We Need a Government With Guts
July 2025
As we await the State Election outcome, the question on nurses and midwives minds is: “Will this be a Government with Guts?”
One which has the courage to address the systemic and long-standing issues affecting our health system?
One which recognises that shying away from the challenges won’t be solved by systematically dismantling the health system, reducing the workforce and service delivery in order to reduce the health expenditure?
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation instead hopes the new Government will recognise the challenges and address them with investment and required resourcing, along with an appropriate budget allocation.
The age old saying: “sometimes you have to spend money to make money” rings true for the Tasmanian Health System.
Spending money to address the current workforce and health service delivery needs of an ageing and chronically ill population is not only warranted but desperately needed for the health system to retain its existing health workforce, recruit and meet the huge demand to improve the health of the Tasmanian population.
While increasing health budgets might seem counterproductive in light of the current State budget deficits, continuing to cut corners, staff and services will only serve in the long-term to perpetuate health budget blow outs.
This will also increase the over-reliance on the acute health care system from a population demographic whose health needs become more acute due to lack of early intervention and indeed prevention.
The ANMF is calling on all successful candidates – the independents and political party which forms Government, whatever its composition – to be brave.
They need to make decisions that are truly patient-centred, ones that address the current health system crisis but also pave the way to new health delivery in the future.
The delivery must meet the health care needs of Tasmanians where they live and aim to prevent chronic disease and improve health care outcomes for the population.
This can be achieved by taking affirmative action within the new Government’s first 100 days by:
- Legislating Tasmanian specific patient to nurse and midwife ratios for nurses and midwives in maternity settings where babies are also counted in the ratios (in Victoria when ratios were introduced, over 20,000 nurses returned to the nursing workforce as they were assured of safe workloads and ability to deliver better patient care)
- Making Associate Nurse and Midwifery Managers to support patient flow and improve access along with clinical coaches to mentor and grow a diverse and increasingly specialised clinical environments
- Committing to funding and resourcing the transfer of care in emergency departments and across hospitals
- Increasing the staffing of our existing community services including community nursing, community rapid response, community dementia teams and district hospitals
- Increase capacity to not only address acute and current needs, but support those with existing chronic diseases and plan have contingency plans in place for exacerbations rather than a visit to ED.
These services and district hospitals – with the appropriate staffing and resources, including nurse practitioners – can begin the long overdue and unmet needs or health promotion and prevention.
Regardless of the new Government’s composition, our health system can’t afford more of the same.
We need to see fearless and bold decision-making and health reform that invests in our health system and workforce.
The Tasmanian population can afford nothing less.
Emily Shepherd, ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary
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Media contact:
Emily Shepherd
Mobile: 0400 884 021
Email: emily.shepherd@anmftas.org.au