Darwin, Alice Springs healthcare workers strike over government’s ‘kick in the guts’ pay deal
A pay deal which is the equivalent of a ‘kick in the guts’ – according to one podiatry manager – has led to a walkout in hospitals across the Territory.
Close to 100 unionised healthcare workers have walked off the job across the Territory, over a government pay deal one podiatry manager is calling a “kick in the guts”.
Between 10am and 11am Wednesday, the workers walked out of Territory facilities, including in Darwin and Alice Springs Hospital, chanting opposition to the government’s latest Public Service Enterprise Agreement.
The latest agreement, which has capped wage and benefit increases at three per cent, is a “kick in the guts,” Alice Springs Hospital podiatry manager Sally Lamond said.
“We have tried to negotiate, our unions tried to negotiate OCPE (Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment) to bring forth some of the issues that we’re facing and they have basically not been listened to,” she said.
The walk offs were part of a protected industrial action, with staff still in the hospital making sure patients were seen too.
Members from the Health Services Union (HSU) and the United Workers gathered in Alice Springs, while in Darwin dozens, from laundry staff and kitchen aides to doctors and biomedical scientists, rallied and chanted in solidarity.
“The government needs to look after us, we as staff work so hard,” said Royal Darwin Hospital laundry worker Tausi Sululu Emerance.
“Everything is very expensive … and we will continue to [rally] until the government supports us.”
In Alice Springs, before the action took off, a flash mob of union members danced to Respect by Aretha Franklin outside the main entrance to the hospital.
Addressing the crowd in Alice Springs, HSU SA/NT organiser Angela Osborn-Johnson said the current pay for health workers did not “reflect the complexity, intensity, and responsibility” of the work they do.
“I walked through this (Alice Springs) hospital yesterday and I was devastated by the conditions and the number of vacancies across the board,” she said.
“What’s considered ‘normal’ staffing here would never be accepted in many other parts of the country. This place has been forgotten — and that is not okay.”
A recent pay rise to pollies and police members had the union members who walked out chanting “what about health” while also voicing their intention to vote no to the government latest deal: a further one per cent pay rise.
“You stay because you give a s**t. But goodwill does not pay rent. Commitment does not fix vacancies. Care alone cannot hold up a broken system,” Ms Osborn-Johnson said in Alice Springs.
RDH catering assistant Sevasti Moraitis said it was “a struggle to survive” under the current pay agreement, citing rising insurance costs and food prices.
“It feels like we are nothing,” she said.
“We’ve all had to cut a lot of stuff out of our lives to live with dignity; we can’t do that anymore.”
She called on the government to “be fair”.
Territory Pathology medical scientist Jaimee Harbidge said healthcare workers were “already suffering” enough because they were overworked and underpaid, leading many to transfer interstate.
“I can jump across to Queensland and get a $30,000 raise for the same position, but I want to be here in the Territory,” she said.
She said the government “definitely” undervalued Territory healthcare workers and “didn’t seem to understand the diversity of allied health”.
“We’re going to vote no, so please meet us at the negotiation table to give us a fairer wage,” she added.
NT Public Service minister Jo Hersey, in a statement on Wednesday, described the walk-offs as a political ploy orchestrated by a “known Labor operative” who should have “come to the bargaining table instead of playing political games over the pay and conditions of our hardworking allied health workers.”
“The Secretary of HSU SA/NT Billy Elrick, a known Labor operative, just endorsed a 13.5 per cent pay rise over four years for South Australia’s allied health professionals where there is a Labor Government but is protesting over a 13.65 per cent pay rise over four years in the Northern Territory where we have a CLP Government,” she said.
NT Commissioner for Public Employment Nicole Hurwood said the latest pay offer was made on November 27, following a recommendation made by the Fair Work Commissioner.
The latest offer equates “to a minimum of 13.65 per cent over the life of the Agreement, along with other generous improvements,” she said.
“Voting for the new offer opens on Friday 5 December 2025, closing 15 December 2025. The decision as to whether employees think this is a fair offer rests with them.”
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Originally published as Darwin, Alice Springs healthcare workers strike over government’s ‘kick in the guts’ pay deal
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