Archived Media Releases: 26 October 2006

ANF welcomes wage increase for low-paid workers

The Australian Nursing Federation welcomes the announcement of a $27.36 weekly wage increase for Australia’s lowest paid workers.

ANF Federal Secretary Jill Iliffe said the increase will benefit nurses covered by Awards who haven’t been able to secure union collective agreements.

‘Nurses employed in workplaces not covered by union collective agreements will benefit from today’s decision by the Fair Pay Commission. The ANF is pleased to see the Commission adopt a fair and reasonable approach in this instance. We also welcome the announcement that there will be another decision handed down in the middle of 2007.’

Ms Iliffe said the decision vindicates the ‘fair and reasonable’ nature of previous national wage case decisions made by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC).

‘The move by the Howard Government to take the wage setting responsibility from the AIRC was unnecessary and in setting up the Fair Pay Commission they have wasted a great amount of taxpayer money. We hope the AFPC will continue to deliver the low-paid wage justice in the future.’

Media Contacts
Jill Iliffe, Federal Secretary  0419 576 590
Ged Kearney, Assistant Federal Secretary 0417 053 322

The ANF, representing 150,000 members, is the professional and industrial voice for nurses and midwives in Australia