'Deserved': Bendigo nurses vote unanimously for 28.4 per cent pay increase

The in-principle agreement was reached between the nurse and midwife union and the state government, after union members voted against the previous offer in a shock decision.

All allowances and penalties would increase by more than 28 per cent by the end of the agreement in November 2027.

The increase means a graduate nurse or midwife currently earning $1298.60 a week would earn $1667.60 a week in four years.

Bendigo members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation voted unanimously for the new offer, cheering and clapping when the terms were read out via video link from Melbourne.

Nurses in other regional areas, including Mildura and Shepparton, also voted in favour unanimously.

Bendigo Health nurse Monique O'Brien, who works on the neurological rehabilitation ward, said she was happy the negotiations were over.

"There's no more sort of unknown and waiting [for] what our future holds," she said.

"There's a lot more clarification."

Ms O'Brien said nurses had been impassioned to fight for better working conditions and pay.

"We know how hard we work and we know what we deserve," she said.

"We work 24 hours, seven days a week ... we do that because we do love our jobs, but we're entitled to be paid well for it and [have] better allowances for the things that we do miss out on."

The new offer came after 51 days of industrial action starting on Tuesday, May 7.

That action would now cease.

On May 20, unionised nurses rejected the government's offer of a 12.55 per cent wage increase and cash bonuses.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Victoria secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said the previous offer had "uncertainties" and members wanted the union to come back with more clarification over their pay.

"We have done that, and we've secured a significant gender equity wage increase for a nursing and midwifery workforce that is 89 per cent female," she said.

"There is still much work to do to acknowledge nurses and midwives work through the pandemic and address current workforce and staffing pressures so that nurses and midwives can start to love their work again.

"The wages and new and improved allowances and penalties and terms and conditions are designed to retain our early career and experienced nurses and midwives, recruit new nurses and midwives and start to rebuild our health system."

The new offer had several "key improvements" according to the ANMF, including a change of ward allowance to compensate nurses and midwives when they are moved from their base ward to "encourage employers to stop using redeployment as a business-as-usual rostering practice".

It also included a "right to disconnect clause" which encouraged employers to fill shifts so that nurses and midwives are not continually contacted to work shifts they are not seeking.

The qualifying period for parental leave had also been reduced from six months to zero.

Industrial officer Mike Cornthwaite said Bendigo nurses and midwives should be proud of their campaign for better conditions.

"There's been a bit of confusion around the last offer and some intense debate within the membership, but we're just really happy for our Bendigo members," he said.

"Especially over the last month or so, they've been really, really active.

"[They] really stepped up their campaign and did some real public facing activities... our members everywhere have fought really hard for this through the campaign."