
Issue No 115		12 October 2001

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News

Nurses Savage Howard's Neglect Of Workforce

The Howard Government is under pressure to outline thier vision for nurses in the wake of ALP's national plan unveiled this week.

The federal ALP's announcement that it will implement a national nursing policy if elected on November 10 is a policy breakthrough that will leave the Howard Government stranded with nurses if it does not offer similar action.

The Australian Nursing Federation was responding to the release of the ALP's nursing policy by Shadow Health spokesperson, Jenny Macklin, at the ANF's biennial national conference in Adelaide this week.

A Howard Government representative, Senator Jeannie Ferris (for Education Minister Rod Kemp), also addressed the conference, but did not announce any new nursing or health policies because nurses were already "living" the Government's policies.

ANF federal secretary, Jill Iliffe, said the ALP has recognised that we face a national nursing crisis, which is impacting on the quality and availability of public hospital and aged care services.

"This stands in stark contrast to the Howard Government, which has refused to recognise it has a key role to play in building up the nursing workforce and getting more nurses into vital public hospital services and aged care facilities. In fact, conference delegates were outraged by the Howard Government's failure to address the nursing crisis.

"The contrast between the ALP and the Howard Government approach was on full display today. A continuation of the Howard Government's long term neglect of nursing will have devastating consequences for Australia's public hospital and aged care systems. Hospital and aged care services are already being reduced or compromised because of the serious nursing shortage confronting Australia.

"The number of students completing undergraduate nursing courses has been dropping. The latest published figures - 6397 in 1993 to 4661 in 1998 - indicate how serious the drop has been. And 30 per cent of the current nursing workforce is due to retire in the next ten years. So we have a large section of the workforce due to leave, with reduced numbers stepping in to take their place.

"Between 1986 and 1996 the number of nurses under 25 years of age decreased from 20.9 per cent to 5.9 per cent. Over the same ten years the number of nurses over 45 years increased from 18.9 per cent to 31 per cent. On top of all this you have thousands of nurses leaving part way through their careers because of the poor pay and conditions and the cost of ongoing education.

"If these trends are not reversed, and quickly, then our health and aged care systems will be in even more serious trouble in the years ahead. We will have a major catastrophe on our hands. The only way to reverse the trends is by implementing a national strategy and that is what the ALP is proposing. This is a welcome development and the specific nursing initiatives outlined by Ms Macklin today will greatly assist that strategy.

"The appointment of a national Chief Nursing Officer within the federal Health Department to oversee the development of such a strategy is an excellent idea and one the ANF has been pushing for many years.

"The massive wage differential between the aged care and acute hospital sectors is now more than $80.00 per week in most States and Territories. Labor's commitment to fix the problem is excellent news for the aged care industry and aged care nurses. Again this is something the ANF has been working on for many years, but the Howard Government has turned a deaf ear.

"The cost of nurse education is a major contributor to the current nurse shortage and the ALP's announcements on postgraduate HECS payments are a good start to an overhaul of the whole system," Ms Iliffe said.

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  Issue 115 contents

Interview: Connecting the State
NSW IT minister Kim Yeadon is the man responsible for enabling the people of NSW. Here's how he's doing it.

Workplace: The Enemy Within
In the IT industry it's the recruiters who are earning the workers' ire, as our special correspondent explains.

Unions: From the Virtual Coalface
Computer programmer Vince Caughley argues there is a place for unions in the IT industry.

History: Conditions Precedent
Frank Bongiorno writes that the recent events off the coast of Christmas Island recall a story once told by Paul Hasluck.

International: Victims of Terrorism
Repression against trade unionists on the increase world wide, with 209 trade unionists assassinated last year, reveals ICFTU 2001 Survey.

Campaign Diary: Week One: Get Shorty
Labor's first week of campaigning was as an effort to gain attention from a nation rocked by the telvised war on terrorism.

Economics: Global Alliances
Ray Marcelo reports from India that the ILO is arguing that globalisation needs a worker and employer alliance.

Health: The Phantom Menace
Trade unions made an impact this week at an international congress In Melbourne in the global fight against AIDS.

Review: Rings of Confidence
In his study on the 2000 Olympics, Tony Webb argues that the government and unions reached a new level of cooperation.

Satire: Greens 'Quietly Unconfident' of Forming Government
A leaked memo from a senior member of the Greens reveals the party is unconfident of winning government on November 10.

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