APSC to revisit Commonwealth pay offer of 10.5 per cent, pay fragmentation model in APS bargaining with unions

Broadening pay discrepancies between government agencies since the late 1990s have seen staff at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) and Aboriginal Hostels Limited (AHL) become some of the lowest paid in the Australian Public Service.

Former senior public servant Geoff Richardson, a descendant of the Meriam people and the Kuku Yalanji/Djabugay peoples of North Queensland, says the pay gaps send a message to First Nations staff that their work "isn't seen as important as the 'real public service'".

In May, the Public Service Commission proposed a minimum salary for all APS employees, regardless of where they work, a model it says would reduce average fragmentation from 26 per cent to 18 per cent. It would lift salaries across every single rank at AIATSIS and AHL.

But the Community and Public Sector Union has called for more ambition in an offer it says represents the Albanese government's chance at "rebuilding the APS".

The union expects the government's chief negotiator Peter Riordan to table a bolstered pay equity model, alongside a service-wide pay increase that is better than the proposed 10.5 per cent, when bargaining parties meet on Tuesday.

CPSU national secretary Melissa Donnelly blamed the former Coalition government for deteriorating conditions in the APS, pointing to a cap on the average staffing level and wage freezes.

But the union has also kept pressure on the Albanese government to live up to its reform promises for the APS throughout negotiations.

The Community and Public Sector Union made early efforts in the course of bargaining to squeeze more out of the government, mobilising a 9000-strong membership in Services Australia into two rounds of industrial action.

"The offer that is tabled tomorrow needs to be about more than pay - it must be about rebuilding the APS," Ms Donnelly said.

"Our members want to see improvements to their pay packets so that their salaries can start to catch up with the cost of living."

"But they also want to see those improvements so that their workplaces aren't riddled with ongoing vacancies and unsafe workloads."

Once unveiled, the union will take two weeks to consider and poll members on the government's updated offer.

Mr Richardson, who worked for four decades on Aboriginal affairs in the federal public sector, said capability at key government agencies was being held back by poor pay.

"It does create a problem for the staff and the organisations in terms of recruiting because obviously it can't match what people are used to at-level and certainly not at promotions.

"That's a big problem ... for the staff that have to endure the lower wages to their colleagues."

He welcomed an additional pay rise for staff but emphasised the need for further steps, including the recognition of cultural skills brought by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to the workplace.

"There's a bigger issue about the APS work level standards not acknowledging Indigenous-specific skills, and rewarding them alongside the other technical skills that the APS need," Mr Richardson said, referring to skills such as high-level engagement and mediation.

Not only must such skills be recognised, but staff must be supported to use their skills, he said.

"It's one thing bringing Aboriginal people into the workforce, but really, the APS is better if they use the skills, that Indigenous-specific knowledge that they possess, to the advantage of the APS."

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Associate professor of human resource management at UNSW Canberra, Sue Williamson, also welcomed the government's pay equity model as "a really good start" but added it didn't go far enough.

"It will increase the salaries of people in those two agencies [AIATSIS and AHL], it doesn't increase it by enough though," Professor Williamson said.

As focus on the Voice to Parliament sharpens ahead of an October referendum, the government's pay equity model will be a crucial opportunity to send a message, she said.

"With the whole community talking about First Nations issues and the Voice to Parliament, increasing the ... pay rate for employees in these lowest paid agencies would send a really strong message that the government does value First Nations employees."

"So again, it comes back to messaging."

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