A year of unprecedented events in Australia and across the world hit everyone hard.

Economic, physical and emotional damages were all expected side effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet the unexpected came in the form of harming those who were at the frontline, with a large reporting of assaults recorded for frontline emergency workers. 

This week, Premier Dominic Perrottet announced a commitment to better protections for frontline workers, with new offences being introduced that align assaulting frontline workers with existing penalties for assaulting NSW police officers and other law enforcement officers. 

The commitment followed the NSW Sentencing Council’s report on Assaults on Emergency Services Workers, where contributors including the NSW Rural Fire Association, Australian Paramedics Association (NSW) and Youth Justice NSW reported their concerns. 

In 2021 alone, Australia saw through the media covid-testing workers getting verbally and physically attacked, and the confronting image of a police horse Tobruk being struck in the mouth during a Sydney protest against public health orders. 

Deputy Premier Paul Toole said the new offences recognise the people putting their lives on the line everyday to serve the community.

“Aligning the penalties for assaulting emergency service workers with the penalties for assaulting NSW police officers reflects their importance in our community, and will help safeguard against unruly culprits who think they are above the law,” Mr Toole said

The NSW Government will go further than the recommendations from the report, choosing to include firefighters, SES workers and frontline workers from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service under the new offence laws. 

Earlier this year, the ABC reported several cases of abuse suffered by then Bourke-based nurses, where they had been threatened and physically attacked. 

After various incidents, the University of Sydney suspended its student nurse placements in Bourke. 

Since the February report, the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) says it has implemented more security after the incidents, including 24/7 security personnel presence and increased lighting.

Yet the nurses claimed it was ‘unfair’ that the audit was only done when the story got media attention, not when the cases of abuse were reported four years prior. 

While the lack of current separate assault offences against frontline workers means the data is difficult to track, a 2020 study found that 24 per cent of nurses and midwives in NSW had experienced physical assaults over their career. 

Frontline health workers, emergency services staff, correctional and youth justice officers will all be included in the new offences. 

The Government aims to introduce legislation to give effect to these reforms by mid-2022.