Election of Rosemary Bryant to Presidency of the International Council of Nurses

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1 July 2009

Australia’s Chief Commonwealth Nurse, Rosemary Bryant, has been elected President of the International Council of Nurses.

Ms Bryant was last year appointed as Australia’s first Chief Commonwealth Nurse, to ensure there was strong representation to Government on behalf of our highly skilled nursing and midwifery workforce.

Prior to her appointment as Chief Commonwealth Nurse, Ms Bryant held a range of positions including Executive Director of the Royal College of Nursing, Director of Nursing Policy and Planning in the Victorian Government, and the Director of Nursing at Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Ms Bryant’s election comes a week after the Rudd Government introduced historic legislation to give eligible midwives and nurse practitioners access to Medicare and to prescribe medications listed on the PBS.

This legislation is a key plank of the Government’s $120.5 million maternity reform package, improving the choices for Australian women in accessing high quality, safe maternity care, as well as providing support for the maternity services workforce.

The legislation will also facilitate the Government’s $59.7 million budget commitment to expand the role of nurse practitioners in Australia. Nurse practitioners will now be supported to work to their full potential and provide care in the most appropriate settings, such as aged care facilities, primary care settings or people’s homes.

Ms Bryant has played an important role in this reform process.

I congratulate Ms Bryant on her election as President of the International Council of Nurses.

For more information contact the Ministers office on 02 6277 7220