $1560.73 | $1554.86 | $1560.85 |
| Grade 2 top rate | $2089.40 | $2090.48 | $2070.57 | $2068.01 | $2075.26 | $2083.26 |
| ANUM top rate | $2419.10 | $2420.41 | $2397.33 | $2422.77 | $2402.60 | $2411.87 |
| CNC C top rate | $2676.10 | $2893.30 | $2651.67 | $2676.10 | $2658.42 | $2668.66 |
All private acute agreements and offers expire in mid-2027 (the latest being September 2027) and do not address the major 9.47% increases in public sector rates in November 2027. This will therefore be the major focus in the next round of bargaining from February to September 2027.
In regard to conditions, in all agreements and offers we have achieved a range of improvements including:
- An additional week of annual leave for part-time shiftworkers (usually from early-mid 2027)
- Lead apron allowance per shift
- An increase in compassionate leave from 2 days to either 3 or 5 days per occasion
- An increase in personal leave days without a certificate from 3 to 5 single days
- Recognition of unpaid parental leave as counting towards long service leave
- Early access to long service leave at 7 years
- Increases to shift, on-call and qualifications allowances.
The hardest fought battles have been for safe staffing standards being specified in each enterprise agreement – especially in-charge without a patient load for PM, night and weekend shifts. We have had mixed success in this area, with some good words at Healthecare and commitment to additional staff resources in designated wards/units at St Vincent’s Private and Epworth. In several agreements we have a nursing and midwifery consultative committee specified, with full union and Job Rep involvement, that will review staffing and make recommendations. Safe staffing is a work in progress and the next bargaining round will see us pick up the issue again in earnest.
Aged care
Bargaining has been occurring in over 80 agreements in the first half of this year.
On top of bargaining and the employer-funded increases we have been extremely active in meeting with employers to make sure the Aged Care Work Value Stage 3 increases are properly and fairly implemented. This has involved hundreds of meetings with employers.
The ACWV Stage 3 increase for carers was from 1 January 25 with a further and final increase due on 1 October 25. The January increase involved a 91 cent an hour increase ($34.58 per week). There will be a similar increase in October on top of whatever employer-funded increase is in your enterprise agreement.
For nurses, the Stage 3 Tranche 1 increase was from 1 March 2025 (with further increases due from 1 October 25 and again on 1 August 26).
The Branch’s main principle has been that every nurse should get a reasonable increase and that the classification structure should remain undisturbed. The Department of Health Wages Guidance for employers would have meant that some nurses (usually at lower levels) received large increases but senior ENs and RNs would receive very little or even zero (especially at the top of Grade 2 and Grade 4 After Hours Coordinators).
We advocated for an average increase for everyone and by and large have achieved that across the sector, with increases of around $1.20 an hour for ENs ($45.60 per week) and $1.50 for RNs ($57 per week).
What does that mean for wages? Well in the top line of the table below is the ‘standard rate’ we expect most aged care employers to meet for key classifications – both carers and nurses – regardless of size. In the lines below are the rates for some selected aged care networks at mid-2025 (November in the case of Opal):
| Provider | PCW unqualified | PCW Cert III top rate | PCW Cert IV top rate | EN top rate | RN Grade 2 top rate | RN Grade 4 Year 2 | RN Grade 5 51-200 beds |
