Medical Union Warns Infrastructure Boost is Masking Workforce Crisis
The Doctors' Union has welcomed hospital capital investments in the 2026-27 NSW Budget but warns that uncompetitive salaries continue to compromise public healthcare safety.
Harry Taruva 
Sydney, Australia — The state’s primary medical union has cautioned that the New South Wales (NSW) Government’s landmark AU$10.3 billion health funding expansion will fail to stabilise the public hospital system unless structural deficits in medical workforce recruitment and retention are immediately addressed.
Reviewing the outlays detailed in the NSW Budget 2026–27, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF) NSW acknowledged an AU$11.9 billion capital works program slated to deliver 32 new and upgraded hospitals and 2,500 additional beds.
The union also welcomed targeted regional upgrades, including three new emergency helicopter bases and expanded specialised services.
However, ASMOF leadership warned that physical infrastructure expansions will remain operationally restricted unless the state addresses working conditions that have left NSW medical practitioners among the lowest paid nationwide.
"The real test of this Budget is not simply whether more money has been allocated to health, but whether it strengthens the medical workforce that underpins the public hospital system," said ASMOF NSW President Dr. Nicholas Spooner.
"NSW continues to have the lowest-paid doctors in the country and some of the most challenging working conditions. Dedication is not a workforce plan," he said.
The union highlighted the budget’s allocation of AU$26.5 million to the NSW Health Locum Agency as clear evidence of a continued, costly reliance on temporary staffing pools to manage permanent roster vacancies.
Recent reporting from the NSW Auditor-General established that annual state expenditure on sessional Visiting Medical Officer (VMO) services has reached AU$1.3 billion, functioning effectively as a casualised staffing pool.
ASMOF cited findings from the Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding, which identified direct correlations between chronic understaffing, practitioner fatigue and elevated risks to patient safety.
The union urged the government to implement a comprehensive, long-term workforce strategy rather than treating hospital pressures as isolated budgetary line items.
