Australian State Rewards Health Workers With $3,000 Appreciation Bonus

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet speaks to media during an announcement at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney, Australia, on June 6, 2022. (AAP Image/Flavio Brancaleone)

The New South Wales (NSW) government has announced a one-off $3,000 (US$2,200) payment to health employees in recognition of their frontline work during COVID-19.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced the payment in addition to the new policy that will apply to industrial agreements struck from July 1, 2022.

Public sector employees, including nurses, teachers, and paramedics, have been offered a three percent remuneration annual increase this year, with a potential further 3.5 percent increase the next financial year for those who make a “substantial contribution.”

The annual wage increase was lifted from 2.5 percent, which has been a major point of negotiation between the state and unions for months.

“I want to pay special tribute to our health workers, who over the last two years have done an outstanding job of keeping people safe and looking after us,” Perrottet told reporters.

“So today, I can announce that we’ll be making a $3,000 payment in appreciation for all our health workers, for their sacrifices and the efforts they have made over the last two years.”

The one-off payment will be given to all permanent staff employed by the state’s health department, NSW Health, including paramedics, midwives, and cleaners.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said the state is currently enjoying its lowest unemployment rate on record.

“It is important to maintain competitive wages to attract and retain the best talent,” he said. “In the context of a strong and growing economy, this two-year increase to wages is an affordable and sensible policy.”

The state government also revealed that a record 10,000 full-time equivalent staff would be recruited to health services across the state over four years, with over 7,000 in the first year.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the recruitment drive, as part of the $4.5 billion funding in the 2022-23 budget, is intended to relieve pressure on existing staff and ensure appropriate levels of staffing to deliver quality health care.

A clinical nurse consultant at the Gold Coast University Hospital in the Gold Coast, Australia, on Feb. 22, 2021. (AAP Image/Albert Perez)

The NSW Health Services Union (HSU) claimed it was a victory in the wage battle but said it wanted and would continue to push for the wage cap removed.

The Australian Paramedics Association, the paramedics union, welcomed the paramedic’s staffing boost announcement but said it would continue to fight for a real pay rise.

“This move from the government has shown that union power leads to change, APA NSW President Chris Kastelan said, referring to the numerous industrial actions that the union has undertaken this year.

Kastelan warned that two in three paramedics were thinking about leaving the job.

“We need to invest in retaining and valuing experienced staff,” he said. “The bonus payment doesn’t change the fact that what public sector workers have been offered is, in real terms, a pay cut.”

In February, the boss of the peak union body in NSW warned that 2022 would be the year of strikes if the 2.5 percent wage cap remained in place.