The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) is focused on driving meaningful change in 2025 to ensure better conditions for nurses, midwives, carers, students and to meet the health and aged care needs of the community

Recognising the critical milestones we have already achieved like wage increases and mandated care minutes, we know progress is possible.

The ANMF’s vision is to prioritise reforms that support recruitment and retention, empower nurses and midwives to work to their full scope of practice to ensure accessible and affordable healthcare, and deliver improved outcomes for women.

With a predominantly female membership, achieving gender equity is central to the work of the ANMF. While there has been an unprecedented focus by the current federal government towards gender equity, progress is not linear.

We have seen substantive wins for women overall this past year. The gender pay gap has dropped to 11.5% (from 13.3% in 2023) and women’s workforce participation has risen to a record high of 63.2%.

Progress has been made in making gender equality an objective of the Fair Work

Act, banning pay secrecy clauses, legislating for the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) to publish gender pay gaps of employers with 100 or more workers, introducing a new positive duty on employers to prevent workplace sexual harassment and discrimination and increasing wages for aged care workers, a sector that is highly feminised and historically undervalued.

Recognition of women’s health needs has come to the fore. The National Women’s Health Advisory Council established in 2022 is addressing stark differences in health outcome for women and girls. A Senate Inquiry examining issues related to menopause and perimenopause has recommended the federal government consider introducing paid gender-inclusive reproductive leave in the National Employment Standards (NES) and modern awards to help people manage symptoms and a range of impacts. Queensland public sector nurses and midwives are now able to access 10 days paid reproductive leave, the state setting the bar for the rest of the country. 

The ANMF and the superannuation industry welcomed the announcement this year for 12% superannuation to be paid on government-funded paid parental leave from 1 July 2025. In March, new laws were passed to expand the Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme to 26 weeks by 2026. These are significant wins: Australian women currently retire with an average of 25% less superannuation than men. Despite increased workforce participation, women are more likely to be engaged in part-time and casual work contributing to the stark gender pay gap in their retirement savings.

Gender equity is also about workplace policies. We know that flexible working arrangements are critical to support gender equality and women’s leadership in the workplace. The ANMF will continue to advocate for a national policy to address the diminished earning capacity throughout a woman’s lifetime. Until this is achieved, inequalities between men and women will remain. We all benefit from having a society where women are equal, and able to fulfil their potential.