Two South Australian nurses who volunteered to help treat elderly people infected during Victoria's second wave of coronavirus will be paid while in quarantine after raising concerns they could be left out of pocket.
Tanya Clarke, from Mt Gambier, worked with COVID-19 positive patients in aged care at Melbourne's Epping Private Hospital during almost eight weeks of stage-four restrictions.
Julie Wigzell, from Adelaide, spent seven weeks working at the same facility.
Both nurses, who were contracted through agency Healthcare Australian and who have since tested negative to COVID-19, raised concerns on Friday that they would not be paid for the two weeks they have to spend in isolation on their return to SA.
Ms Clarke is due to head back to the state on Monday, when she will begin her 14-day lockdown.
Ms Wigzell is currently in her sixth day of quarantine at the Pullman Adelaide hotel in the city's Hindmarsh Square.
"I just feel we've helped out and contributed to the health of Victorians, we should be remunerated," Ms Clarke said in a statement issued by the SA branch of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation.
"We were told we would be paid and then all of a sudden the goalposts changed."
ANMF SA Branch Secretary Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars advocated on the nurses' behalf.
But Healthe Care Australia, which operates the Epping hospital, said the nurses were "true heroes" and would be paid while in isolation.
"We commend all of the nurses who volunteered to move interstate to work in our facilities, supporting those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in Victoria," Healthe Care Australia acute services chief executive Tim Yeoh said.
"They are true heroes, who willingly put their own health and wellbeing at risk to support some of the most vulnerable members of our community.
"At no stage have we considered not paying the nurses for their time with us, including the period spent in mandatory quarantine."
