NSW nurses win pay rises of up to 26 per cent in end to two-year dispute

More than 60,000 nurses and midwives in NSW will receive pay increases of up to 26 per cent after the industrial court acknowledged the majority-female workforce had been historically undervalued, ending a two-year battle with the state’s Labor government.

The NSW Industrial Relations Commission on Thursday handed down its verdict in the dispute, which went to court after the Minns government failed to strike a wage deal with the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) in 2024.

Delivering the commission’s decision, Justice Ingmar Taylor said the historic undervaluation of the female-dominated professions, the former government’s wages cap, and high inflation following the COVID pandemic justified a “one-off reset” of their pay.

The full bench of the commission determined this reset should include a first-year pay rise of 16 per cent for registered nurses, 18 per cent for enrolled nurses, and 26 per cent for assistants in nursing.

The commission awarded 3 per cent pay rises for 2026 and 2027.

The wage hike will be effective from July 1, 2025, a year later than the union sought.

Dozens of nurses packed into the NSW industrial court to hear the verdict, which includes the 3 per cent interim pay increase awarded to the state’s 69,000 nurses and midwives last year.

Health Minister Ryan Park said the government would uphold the industrial court’s verdict.

Thousands of nurses and midwives marched through Sydney’s CBD in 2024 during three statewide strikes, which brought the public health system to a standstill.

Many were angry with the government’s approach to bargaining, particularly following its deal with the police union to give some officers wage increases of up to 40 per cent over four years.

Nurses and midwives ultimately accepted an interim 3 per cent increase in September ahead of the six-week court case, where the union pushed for a 35 per cent pay rise over three years.

This included a 15 per cent rise, retrospectively paid for the 2024 financial year, and further 10 per cent increases in the 2025 and 2026 financial years.

During opening submissions, both parties estimated the claim would cost taxpayers more than $10 billion.

“Nurses are expensive now, they’ll be made more expensive, [but] this does not represent an economic disaster,” the union’s barrister, Leo Saunders, told the court in September.

The union argued the increase was necessary to address cost-of-living pressures, compensate for the expanded roles and responsibilities of nurses and midwives, and correct the historic undervaluation of the majority-female workforce.

Nine in 10 nurses, and 98.9 per cent of midwives, are women, Saunders told the court.

In her submission to the court, NSW Treasury deputy secretary Liz Livingstone said the union’s proposed pay offer would cost $14.7 billion over the next five years, and rise to $16.3 billion with interest.

The government would not achieve its promised return to net surplus if it met the union’s demands, which would also negatively affect the state’s credit rating, Livingstone said.

Martin O’Brien, an economist called by the union to provide evidence, argued the state’s economy was in a prime position for wage growth, and the circumstances did not call for restraint.

After the government’s lawyer Simon Meehan warned that service cuts may be required to fund any increase above what was already budgeted, Commission president Ingmar Taylor asked NSW Health to provide more details on the likelihood of this happening.

“We need to make sure we won’t make a decision that will lead to hospitals closing,” Taylor said on the first day of the six-week hearing.

More to come.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.