Public servants offered 10.5 per cent pay rise

The government offer is half of what the Community and Public Sector Union was asking for over the next three years.

CPSU workers have been offered a 10.5pc pay rise over the next three years. Picture: Istock

More than 150,000 federal public sector workers have been offered a 10.5 per cent wage rise over three years by the Albanese government, just over half the amount sought by the Community and Public Sector Union.

The Australian Public Service Commission released the offer on Tuesday which consists of four per cent in the first year, 3.5 per cent in the second year and 3 per cent in the third year.

Employees in agencies with the lowest pay scales could also secure additional pay rises as the government seeks to address “pay fragmentation” where there are significant differences in wage rates between agencies.

The CPSU’s pay claim, which has been endorsed by union members, seeks nine per cent in the first year, six per cent in the second year and five per cent in the third year.

Annual wages growth is forecast to reach 4 per cent next financial year, the fastest rate in 15 years, with an earlier than expected ­return to real wages growth tipped for early 2024.

In an update to workers, APS deputy commissioner Peter Riordan said the government’s “fair and affordable” offer represents the “largest pay increase that APS employees will have received in over ten years”.

He said an APS employee who currently earned a salary of $95,873 would receive a total pay increase of $10,421, taking their annual salary to $106,294. An APSC said the offer applied to about 158,000 employees.

“This is a fair and affordable pay offer which provides a pay rise to APS employees while balancing the government’s broader fiscal responsibilities on behalf of all Australians,” he said.

“The Commonwealth considered a range of factors when determining its pay offer, including recent wage outcomes across Australia, numerous economic indicators, the current labour market (and) budgetary considerations.”

The CPSU said member feedback would guide the union bargaining team in their next steps.

CPSU national secretary Melissa Donnelly said engaging in genuine negotiations with the government, on pay and conditions, was “a far cry from where we were just a year ago” under the Coalition.

“This time last year APS workers were in the final days of what was a decade-long assault on the public service and public service workers,” she said. “It has left the APS with workplaces, pay and conditions that simply don’t meet the standards of the modern labour market.

She said the union’s 20 per cent pay claim was “ambitious because it has to be”.

“To rebuild the APS, service-wide bargaining must deliver improvements to pay and conditions that are not ignorant to the consequences of the last decade,” she said.

“The public, public sector workers and the Federal Government need the APS to catch up, and catch up quickly to meet the demands and competition that exist in the modern labour market.”