The Nurses and Midwives Work Value Case brought by the ANMF is being heard in the Fair Work Commission this week (10-16 June 2026). So, what is it — and why does this matter for you?
In 2024, the ANMF’s landmark Aged Care Work Value Case delivered significant wage increases for nurses and AINs across aged care. That win was only the beginning. The ANMF is now pursuing a second Work Value Case, seeking a 35% increase to minimum award wages under the Nurses Award 2020 for all RNs, midwives, ENs and AINs working outside aged care. Here’s why it’s important for you.
What an award is and why it matters
Most nurses, midwives and carers are covered by either the Nurses Award or an enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA).
An award sets the minimum legal wages and conditions for your role across the whole industry. An EBA, on the other hand, is a workplace‑specific agreement negotiated by your union that must provide conditions better than, or at least no less than, the award. In state-based industrial systems, the Nurses Award is also relevant as a national benchmark.
Even if you’re on an EBA, the Nurses Award still matters — it forms the baseline that EBAs must improve on, and Work Value Cases lift that baseline for everyone.
Key benefits of Awards
An award is an enforceable industrial instrument made by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). Awards provide a clear, national benchmark for wages and conditions, helping workers understand their rights and ensuring employers meet their obligations.
When award wages increase, related entitlements increase too — including penalties, shift loadings and allowances. This means improvements flow through your entire pay packet.
Once the Fair Work Commission varies an award, employers must comply. If they don’t, unions and regulators can take action to enforce your rights.
For nurses, midwives and carers, awards are especially important because they ensure your work is recognised and valued — and they provide a foundation for improving wages across the sector.
How Work Value Cases strengthen Awards
A Work Value Case is the process used to update an award when the current rates no longer reflect the true value of the work.
Many caring and nursing roles have been historically undervalued because they are female‑dominated professions. Awards — and Work Value Cases — help fix this by ensuring your work is properly recognised.
A Work Value Case is a mechanism to ensure awards remain accurate and fair over time. They allow the FWC to:
- reassess the nature, skill, responsibility and conditions of work
- remove gender‑based assumptions
- recognise invisible or previously overlooked skills
- update wages to reflect modern work requirements
If the Commission agrees the work has been undervalued, it can order significant increases to award wages — and those increases flow on to other entitlements.
This was what happened as a result of the ANMF’s Aged Care Work Value Case in which direct care workers, including nurses, PCWs and AINs in residential and home care received total increase of between 15-35% in their award wages.
Similarly, the nature of nurses, midwives and AINs’ work, level of skill and responsibility involved has changed significantly in settings outside of aged care — and wages have not kept up, says ANMF Federal Secretary Annie Butler. “The current rates of pay for employees working under the Nurses Award fail to properly value the full spectrum of skills required by nurses, midwives and AINs,” she said.
What this means for you as a member
Being part of the union means you have a voice in these cases. Your experiences, your evidence and your stories help demonstrate the true value of your work. When a Work Value Case succeeds, every worker covered by the award benefits —including those on EBAs, because EBAs must always sit above the award.
Why the Award matters — even if you’re on an EBA
Even if you’re covered by an EBA, the award baseline is one of the most important protections you have at work. It acts as the foundation that all EBAs must build on — and it delivers several key benefits:
• It guarantees a minimum safety net
No matter where you work, the award sets the lowest rate and conditions you can legally receive. This means employers can’t cut your pay or conditions below the award, even if you move workplaces or change roles.
• It lifts everyone up when award rates increase
When a Work Value Case increases award wages, those increases flow through to EBAs. EBAs must always sit above the award, so a higher award baseline strengthens future bargaining outcomes and protects your long‑term wage growth.
• It prevents a race to the bottom
Without a strong award, employers could undercut each other by lowering wages. The award stops this by setting a consistent minimum across the entire industry, protecting both workers and high‑quality employers.
• It ensures fairness across the sector
Awards help correct undervaluation — especially in female‑dominated professions like nursing, midwifery and care work. When the award baseline rises, it recognises the true value of your work and lifts standards across the whole workforce.
• It strengthens your bargaining power
A higher award baseline gives unions more leverage in negotiations. When the minimum goes up, the starting point for bargaining improves, helping secure better pay and conditions in EBAs.
For more information on the ANMF’s Work Value Case, including factsheets, visit the ANMF website here.
Updates are available on the Fair Work Commission here
The ANMJ will report on the hearings this week.
4 Responses
This has been a long time coming.
We have had to work hard to cover a large range of Nursing areas and keep up to date in all.
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across all aged, ability, disabilities, lifestyles and health condition, health status and literacy.
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I 100% support this. We in Primary Care need someone to speak up for us. We work extremely hard, and are very specialised nurses in our area.
Recruitment and retention is a nightmare, largely because of the poor rate of pay. Why would people come into GP land to earn way less than a hospital or a nursing home?
I remain in my current role because I do enjoy it & I like my coworkers. It also suits my family for me to do the hours I do.
But if money was my major focus, I would definitely be leaving.
I have dropped in pay rate since leaving the hospital but have only made this choice as it reduces travel costs and suits my family situation. You work just as hard in a GP Practice and are time constrained, I think we deserve better pay standards for what we do.! we have people’s lives in our hands every day, and someone can sit in an admin role and be paid more and not have to register every Year and keep up with CPD Requirements, another cost to the Nurse.
This is long overdue. I am currently working in a position that I believe is beyond my scope of practice as a Clinical Nurse in a financial sense. I know what I am capable of clinically and I know where my boundaries are. I’m currently practicing as a clinical Nurse however it has been recognised the position should be made into a Clinical Specialist Nurse position but this won’t happen because of money. If nurses across the board had significant pay rises they wouldn’t be doing jobs that are so underpaid whether it’s a CNS or a CN position.