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Thousands of NSW public hospital nurses have walked off the job in protest at inadequate staff-to-patient ratios, saying they are at breaking point and stretched too thin to give people the care they deserve.

Staff at around 150 public hospitals are participating in staggered strikes across the state, with a skeleton staff working to ensure patient safety as the COVID-19 pandemic .

Nurses want one nurse to every four patients on every shift, and a pay increase above the government's prescribed public sector offer of 2.5 per cent.

Protesters rallied outside NSW Parliament House in Sydney on Tuesday, taking their message to state MPs returning for the first sitting day of the year.

The rally was one of about 30 around the state, and comes as nurses continue to bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kelly Falconer, a clinical nurse specialist in emergency at Wyong Hospital, described current staffing levels as being similar to a war zone.

"There is no limit to what we see and deal with or the numbers. And, it's 24/7," she said.

"We are humans, and it's draining and soul destroying. Our job is much harder when we don't have adequate staffing."

Wollongong Hospital midwife, Sarah Morton, described how many colleagues are at breaking point.

"Midwives are unable to provide the minimum standard of care women and babies deserve," she said.

"The pride we used to feel in where we work, and serving our community, is dwindling because we are embarrassed by how broken the system is.

"We cannot meet the reasonable expectations of the community with these excessive workloads."

The strike is in defiance of an 11th hour ruling by the state's Industrial Relations Commission which on Monday ordered the union to refrain from industrial action.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard met with the union on Monday in an attempt to avert the action and said he was disappointed the strike went ahead.

"It's unfortunate ... there's been all sorts of efforts to try and work our way through their principle issues," he told Sydney radio 2GB on Tuesday.

NSW Nurses and Midwives Association president O'Bray Smith said the union was offered nothing at the meeting.

"Those 'crisis talks' were merely a tickbox so they could go to the IRC and the media and say 'oh, we tried'," she said.

The union's general secretary Brett Holmes said the thousands of health workers who turned out to protest demonstrated they are ready to fight and "stay fighting until we win".

Nurse-to-patient ratios are the main point of concern.

Mr Hazzard agreed there needed to be enough nurses to ensure patients are safely cared for, but says the union's demands would cost around $1 billion.

"I still need to be able to manage taxpayers' dollars and make sure it works," he said.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said Mr Hazzard "will continue those discussions and where we can provide additional support we will".

The issues are "complex" but the government hopes it "can provide a resolution to those matters as quickly as possible", he said.

Some hospital workers, like those at Byron Central Hospital, supported the strike but won't leave their nurses' stations over concerns they already don't have enough staff to provide the required care.

Opposition Leader Chris Minns said the government needs to negotiate in good faith with the union, criticising a "cynical" decision to "take them to court to try and stop industrial action" hours before the planned strike.

Mr Minns did not commit to introducing nurse-patient ratios if Labor won government, saying he was "not ready to announce election policies".

He said Labor will negotiate and reach an agreement with the union before it does, "and that's all we're asking of Dominic Perrottet".

© AAP 2022

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Former Test skipper Tim Paine has made a return to cricket in a coaching capacity for Tasmania, but is yet to apply his mind to a playing comeback.

The 37-year-old took an indefinite break from the sport just weeks out from the Ashes after lewd text messages he sent to a one-time female colleague became public.

Cricket Australia has copped criticism for their handling of the saga, including from Cricketers Association chief Todd Greenberg who says players had felt let down by the governing body.

Interim Tasmania Tigers coach Ali De Winter revealed on Tuesday that Paine had been helping out in a coaching role.

"He's been great. He stepped into the coaching breach for us," De Winter told reporters ahead of the team's Sheffield Shield match against NSW on Friday.

"Hasn't done any training. But it's been great to have him around the group. It's been a nice little distraction for him, I guess, to spend some time with us. He's been great with our young players.

"Where he stands with his playing of cricket, I don't think he's thought that far ahead yet.

"I think he's just enjoying the re-entry to our group and focusing on family life."

Paine didn't attend the historic fifth men's Ashes Test in his home town last month, instead reportedly opting to travel with family.

Paine hasn't played since turning out in a second XI fixture for Tasmania in late November, when he scored one and seven and took eight catches for the match.

The wicketkeeper stepped aside as Test captain on November 19 after the text messages were revealed and initially remained part of the Ashes squad on the comeback from injury.

