Australian Public Service: Men more likely to benefit from privately negotiated pay rises than women, Remuneration Report reveals

According to the report, men are more likely than women to benefit from higher rates of pay under Individual Flexibility Arrangements at every APS classification in 2022.

An IFA is a written agreement between an APS employer and an employee outside of their enterprise agreement, often used to set a higher salary. This is the first time that the APS has had to report IFAs as part of the government's gender equality strategy.

Only 3.7 per cent of female employees working at an EL 1 level had an IFA, for example, compared to 5.1 per cent of male employees. Meanwhile, no women at an APS 2 level had IFA, compared to 0.2 per cent of their male colleagues.

Community and Public Services Union National Secretary Melissa Donnelly said the latest Remuneration Report has confirmed that IFAs "undermine equity and fairness in the APS".

"Concerningly, we don't know what is in these IFAs. The APSC currently has no further requirement for IFA reporting, transparency or consultation," she said.

The annual snapshot of pay across the public sector did find, however, that the average pay gap has declined for the fourth year in a row within the APS, reaching 5.2 per cent compared with 6 per cent in 2021 and 7.8 per cent in 2018.

Minister for Women, Finance and the Public Service Katy Gallagher previously said that the latest remuneration report showed "that the gender pay gap isn't inevitable and that targeted action can and does drive change".

The union is currently in service-wide negotiations on pay and conditions with the Australian Public Service Commission, and previously proposed an alternative to IFAs.

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But the APSC rejected the union's proposal, which consisted of better workplace conditions, and extra group payments for employees in "critical occupations or disciplines".

Ms Donnelly hoped that the report would prompt the APSC to revisit the issue, adding that the issue comes down to "a recruitment and retention crisis".

"IFAs are being used because the current packages employers have to offer aren't cutting it in the labour market," she said.

"The APS is crying out for a pay rise, and this just reinforces that."

The Canberra Times has reached out to Senator Katy Gallagher, Minister for the Public Service and Minister for Women, for comment.