The industrial and professional organisation for nurses and midwives in Australia
Canberra Office (Professional Services)
Unit 3, 28 Eyre Street Kingston ACT 2604
Australia
PO Box 4239 Kingston ACT 2604 Australia
+ 61 2 6232 6533 (T) + 61 2 6232 6610 (F)
anfcanberra@anf.org.au
Melbourne Office (Industrial Services)
Level 1, 365 Queen Street Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia
+ 61 3 9602 8500 (T) + 61 3 9602 8567 (F)
industrial@anf.org.au
anfmelbourne@anf.org.au
ANF Journals
Australian Nursing Journal
Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing
anj@anf.org.au ajan@anf.org.au
ABN 41 816 898 298
media release
Nurses call on Independents and Liberals to
support landmark health reforms
25 October 2010
The Australian Nursing Federation is pleased major reforms to the health system have
finally begun with legislation that sees the Commonwealth Government take majority
funding responsibility for public hospitals.
However ANF assistant federal secretary Yvonne Chaperon called on the federal
government not to delay with release of the details, saying the long awaited legislation
needs to be explained to health workers and their patients.
“Nurses have been calling for major reforms in the health sector for a long time and
therefore welcome the introduction of legislation this week,” Ms Chaperon said.
She said it was important the issue received endorsement from key political decision
makers. “We call on the Independent Members of Parliament and the Liberal MPs to
support the legislation in the House of Representatives.”
“It is vital that debate begin and the details of these reforms are released in order to
ensure a positive result. Nurses are the largest health workforce and must therefore
play a key role in the consultation process.”
“While we are still waiting on more detail, we support legislation that ensures
Commonwealth funding for each service at a hospital.”
“The ANF also supports improvements in primary care and prevention. This includes
tackling major issues in the aged care sectors which will ultimately take pressure off
the hospital system into the future.”
“Australians largely supported these reforms proposed by Labor in the 2010 election
and any measures to relieve the workplace stress and burden nurses experience in
rural and remote areas and in major metro cities will ultimately benefit all
Australians.”
Media Contact
Eleni Hale, Media, (03) 9602 8522 / 0458 892 999
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