The Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) is warning that nurses will leave the sector after it failed to secure a two-year delay to the award modernisation process in NSW and Queensland.

The decision from the Australian Industrial Relations Commission means some aged care nurses would have their weekly pay slashed by up to $300, according to the nurses’ union.

The existing state awards in NSW and Queensland were higher than the new, national pay rates which will come into effect in July.

The ANF’s acting federal secretary, Lee Thomas said the commission’s decision “devalued” nurses at a time when economic conditions are difficult.

“We have just come out of the global financial crisis, the value of mortgages is increasing, interest rates are on the way up, the cost of petrol is potentially going up to $1.45 this year and all of those things impact on family budgets,” she said.

“When people have to make decisions about what they can and can’t afford, their take-home weekly wage is an important consideration.”

Despite initially supporting the ANF, Workplace Relations Minister, Julia Gillard has defended the commission’s decision, saying aged care nurses in NSW and Queensland can obtain a legal order to maintain their pay levels.

“Any aged care nurse who has got a concern can talk to Fair Work Australia, talk to their union and if they feel they have a legitimate concern can approach Fair Work Australia for a ‘take home pay order’,” Ms Gillard told Channel Nine’s Today program.

However Ms Thomas said ‘take home pay orders’ are not an ideal solution. While the ANF is considering the option, she said it would create another burden for members.

“I think the issue is that you have to have suffered the loss to make an application for a ‘take home pay order’,” she said. “They have a retrospective nature.

“The other issue with ‘take home pay orders’ is that it appears that you would have to make an application for them on an individual basis.

“That means that every person who suffers a loss would have to make an application themselves and even if we were doing it as class action, it would be quite difficult to identify the class.”

In the industry there has been a mixed reaction to the award modernisation process.

The CEO of Aged Care Association Australia (ACAA), Rod Young said his organisation regretted the commission’s decision to have two aged care awards – one for nurses and one for aged care workers.

“We argued that as an industry, we are a comprehensive workforce and it would have been better to have had all the employees under the one instrument,” he said.

However Mr Young added that the base rates of the modern awards were set at a sensible level.

“The commission, in a fairly logical decision making process, has set base pay rates at a relatively low level to ensure there is then some flexibility in the transition process,” he said.

“There is room for negotiation between the appropriate parties but the commission’s decisions have not added a significant, extra cost burden for employers.”