Postcode lottery: Do Australian children have equal access to school nurses?

A new Edith Cowan University (ECU) study has highlighted the need for a national approach to school nursing, with research suggesting Australian students receive varying levels of support depending on their school and location. Dr. Anita Moyes from ECU's School of Nursing and Midwifery is the lead author of the study published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, which mapped the scope of nursing work and models of delivery in Australian primary and secondary schools.

In a time when Australian children are going to school with increasingly complex health needs, Dr. Moyes said students need access to school nurses now more than ever.

"Australia has had school nurses for many decades, but research investigating what they do and how these services are organized has lagged," Dr. Moyes said. "Our study shows school nurses provide a wide range of interventions, but access is highly inequitable."

Dr. Moyes explained there are inconsistencies in services provided in states and territories, education sector and school type.

"School nurses should be available to all Australian children, no matter where they live or where they go to school," Dr. Moyes said. "Our study suggests that families and young people have access to vastly different nursing services in schools depending on arbitrary factors such as geographical location.

"This is incredibly unfair, and it's because we don't have a national approach to nursing services in schools."

Let the teachers teach and nurses nurse

The World Health Organization recommends comprehensive school health services be provided by health workers, not teachers. However, Dr. Moyes said teachers are often tasked with responding to student health needs and the demand is now so great it's outstripping capacity.

"A high proportion of Australian children have additional health and developmental needs," Dr. Moyes said. "Australian school staff, such as teachers and education assistants, regularly administer student medications, respond to acute life-threatening emergencies such as anaphylaxis and serious medical conditions including diabetes and epilepsy. Some of the most vulnerable children have the least access to school nurses."

She noted that health needs in schools were becoming increasingly complex, ranging from administering medication to how concussion is managed—and this shouldn't be up to teachers or administration staff to oversee.

"I have a lot of respect for schools and teachers and see the impact that these extra demands are having on them. Yet we have this workforce of registered nurses who are entirely capable of providing high-level school health support, and we're not using them as effectively as we could."

The cure

Dr. Moyes said a national approach to school nursing service delivery, policy and workforce planning would make things more equitable for children, families and schools.

"Australian school students and their families are the most impacted by this lack of equity," she said. "But it also has implications for schools who are wrestling with increasingly complex student health needs.

"It is really unfair, and a national approach to school nursing would help fix this inequity."

Dr. Moyes said there is a real opportunity to strengthen school nursing service delivery, leading to better outcomes for children and young people.

"The bottom line is healthy children learn better," she said. "A reimagined approach should be one that recognizes and builds upon the existing workforce and values the expertise nurses bring to schools."

More information:
Anita Moyes et al, Scope of Nursing Work and Models of Service Delivery in Australian Primary and Secondary Schools: A Scoping Review, Journal of Advanced Nursing (2026). DOI: 10.1111/jan.70562

Provided by Edith Cowan University