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Thousands of workers to get $1,500 cash boost today

People walk the streets of Sydney and a person removing $50 notes in cash from a wallet.
Victorian health workers will receive the first half of their cash boost from today. (Source: Getty)

Thousands of healthcare workers in Victoria will get a $1,500 cash boost from today as part of the state's Healthcare Worker Winter Retention and Surge payment.

The workers will receive a total of $3,000, with the second instalment being paid out after September 30.

To be eligible for the full package, workers will need to have been employed by a public health service by July 1 and still be employed on September 30.

Those who started between July 1 and September 30 will be eligible for a pro-rata payment, providing an added incentive to help attract more staff to public hospitals.

The package also includes free meals for workers who put their hands up to work overnight shifts from July until the end of the year.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said the initiatives would not end the ongoing workforce challenges but were meant to represent a modest but meaningful way to support and retain staff.

“Our people are our health system’s greatest asset,” Andrews said when he announced the payments back in June.

“This is just one way for us to recognise and support their efforts and ensure nurses, doctors, paramedics, allied health and support staff are there when we need them most.”

NSW health workers also get cash boost

Health workers in New South Wales will also be getting a one-time $3,000 cash payment.

The payment was part of a broader public sector wages policy announced by the NSW government, which would see nurses, teachers and paramedics getting a pay rise.

The new two-year policy provided a 3 per cent pay increase per annum in 2022-23 and 2023-24, with a possible further 0.5 per cent on offer in 2023-24 for employees that made a substantial contribution to productivity-enhancing reforms.

The one-off payment of $3,000 to NSW Health employees was in recognition of their work on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The payment covered paramedics, midwives, cleaners and all other permanent staff employed by NSW Health.

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