Rising fuel costs are forcing some nurses who use their own cars for travel on the job to call in sick, according to a district nurse, who says it has become a choice between staying home or working and being left out of pocket.

In a typical week, Victorian district nurse Lachlan Timms covers around 140 kilometres on the road in his role providing in-home care, including chronic wound management, medication management, and diabetes education, to patients across the community.

Many district nurses use their own cars to travel between multiple clients each day. Lachlan, who manages a team of nurses, says some staff clock up to 500 kilometres per fortnight as part of their patch.

As the global fuel supply crisis deepens, he says the average 99 cents per kilometre reimbursement for work-related travel has not kept pace with soaring prices at the bowser, leaving workers to absorb the growing gap.

“I worked the first weekend when the fuel prices went crazy and there were eight people who called in sick,” he tells the ANMJ.

“We checked, and all those eight people use their personal cars.”

Lachlan reveals he was recently forced to stop idling his car – where a vehicle is stationary but has its engine running – to conserve fuel. This means he can’t charge his laptop, essential for recording notes, between client visits.

“My laptop’s dying because I’m not charging it, which is causing me a lot of stress, but I don’t want to waste fuel,” he says.

“I feel like when I’m working, I’m essentially losing money. It used to be about $50 per week in fuel, and I’d get reimbursed maybe $90, which is for the wear and tear as well. Now, I’m using about $100 a week on fuel and I’m getting reimbursed $90-$100.”

Responding to the crisis, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) lodged an urgent application with the Fair Work Commission (FWC) on Monday to vary the Nurses Award 2020 for a period of 12 months, to allow the vehicle allowance – currently 99 cents per kilometre – to be adjusted regularly in line with fluctuating fuel prices.

ANMF Federal Secretary Annie Butler said the application responds to the sharp rise in fuel prices, on top of other pressures such as tolls, parking, rents and energy, faced by members who are required to use their own vehicles for work, ensuring they are fairly compensated for the costs they incur while delivering care in the community.

“Many ANMF members rely on their personal vehicles to deliver essential care in homes, communities and health services across Australia, but with fuel costs escalating, we believe the current allowance in the Award no longer reflects the real cost of their work-related travel,” Ms Butler said.

Other unions also filed applications with the FWC to vary their own Awards.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is arguing that the average vehicle allowance rate (99 cents per kilometre) should be lifted by at least an extra 10 cents to compensate for higher fuel prices. It is also seeking to bring forward the annual adjustment to vehicle allowances, made by the FWC on 1 July, so that workers can get immediate relief, and for the allowance to be reviewed monthly and updated in line with CPI private vehicle costs for at least the next 12 months while fuel prices remain volatile.

The ACTU says its application will also support workers on enterprise agreements that have vehicle allowance rates linked to Awards. It is also urging the federal government to direct the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to lift the rate it calculates for tax deductions on workers’ vehicle expenses, arguing that the current rate of 88 cents per kilometre lags well behind fuel prices.

“Petrol prices have surged, but workers’ vehicle allowances have not even remotely kept up,” ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus, said.

“Australians are paying out of their own pockets just to do their job, and that is not sustainable amid all the other cost of living pressures working people are enduring.”

An ANMF (Vic Branch) member, Lachlan and his colleagues are covered by an enterprise agreement that provides a travel allowance of 99 cents per kilometre when they use their own vehicles for work-related travel. This excludes the commute to the first client and the journey home after the last. While the employer does offer fleet vehicles for some staff, demand far exceeds supply, with waiting lists stretching from one to five years.

To help offset rising fuel costs, the employer recently added an extra 5 cents per kilometre to the reimbursement rate for staff who use their own cars.

The 26-year-old says his own financial situation is less strained than that of many of his colleagues, who are balancing mortgages and raising children as well as grappling with rising fuel costs.

The ongoing fuel crisis is affecting nurses’ morale and mental health, he says, with growing anxiety about what the future holds without a clear contingency plan in place if the current situation worsens.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged people to try and reduce their fuel consumption by driving less where possible. But, as Lachlan points out, most nurses don’t have that option – they can’t work from home.

“How can we change our service to not drive?” he asks.

“I know the farmers need the fuel, and that ambulances need the fuel, but how are we going to cope? There’s a lot of anxiety because I know that the worst hasn’t come yet. In a few month, it’s going to be a crisis and there’s been no word of a contingency plan. What happens if we can’t get fuel? Do I lose all my money because I can’t work? Do I get paid? What happens to the clients? There’s a lot of stress in the workplace.