De Winter said Paine had been keeping physically fit but wasn't batting or wicketkeeping.

When asked whether Paine was pondering a return in grade cricket, De Winter said nothing had been mentioned.

"I don't believe that is front of mind for him now, not this season anyway," he added.

CA was made aware of the texting incident in 2018 but backed Paine to continue playing and captaining Australia at that juncture, desperate to restore the team's image after the Cape Town cheating crisis.

After Paine's decision to step down as Test captain, Cricket Tasmania chief Andrew Gaggin lashed CA for not showing him enough loyalty.

Paine's coaching helps fill a leadership void at Cricket Tasmania, after Adam Griffith stepped down as coaching director and Hobart Hurricanes head coach.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has stressed the need to strengthen visa laws, as the government looks to reintroduce a plan to deport foreign criminals.

Legislation closing loopholes in migration character tests laws will be brought back for debate in parliament on Wednesday.

The proposal would see non-citizens have visas cancelled if they're convicted of a crime punishable for more than two years in prison, or if they have served less than 12 months in prison.

Visas would also be cancelled if non-citizens were deemed a risk to the broader community.

Mr Morrison said the changes were needed to close loopholes in existing laws.

"There are foreign citizens who have been convicted of very serious crimes against Australians, who have been jailed, and as a result of the law as it stands today ... we are unable to deport," he told parliament on Tuesday.

"There is a loophole that a judge hands down a lower sentence of two years, then they can get off when it comes to having their visa cancelled and being deported."

The legislation was brought to parliament late last year, but was defeated in the Senate.

Labor and the Greens argued the changes would mean visa holders charged with minor offences would be deported.

Labor has accused the government of trying to reintroduce the legislation for a political wedge ahead of the election, due to be held by May 21.

The government has indicated it would negotiate with the opposition for amendments to the bill as it currently stands.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said the changes were necessary.

"The reason the government is pursuing changes to the character test over the last 1200 days is to protect the Australian community from harm, to protect women and children from family and domestic violence," he said.

"It is not enough to talk about these things."

Mr Morrison said 4000 visa holders had been expelled from the country since the last election.

Labor frontbencher Jim Chalmers said it wasn't clear what additional powers the immigration minister needed.

"I'm in favour of the immigration minister being able to kick people out of the country if they do the wrong thing," he told reporters in Canberra.

"As I understand it, he has that power already, we saw that with the Novak Djokovic debacle."

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Nine months after he was jailed on rape charges, former NRL star Jarryd Hayne has been freed with his convictions quashed.

He grinned and hugged a friend as he left Cooma Correctional Centre on Tuesday - his 34th birthday - carrying a cardboard box and Aldi bag of personal effects.

Hours earlier a district court had granted him bail, a day after a NSW appeal court overturned his convictions and ordered a third trial.

Hayne appeared in the court via audio visual link on Tuesday morning, clad in prison greens, as the judge imposed conditions on his release.

He must pay a $20,000 bail surety within seven days, must surrender his passport, and must report to police three times a week, in bail conditions agreed upon by his lawyer and the prosecutors.

He also must not contact or intimidate the alleged victim or any witnesses, and cannot enter the Newcastle local government area.

Hayne was in May sentenced to at least three years and eight months behind bars after he was found guilty of two charges of sexual intercourse without consent.

The ex-Parramatta player faced a retrial after his first ended with a hung jury.

The Crown contended in both trials he forcibly performed oral and digital sexual intercourse on a woman in her NSW Hunter bedroom on the night of the 2018 NRL grand final.

The alleged assault left her bleeding from her genitalia, they said.

Hayne has always maintained the encounter was consensual.

Hayne's barrister Tim Game SC successfully argued for his convictions to be overturned on two appeal grounds.

The jury was given legal directions by Judge Helen Syme that were "flawed in almost every possible way", Mr Game said.

He also succeeded in convincing the appeal court there was an error in a pre-trial ruling on evidence he said explained the complainant's "abiding interest in having sex with Jarryd Hayne".

Another two appeal grounds - including that the jury's verdict was unreasonable - were dismissed.

The matter will return to court on Friday, to fix a date for the third trial, which is expected to go for two to three weeks.

The earliest a trial of that length may be able to proceed is October, District Court judge Christopher O'Brien said.

"After that, we're looking at 2023," he said.

© AAP 2022