Nurses anticipated the bare minimum after fighting for Australia for two years on the frontlines. That is a free parking spot so they don't have to travel 15 minutes to their car in the middle of the night, alone and vulnerable after a 12-hour shift. They want the state government to intervene, but no one is listening.
It is clear that there is little to no off-street parking, public transportation is limited, and the nearest train stations are often 15-20 minutes away. Nurses are obliged to pay $23.60 per week or $1200 per year for an assigned parking spot, in which there is still not enough room for everyone.
Nurses across the country are criticising the government for ignoring their concerns and continuing to impose daily fines of up to $40.
The community is outraged, and rightly so.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) General Secretary, Brett Holmes, says that
"Despite being on the COVID-19 frontline for twelve challenging months, and the vaccine rollout in its infancy, the government wants to slug nurses, midwives, and all other health staff with paid parking at public hospitals."
"These women and men have barely received a 0.3 percent increase in their pay and already the government wants them to open their wallets again. It's a disgrace."
"For some, that's more than $1,200 a year in parking fees that they'll need to find within their family budgets."
For many of the pandemic heroes, this has been a slap in the face. That is why we want to help. We can't change the cost of parking, but we can provide you with a tool that assures you're safe on your way to and from your car.
We've pledged to donate 1.8 million subscriptions to the Safely app to all health care workers.
Simply download Safely from the Apple App Store or Google Play store, use the offer code 'TYFRONTLINE,' and select 'Free for the first 12 months.' You'll be asked for your bank account information, but you won't be charged until after 12 months, at which point you'll be allowed to unsubscribe.
Safely gives you access to:
High Alert mode
Press and hold the Safely button to activate the high alert mode and simply release it when you want to set off an alarm. —
- You can set a timer to go off after a specific amount of time
- Trigger an immediate alarm
- Discretely start recording an incident with the option of triggering an alarm if things escalate.
Points of Interest
Add your points of interest (POI) and receive danger alerts if anything happens in these areas. You can add your home, work, partner's house, or anywhere you want to receive incident alerts from. You can also use the heads-up feature to automatically update your guardians when you leave and arrive at your POI.
Safely Circles
Create a private group with circles that you can keep an eye on while also being protected. This may be your family, coworkers, or friends. More specifically circles are about taking a proactive step to protect the people who matter most to you by:
- Pinpointing where members are on a map
- Circle chats (coming soon)
- Invisible Mode
*Members will receive an invitation and always have the choice to opt-out.*
