Nurses Opt for Better Salaries in Australia, NZ

Fiji cannot compete with the salaries and demand for nurses in Australia and New Zealand.

During a National Budget forum on Thursday in Suva, Minister for Finance Biman Prasad highlighted this when responding to concerns about Fiji's critical nursing shortage of 800 nurses.

"I mean, people are leaving from New Zealand to Australia. Australians are leaving for Europe," he said.

Dr Mosmi Bhim from the Fiji National University had raised concerns about the nursing shortage.

She questioned whether the Government's 23 per cent (20 per cent increase from last year's Budget and the 3 per cent increase this year) civil service salary increase would apply to nurses and what measures were being taken to retain them.

Mr Prasad acknowledged the global labour market restructuring following COVID-19 had created unprecedented migration pressures.

"So there is this huge post-COVID, there's been a labour market restructuring that has gone around the world," he said.

Large numbers of people have left good jobs in Fiji during 2022 and 2023 when Australia opened up 40-hour student visas.

Minister for Finance Biman Prasad.

Migration

Migration numbers were beginning to slow as people realised, "not everything is milk and honey on the other side".

Mr Prasad said nurses would benefit from the civil service salary rise of seven to 23 per cent and said the Government had provided additional funding to create new positions.

These changes are aimed to allow qualified nurses focus on clinical responsibilities rather than manual tasks.

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