Nurses after the War

Nurses after the War

Nurses after the War

Timeline

1899 Australasian Trained Nurses' Association ( ATNA ) founded in Sydney;

1901 Founding of the Commonwealth of Australia

Nurses' Registration Act (NZ)

1906 ATNA examination now compulsory for membership

1909 Tasmania forms branch of ATNA (all States other than Vic now represented within ATNA).

1912 Queensland establishes first Nurses' Registration Board in Australia.

1914 - 1918 WW1

1919 End First World War. Nurses Registration Act (UK).

1920 Nurses Registration Act (South Australia).

1921 Western Australian Nurses Registration Act.

1923 Victorian Nurses Registration Act

1924 New South Wales Parliament passes Nurses' Registration Act.

NSW

1924 New South Wales Parliament passes Nurses' Registration Act.

Registers of Nurses

• Index to the Registers of Nurses 1926-54

The first formal training schools for nurses in New South Wales were established at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and at St Vincents Hospital in 1882.

The training period was two years and increased to three years in 1903.

Each hospital conducted its own nursing examinations. The first external formal nursing examinations were held in 1906 under the auspices of the Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association.

1924 - The Nurses Registration Act (No. 37 1924) hailed the commencement of government regulation of the profession in New South Wales.

QLD

1912 Queensland establishes first Nurses' Registration Board in Australia.

Nurses examinations 1915-1925

• Abbott - Zeller (PDF, 274KB)
• Nurses examinations 1915-1925 (CSV, 199KB)

In Queensland the Florence Nightingale system of training nurses was established and the Brisbane General Hospital became the first training centre in 1886. Regional hospitals followed suit, while religious and private hospitals also provided training. By the end of the 19th century there were a large number of trained nurses throughout Australia, prompting the establishment of the Australasian Trained Nurses Association in 1899, with membership offered only to those with hospital accreditation.

The Queensland branch was formed in 1904 and began lobbying for registration of nurses.

Success came in 1912 when Queensland established a Nurses Registration Board for general, midwifery and mental nurses — the first of its kind in Australia.

Under the Health Act 1911 general, midwifery and mental health nurses in Queensland were registered and were to be given preferential employment in hospitals covered by the Hospitals Acts. A state syllabus, examinations and a common period of training of three years in a hospital was introduced. Within 12 months 1401 nurses were registered in Queensland.

In 1921 nurses formed the union Queensland Nurses Association under the Industrial Arbitration Act 1916 to advocate for improved conditions and wages. Nurses worked long hours and were poorly paid, with a senior nurse earning £103 per annum and a teacher £195 and clerks £182.Senior nurses’ salaries were increased to £120-£160 in 1921. Hours worked were 112 per fortnight in 1921, reduced to 88 in 1925 and 80 in 1930.

Under the Hospitals Act 1923 hospitals were categorised into three-, four- and five-year training hospitals, largely dependent on their size. Sectional exams at the end of each year were introduced, rather than a final exam in the third year.

S. Aust

The Royal District Nursing Society of South Australia, initially the District Trained Nursing Society (D.T.N.S.), was inaugurated on 12 July 1894

1920 Nurses Registration Act (South Australia).

Tas

1909 Tasmania forms branch of ATNA

• GENERAL NURSE TRAINING REGISTER. 1922 - 1991
• NURSES REGISTRATION BOARD

Vic

1923 Victorian Nurses Registration Act

Registration Lists of Victorian Nurses in the Victorian Government Gazette 1926 - 1958

W. Aust

1921 Western Australian Nurses Registration Act.

1st Published : 29 Jan 2015 Page Updated: 3 Oct 2020 © Looking for the Evidence : Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )