Every two years delegates from every state and territory come together to reflect on where we are and decide where we’re heading as a united voice for nurses, midwives and care workers.

For the Federal Office, it sets the course for the next two years. Together, we examine the issues shaping your working lives, the care you are able to provide, and how we continue to improve conditions across the country. Through your delegates, your voices help shape the national agenda.

This year’s BNC theme - “Productivity with Purpose: Empowering Nurses, Midwives and Care Workers” - couldn’t be timelier. Right now, there’s a national conversation, led by policymakers, about productivity, which includes delivering quality care more efficiently, and how it connects to economic recovery, workforce planning, and service sustainability.

But productivity can’t just be about doing more with less. Not for us.

Real productivity - the kind that actually improves care and makes a difference must be purposeful. It means having the tools, time, and trust to do our jobs safely and well. That means safe staffing levels; fair pay; proper recognition of our skills; investment in education and professional development, and workplaces where we feel safe, supported, and respected.

Purposeful productivity lifts everyone - patients, staff, and systems. Overall, good productivity sees everyone’s living standards rise, driven by investment in people, research, innovation, and inclusive management that values the workforce. Advancing productivity also means promoting gender equity and eliminating discrimination that holds back our national economic potential.

I’ve had the privilege of attending several productivity roundtables, including, health, disability and ageing economic reform; skills attraction, development and mobility; and climate and economic reform.

These forums provide us with a vital seat at the table, ensuring the voices of nurses, midwives, and care workers are heard at the highest levels of policy-making. They allow us to challenge outdated economic narratives and highlight the true value our professions bring to health, aged care, and the broader economy. Most importantly, they affirm that your daily work is being recognised as essential to building not just a more productive system, but a fairer Australia.

Our latest powerful campaign is Nurses and Midwives for Peace. In response to the horrific attacks on healthcare in Gaza, where more than 95% of health services have been destroyed, our profession is standing up and speaking out.

Not just for Gaza, but for all conflict zones where health workers and facilities are under fire. Many of you have signed our open letter in solidarity with colleagues on the frontlines. Your messages of care and courage are being delivered to them by the Red Cross because no nurse or midwife should ever be a target.

We will also launch a petition at the Biennial National Conference, calling on the Government to act against these horrendous crimes targeting healthcare in conflict zones. I encourage you to visit the campaign page on this website to add your signature when launched.

These acts of solidarity matter. They send a powerful message: that nurses and midwives around the world stand together, even in the darkest times.

Thank you for being part of this collective force - for showing up, speaking out, and standing strong. Whether it’s fighting for safer workplaces, pushing for reform, or standing in solidarity with our global colleagues, we’re in this together.

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