July bill adds 253 nurses and midwives statewide
Victoria will lift nurse ratios at 26 public hospitals under legislation due in July. The change will add 253 equivalent full-time nurses and midwives across the state.
In July, the Victorian Government plans to introduce the Hospital Reclassification Review bill. It will affect emergency departments, intensive care units, and medical and surgical wards.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the bill is based on a fair and transparent review of agreed hospital data. Allan also said, “Today marks the most significant uplift in nurse/midwife to patient ratios in over 25 years in this state.”
Across regional Victoria, 17 of the 26 hospitals with improved ratios are outside metropolitan Melbourne. ANMF sought extra weighting for regional hospitals to reflect access and resourcing pressures.
Hospitals listed for improved nurse ratios include Maroondah Hospital, Mercy Women, Royal Women’s Hospital, Werribee Mercy, Angliss, Rosebud, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Victorian Heart Hospital and Sandringham.
Regional sites include Ballarat Base Hospital, Bendigo Health, Latrobe Regional Hospital, Shepparton, Bairnsdale, Echuca, Sale, Swan Hill, West Gippsland, Wimmera, Wodonga, Wonthaggi, Ararat, Colac, Wangaratta, Hamilton and Maryborough.
How classifications change staffing
More than 25 years ago, Victoria first grouped public hospitals into tiered levels. In 2015, the Safe Patient Care Act put those levels into ratio law.
Under the Act, hospitals must meet minimum nurse and midwife numbers in specified wards or beds. Each hospital’s classification sets the ratios it must follow.
For example, a level 1 hospital must staff a general medical or surgical ward with one nurse for every four patients on AM and PM shifts, plus a nurse in charge.
By contrast, a level 2 hospital needs one nurse for every four patients on the AM shift and one nurse for every five patients on the PM shift. A level 3 hospital has a legislated ratio of one nurse to six patients on the PM shift.
Patient acuity determines how many patients each nurse or midwife is allocated. Following the review, hospitals will also be classified using public data from the Victorian Agency for Health Information.
As a result, ANMF members and the wider community will be able to assess hospital demand, capacity and classification through public reporting. The Allan Labor Government has also committed that no hospital will go down a level in this first review.
ANMF (Vic Branch) Secretary Maddy Harradence said, “Public hospital classifications are central to Victoria’s world-leading nurse/midwife to patient ratios. This legislation ensures we remain at the forefront of nurse and midwife to patient ratios, and will mean more nurses and midwives to care for Victorians in our public hospitals.”
Years of advocacy by ANMF members led to the change. The package also delivers a long-awaited election commitment tied to safer care across Victoria.
Last updated: 29 June 2026, 11:45 am
