I am a Registered Nurse with post-grad qualifications in Emergency Nursing.

I have worked at the NSWNMA for 9 years as an Organiser, Lead Organiser, Manager and the Assistant General Secretary before my election to General Secretary by NSWNMA Council in July this year. 

I was Campaign Coordinator for the 2018/2019 PHS Ratios Campaign and oversaw the NSWNMA’s participation in the national campaign in aged care which culminated in the new federal government’s commitment to ratios in the sector. 

 Before working at the Association I worked at Campbelltown ED and joined the NSWNMA as a new grad. 

Early in my career, like many nurses, I thought the challenges I was experiencing were because of my own inadequacies.

However, after a few years, I realised I was a good nurse and it was the system that was broken and even the best nurses, the ones I really admired as the best clinicians, were struggling too. I realised the system was so broken it was actually unsafe, and at times caused harm to people.

My first organising effort was to pull together a small group of like-minded colleagues to start a small but successful staffing campaign. We collected damning data, challenged senior management on safety and staffing practices, and eventually secured an additional resus nurse in our ED. 

That experience showed me how the system was stacked against us as nurses, even though we were trying to improve care for our patients. I realised that nurses and midwives in all hospitals were facing the same challenges that I faced, so I applied for a job at the Association as it would give me the best chance to make real and lasting improvements for our professions.  

In my roles at the NSWNMA I have led community and workplace campaigns for better conditions and safer environments for our members, patients and aged care residents.

There are significant challenges facing our union and I am determined that we continue to fight for real and measurable improvements to our members, across all sectors.

I want us to consider what the future of the Nursing and Midwifery professions should be here in NSW and then strive to achieve this.  

I want the NSWNMA to continue to play its role as one of the leading unions in NSW and in the broader union movement.

I want our members to be proud of their profession and to earn a decent living with good conditions.

I want us to work together as a union to use our influence to achieve social justice for our communities, so our families can access the healthcare and aged care they deserve.

These communities cannot survive without the professionalism and dedication our members bring to the health and aged care systems.   

On a personal note: I am a mum of 2 boys - aged 7 and 2 - and we live with my husband in Wollongong. I understand well the time challenges of juggling work and family and the cost-of-living and other financial pressures many families face.