| Standard Rate (per week) | >$1230 | >$1305 | >$1350 | >$1535 | >$1935 | >$2220 | >$2350 |
| Abound Communities (Old Colonists) | $1,247.70 | $1,294.70 | $1,341.50 | $1,620.63 | $1,951.80 | $2,221.60 | $2,363.20 |
| Assisi | $1,273.72 | $1,320.86 | $1,367.51 | $1,560.79 | $1,936.83 | $2,203.64 | $2,341.18 |
| Australian Unity | $1,287.27 | $1,306.94 | n/a | $1,577.53 | $2,270.91 | n/a | $2,480.94 |
| Benetas | $1,185.60 | $1,268.06 | $1,352.04 | $1,505.18 | $1,845.28 | $2,166.38 | $2,241.24 |
| Baptcare | $1,314.91 | $1,347.95 | $1,406.34 | $1,520.90 | $1,992.52 | $2,310.40 | $2,408.27 |
| Bolton Clarke | $1,581.07 | $1,974.37 | $2,399.13 | $2,428.23 | |||
| Bupa | $1,259.32 | $1,308.34 | $1,353.56 | $1,577.93 | $1,982.68 | n/a | $2,414.38 |
| Calvary | $1,297.90 | $1,330.14 | $1,416.61 | $1,600.02 | $2,009.64 | n/a | $2,448.08 |
| CaSPA Care | n/a | $1,329.22 | n/a | $1,545.79 | $1,919.57 | $2,252.47 | $2,357.55 |
| Churches of Christ | $1,193.60 | $1,254.00 | $1,320.50 | $1,479.34 | $1,839.20 | $2,092.28 | $2,307.74 |
| Doutta Galla | $1,270.31 | $1,285.59 | $1,326.25 | $1,544.48 | $1,929.32 | $2,172.25 | $2,312.83 |
| Estia | $1,268.82 | $1,306.82 | $1,415.88 | $1,535.96 | $1,922.80 | $2,181.96 | $2,403.12 |
| Fronditha | $1,243.74 | $1,331.14 | $1,387.38 | $1,557.85 | $1,944.91 | 2,198.85 | $2,357.60 |
| Homestyle | $1,533.90 | $2,022.36 | $2,259.16 | $2,346.83 | |||
| Honeysuckle Health | $1,580.91 | $1,932.23 | $2,255.48 | $2,418.32 | |||
| Hope Aged Care | $1,252.80 | $1,300.00 | $1,385.55 | $1,521.16 | $1,970.46 | $2,238.29 | $2,385.59 |
| Indochinese Elderly Refugees | $1,603.98 | $1,986.26 | $2,264.04 | $2,402.36 | |||
| Mercy | $1,254.00 | $1,316.70 | $1,402.20 | $1,515.82 | $1,938.00 | $2,244.66 | $2,518.64 |
| Opal | $1232.38 ($1263.15) | $1279.08 ($1309.89) | $1325.44 ($1358.57) | $1483.90 ($1521.00) | $1928.12 ($1976.323) | $2202.86 ($2257.93) | $2331.3 ($2389.58) |
| Opal Blue Cross | $1,231.96 | $1,282.88 | $1,330.00 | $1,555.72 | $1,958.14 | $2,233.26 | $2,383.74 |
| San Carlo Homes for the Aged Inc. | $1,254.58 | $1,303.27 | $1,348.84 | $1,621.10 | $2,257.07 | $2,390.75 | $2,451.12 |
| St Catherines Wangaratta | $1,277.05 | $1,330.65 | $1,379.80 | $1,584.50 | $1,972.60 | $2,265.30 | $2,399.90 |
| Uniting Agewell | $1,573.88 | $2,009.75 | $2,295.58 | $2,461.74 | |||
| Vasey RSL | $1,301.50 | $1,338.36 | $1,391.94 | $1,565.16 | $1,961.84 | $2,206.16 | $2,445.86 |
ANMF hopes that in both private acute and private aged care the rates will be comparable to (or at least competitive with) the November 2027 public sector rates by the end of 2027 or shortly after. These 29/11/27 rates are $1756.40 per week for top Diploma EN rates, $2355pw at top of Grade 2 and $3016.30 pr week at Grade 5 (CNC C) rate.
In aged care agreements, we are now achieving at least six to eight weeks paid parental leave with many – including Calvary, Bupa, Uniting Agewell and Mercy – and others providing 10 to 12 weeks. Most agreements now provide access to long service leave at seven years. Many EAs now have three or more days of compassionate leave and 15-20 paid days family and domestic violence leave in each year.
Other areas
There have been many other agreements recently negotiated including:
- Nexus, in relation to their day surgery centres
- bush nursing centres (a single multi-employer agreement that provides parity with the public sector)
- Cancer Council of Victoria
- Palliative care (South Eastern Pall Care, Banksia Pall Care),
- private prisons (GEO)
- numerous schools
- numerous Local Government agreements
If you want further information about where your workplace enterprise agreement is at please don’t hesitate to contact us via the Member Assistance portal or via records@anmfvic.asn.au.
