Nurses and midwives' union calls out 'gendered violence' after survey

Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union survey finds 'crisis level' workplace violence Wed 5 Aug 2026 at 5:33am In short: Eighty per cent of those surveyed by the Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union have experienced some form of workplace violence in the past 12 months. Union secretary Sarah Beaman says assaults are under-reported in female-dominated professions. What's next? A spokesperson for Minister for Health Tim Nicholls says the Crisafulli government has invested $8.7 million in new security enhancements across Queensland. In her almost 30 years as a nurse, Annalise* has been "punched, kicked, spat on" and even bitten on the face by a patient. When she reported the incident to her manager, she was told to "stick an alco wipe on it" and keep working. "It was terrifying," Annalise said. "The patient who had bitten me on the face had a mouthful of rotten teeth and horrible oral hygiene. "But we just buckle up, we just get on with it, and we go back to work because that's what we signed up for." Annalise's experience is not unique. The Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union (QNMU) has today released data from a tri-annual survey of its members about the rate of occupational violence in healthcare settings. Of the 8,754 survey respondents, about 80 per cent reported they had experienced some form of workplace violence in the past year. Just under 2,000 respondents said they were physically attacked, while others reported verbal, psychosocial, racial and sexual assault. The union's survey results, similar to its previous survey in 2023, mirrored data released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) last month. The AIHW report found healthcare workers, particularly women, experienced some of the highest rates of work-related injuries in the country. Union calls out 'gendered violence' QMNU secretary Sarah Beaman said violence against nurses and midwives was at a "crisis level". "Ten years ago, the data showed that occupational violence was an issue," Ms Beaman said. "It's no longer an emerging issue. It's an absolute emergency." She said workplace violence against nurses and midwives was not taken as seriously as occupational incidents in male-dominated professions, including mining and construction. "We have a health and safety system that is hyper-focused on male-dominated injuries … like a fall from a height or a chemical spill," Ms Beaman said. "If we had this much injury occurring around people getting silicosis, coal dust, asbestosis or building sites being dangerous, I can tell you this would not be tolerated." Verbal abuse was the most prevalent form of workplace violence recorded in the QMNU survey at 74 per cent, followed by physical attacks in 35 per cent of responses. Nearly all physical attacks on nurses and midwives were carried out by patients. Ms Beaman said patient attacks were particularly prevalent in aged care facilities with cognitively impaired patients. Annalise said she had been working in an aged care facility when she was bitten by a patient. "A lot of staff are under-reporting because it's just an accepted practice that the patients don't know what they're doing in these instances," she said. Ms Beaman said there was a "deeply concerning" level of normalisation around assault in hospitals and health services. "We know that nurses and midwives quite often put the care of their patients before themselves," she said. "But we are talking about serious injuries and we're also talking about this being a primarily female-dominated profession … this is gendered violence." Most injuries go unrecorded There are currently no regulatory requirements for hospitals and health services to report every incident of violence to the state workplace health and safety regulator. Only "notifiable incidents", defined as assaults that result in serious injury or illness, must be reported to the Office of Industrial Relations. The union says most assaults against nurses and midwives go unrecorded. "The most common injuries do not require hospitalisation and therefore that data is not seen beyond the health service," Ms Beaman said. "This means that employers or nurses, whether it's public, private, or aged care … currently have no mandatory reporting process within a statutory pathway for investigation or prosecution of offences, including rape within the workplace." Ambassadors for safety The QNMU is calling on the Crisafulli government to strengthen reporting requirements, bolster security in healthcare settings and expand the Healthcare Ambassador program. The ambassador program, introduced as a trial at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in late 2020 under the Labor government, stationed people trained in de-escalation at sites like emergency departments to handle high-stress incidents with patients. A spokesperson for Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Tim Nicholls said the Queensland government was "not sitting idly by" when it came to workplace violence. "Healthcare workers, patients and the community deserve to feel safe and supported in all Queensland Health facilities," the spokesperson said. They said the Crisafulli government had invested $8.7 million for new security enhancements in Queensland since taking office. The spokesperson said there were now a total of 104 healthcare ambassadors at more than 70 clinical areas in Queensland. *surname withheld for privacy reasons