Victory for Victorian health

“A victory for commonsense” is how the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) described the federal government’s decision to restore more than $100 million taken out of the Victorian public hospitals budget.

“We acknowledge the redirection of funding for Victoria as a step in the right direction which can assist in the delivery of safe patient care,” said ANF federal secretary Lee Thomas. “This is a victory for the Victorian community and also the ANF Victorian branch which has campaigned long and hard for restoration of public health services across the state.”

“This funding must be injected straight back into front-line healthcare as an urgent priority and the state government must reverse all changes implemented,” Thomas said.

She noted that nurses had seen billions of dollars cut from Australian public health systems under so-called budget schemes. “Unfortunately, it’s highly-trained nurses and midwives and the people they care for, each and every day, who have been suffering as a result of the ongoing blame game over health funding between federal and state and territory governments.”

Thomas said the restoration of funding for Victoria clearly indicates that the federal government will prioritise health, particularly the employment opportunities for graduate nurses and midwives. By making this a priority during the election it would go towards addressing the challenges of the predicted shortages in the nursing and midwifery workforce.

Get the news delivered straight to your inbox

Receive the top stories in our weekly newsletter Sign up now