APSC reveals APS-wide pay increase in negotiations with unions, agencies

The Australian Public Service Commission has revealed its APS-wide pay offer for the next three years, setting out a 10.5 per cent boost to salaries in pay and conditions negotiations with unions, public service agencies and individuals.

The CPSU's claim, announced in March, would total 20 per cent over three years, and Ms Donnelly said in a statement she would not comment before members had given feedback, but added: "I will say that our pay claim is ambitious because it has to be."

Members can vote on the offer until the end of May, when the main public sector union will respond.

Andrew Podger, a professor of public policy at the Australian National University, and former APS Commissioner said 10.5 per cent "was probably of the right order,", but the government should now shift its focus.

"I think there are a number of things which the commission has yet to do, and that might give some indication of some things that might be discussed with the union," he said.

Mr Podger believes the public service commission is unlikely to adjust its pay offer, but it could offer some reprieve to the lowest paid.

"There may be room for some staff to be offered more to reduce the current pay gaps across agencies, but I greatly doubt any change in the APSC's basic offer," he said.

The commission will consider pay fragmentation separately in negotiations next week, but chief negotiator Peter Riordan has already noted the issue will take "a number of bargaining rounds" to resolve.

The commission should also address skill shortages, largely concentrated in ICT roles, by linking salaries to those in the private sector, Mr Podger said.

"If, as the government has said, they want to have reduced reliance on consultants and contractors, they're going to have to make sure they are paying for those skills, what the market demands. We do not pay our IT people within the public service anything like what is paid in the market," he said.

But the government will first need to assess career paths for IT roles, analyse what the private sector is doing and make comparisons.

"That's true across a range of occupations, so there's a lot of work to be done over the coming years by the commission before they're going to get the pay system right," Mr Podger said.

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Mr Riordan on Tuesday called the commission's offer "fair and considered". It would comprise a 4 per cent increase in the first year, 3.5 per cent in the second year and 3 per cent in the third year.

"It offers APS employees the largest increase in pay in over 10 years balanced against inflation pressures, global economic uncertainty and broader fiscal responsibilities," he said in a statement.

The offer would mean public service employees at the APS6 rank, who earn a median salary of $95,873, would receive a total pay increase of $10,421 over the three years.

Jeff Lapidos, Branch Secretary at the Australian Services Union, which represents the Australian Taxation Office, said the union would look at the pay offer alongside other conditions.

"What we need can only be considered in the context of all other conditions that we would be able to negotiate [for] the ATO, and we would consider pay in that context," Mr Lapidos said.

The Australian Services Union's pay claim includes six points, and calls for increases to address past and future inflation, a lump sum to address a previous pay rise deferral, as well as boosts to address the increase in the value of work undertaken by APS6 to EL2 staff.

"We expect that the government wouldn't be able to meet our claims on pay, and that to make up for their inability to meet our claims on pay, we were looking to negotiate a wide range of other improvements in ATO enterprise agreement," Mr Lapidos said.

The union representing the tax office has made claims on allowances, recruitment, flexibility and leave.

The Australian Public Service Commission, agencies, unions and individuals will try to agree on a pay rise and improved conditions for the next three years by July 31, before the expiry of an interim arrangement.

Under that arrangement, due to expire at the end of August, eligible public servants receive a 3 per cent annual pay increase.

Parties will also consider 90 common conditions, which have grown from a list of 48 set out by the commission at the beginning of negotiations in March.

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