COVID-19 Allowance Falls Short

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) Tasmanian Branch has been consulting with members face to face across the State and also via a member survey in regards to the Government’s proposed COVID-19 allowance which was offered as a final, take it or leave it, offer.

Whilst ANMF members have accepted the offer as the Government have stated, it is their final offer and members will likely get nothing if they do not accept it, there is no doubt that it falls short in appropriately recognising the hard work of nurses, midwives and assistants in nursing, especially when the allowance will not come into effect until an area is designated Red or Amber AND at escalation Level 3 for at least 30 days and will only be back paid to Friday 1 April 2022.

“Members have reluctantly accepted this offer; however, they have been unequivocal in their view that this offer has furthered their feelings of being undervalued and damaging morale.” said ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary, Emily Shepherd today.

However, the ANMF will continue to advocate on behalf of and with members whilst they undertake industrial action in pursuit of better workloads and staffing levels and will continue to lobby the Government for an improvement of the COVID-19 allowance.

“Our members have been at the forefront of this pandemic and the professional and personal toll that this has taken on them can not be overstated. It defies belief that the Tasmanian Government has yet to deliver any solutions to members workload and staffing issues when they have relied upon them so heavily to keep our member safe.”

ANMF members industrial action will continue until members are satisfied that there are tangible solutions in place to provide them with the support they need.

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