Question - Nurses

1. How many agency nurses are currently working across both Canberra Hospital and North Canberra Hospital.
2. How many of the agency nurses, referred to in part (1), live outside of Canberra.
3. For those agency nurses who have travelled to Canberra for work from other states or territories, (a) how much money do they receive, per day, from living away from home allowances for (i) food, (ii) accommodation and (iii) travel to and from hospital for their shifts and (b) what is the hourly rate of pay.

(1) As of 13 October 2023, Canberra Health Services has 62 agency staff working within the service.

Canberra Hospital has 57 agency nursing and midwifery staff on longer term contracts, as opposed to day-to-day short-term relief, while North Canberra Hospital has five agency midwives.

(2) All 62 longer term agency staff live outside the ACT. 

(3) Allowances and pay rates differ between individual contracts and agencies. 

(3) (a) (i) For Canberra Hospital and North Canberra Hospital agency staff, a food allowance is not provided.

(ii) For Canberra Hospital agency staff, the accommodation allowance ranges from no allowance to $176 per night.

 For North Canberra Hospital agency staff, accommodation is provided up to $150 per night. 

(iii) For Canberra Hospital agency staff, flights or compensation if travelling by car are provided. In addition, some agency staff have taxi vouchers included in their contract as this is beneficial to staff who are unable to access public transport depending on the time of day. 

For North Canberra Hospital agency staff, allowances are provided to travel to Canberra. However, there are no allowances provided to travel to and from hospital for their shifts.

(3) (b) The agency staff on contracts with the Canberra Health Services range between a Registered Nurse/Midwife Level 1.1 to Registered Nurse/Midwife Level 1.8. The standard morning shift hourly rate for these contracts ranges between $57.08 to $155.81.