We deserve better: Healthscope campaign

Healthscope has been bought by a group of health care employers made up of Calvary Health Care, Healthe Care, Acurio Services, and KnG Group. KnG Group will not be taking over any hospitals in NSW. The table below outlines each hospital’s new employer:

Calvary Health Care will take on the largest number of Healthscope hospitals in NSW. It is a Catholic not-for-profit that currently operates hospitals in Kogarah, Newcastle, and Wagga Wagga.

Healthe Care will take on only one NSW hospital – Prince of Wales Private Hospital. Healthe Care operates 13 other private hospitals and day procedure centres in NSW.

Acurio Services will take on Campbelltown, Nepean, and Sydney South West Private Hospitals. Acurio operates The George Centre and Sydney Day Hospital.

All three new hospital employers are well-known to your union.

The sale is expected to be finalised on 30 November 2026, subject to relevant regulatory approvals and other conditions.

There has been no indication in public statements from the receivers or from the new operators that any hospital will close because of the sale.

There has been no indication in public statements from the receivers or from the new employers that there will be any job losses because of the sale.

In Healthscope’s initial communications to staff on Monday, 14 September, they stated that ‘continuity of operations and certainty of employment for frontline hospital staff at each hospital are guaranteed’ under the sale agreements

There are protections in place for workers whose workplace is sold in the Fair Work Act 2009. The relevant provisions in the Act are called ‘transfer of business’ provisions. Your union is experienced in navigating these provisions and protecting your rights and entitlements.

Under these provisions, your current enterprise agreement (which does not pass its nominal expiry date until 30 June 2028) will continue to apply. This means that your pay and conditions in your enterprise agreement will be protected, including your next pay increase on 1 July 2027.

Members should be aware that the provisions in the Act allow the new employers (or your union) to apply to the Fair Work Commission to have their enterprise agreement cover their new employees. If this happens, you will have a say in whether this should happen through your union – the Fair Work Commission must consider whether there will be any disadvantage to workers because of such a change.

Your union is bargaining with Acurio Services, Healthe Care, and Calvary (for a single site, Calvary Riverina) for new enterprise agreements right now, and as with every enterprise agreement we bargain for, we are working to secure competitive pay and conditions for nurses and midwives in each agreement.

Your sick/carers leave and your long service leave (both accrued long service leave and length of service for determining eligibility for long service leave) will transfer to your new employment.

The new employers may decide not to transfer your accrued annual leave to your new employment. If this occurs, you will be entitled to have your accrued annual leave paid out to you with annual leave loading when your employment with Healthscope ends.

Generally, your service with Healthscope will have to be recognised by the new employer. This means that your service will continue across both employers for the purposes of determining your pay point, and for accessing entitlements like parental leave, which rely on you having at least 12 months’ continuous service before accessing the leave.

However, under the Act the new employer may decide not to recognise your service with Healthscope for the purpose of redundancy pay only.

Your union will shortly write to the new employers to seek commitments from them that they sponsor existing temporary visa holders.

We can refer members with questions about their visa status to Visa Assist, a service jointly run by the Refugee and Migrant Workers Centre and Unions NSW.

Any members whose visa expires within six months should call the union office and seek a referral to Visa Assist as a matter of urgency. Click here to contact us.

Generally, leave that has already been approved will need to be honoured by the new employer. Your union will shortly write to the new employers to seek a commitment to this end.

Arrangements such as these are generally offered only at the discretion of the employer, and do not automatically transfer across in the same way as your pay and conditions and accrued leave. We expect that your new employer will provide details about such arrangements in due course.

No. Your existing enterprise agreement requires your employer to provide uniforms free of cost.

Yes. The contract between you and Healthscope will need to be honoured by the new employer.

This will depend on the specific circumstances at your hospital. It is not expected that the sale will result in any significant change to existing parking arrangements.

We know this is a really difficult time for members. If you’re feeling stressed or anxious and need further support beyond the topics covered here, you can contact Nurses and Midwives Support at www.nmsupport.org.au or 1800 667 877