APS bargaining - frequently asked questions
What is enterprise bargaining?
Enterprise bargaining involves formal negotiations between an employer, employees and unions for an enterprise agreement. The aim of the bargaining process is to negotiate employees’ terms and conditions of employment, including pay.
Enterprise bargaining in the APS operates in the national workplace relations system established by the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act). Further information can be found on the Fair Work Commission webpage.
What is an enterprise agreement?
An enterprise agreement sets the terms and conditions of employment, including pay, made between an employer and employees, following negotiations between representatives. Representatives may include unions or other employee representatives. In the APS, the employer is the Commonwealth of Australia acting through the relevant the Agency Heads as the ‘employing authority’. Enterprise agreements are regulated by the national workplace relations system established by the FW Act and other relevant legislation.
Your agency’s last enterprise agreement can usually be found on your agency website, or you can ask for a copy from your HR area.
What is the difference between APS and non-APS agencies?
APS agencies employ staff under the Public Service Act 1999 (PS Act). Non-APS agencies are Commonwealth public sector entities that employ staff under enabling legislation other than the PS Act. Some agencies have groups of employees who are employed under the PS Act, and other groups who are employed under other enabling legislation. If you are unsure whether your agency is APS or non-APS, you can find out more information on the Department of Finance webpage.
How does the comprehensive workplace relations policy differ from previous rounds of bargaining?
Previously, APS agencies have bargained separately with employees, unions and other employee representatives. Each agency appoints a Chief Negotiator to represent the agency (employer), and bargain with unions and employee representatives (employees) to produce an enterprise agreement.
Under the comprehensive workplace relations policy, agencies will continue to covered by their own agreement. There will be two processes to bargaining new enterprise agreements, APS-wide bargaining and agency-level bargaining.
- APS-wide bargaining aims to improve commonality in pay and conditions across the APS.
- Agency-level bargaining enables agencies to negotiate terms that are necessary to support their needs and operating model.
What is APS bargaining and agency-level bargaining?
There will be two components to APS bargaining:
- APS-wide bargaining— which aims to identify a set of common terms that will apply to employees in all APS agencies, and take initial steps towards reducing pay fragmentation across the APS.
- Agency-level bargaining— agencies will still be able to negotiate terms that best support their needs and operating model.
Will all APS employees be covered by the same enterprise agreement?
No, all APS employees will not be covered by a single enterprise agreement. APS agencies will continue to have their own separate, single-enterprise agreement. However, agency-level agreements will be required to include any common conditions negotiated during APS-wide bargaining.
Can my agency renegotiate common conditions during agency-level bargaining?
APS bargaining aims to improve commonality in pay and conditions across the APS. There may be occasions where an agency’s operations require changes to a particular condition. However, as the aim is greater commonality, the opportunity for changes to common conditions will be limited.
Will my conditions reduce because of APS bargaining?
Improving the consistency and fairness to conditions is a key goal of APS bargaining. The intention of the comprehensive workplace relations policy is not to reduce conditions, but to achieve commonality guided by the APS bargaining principles.
What are the common conditions that will be bargained?
The Commission is currently developing a set of proposed common conditions that it will bring to the bargaining table. Further information on these will be issued following the release of the comprehensive workplace relations policy.
Will my pay reduce because of APS bargaining?
No, the intention of the comprehensive workplace relations policy is not to reduce or freeze pay.
The Government is committed to providing fair pay increases to APS employees and starting a process to address the current fragmentation in pay rates between agencies.
Who will bargain on agencies and employees behalf during APS bargaining and agency-level bargaining?
For APS-wide bargaining, all APS agencies will appoint Deputy Commissioner Peter Riordan PSM as Chief Negotiator to represent them as an employer bargaining representative. Deputy Commissioner Riordan will be supported in this role by the Commission’s Workplace Relations Bargaining Taskforce.
Employees have the right to represent themselves or nominate a bargaining representative to negotiate on their behalf. If you are a member of a union, your union will automatically represent you during bargaining.
During agency-level bargaining, each agency will nominate a Lead Negotiator to represent the agency as an employer bargaining representative. Employees will still be represented by unions and other employee representatives.
My scheduled annual wage increase under the Interim Arrangements is due during the APS bargaining period. Will I still get the 3 per cent pay rise under the Interim Arrangements?
Yes. Under the Interim Arrangements, any pay increase currently scheduled on or before 31 August 2023 will be paid at a rate of 3 per cent.
If my pay is above the top of the range (a maintained salary), will I receive a pay increase?
Under current arrangements, pay increases for employees on maintained salaries is a matter for each individual agency to determine. Service-wide bargaining presents an opportunity to address the fragmentation in pay between agencies, and standardise the treatment of maintained salaries.
Is there information available about the current pay scales across the APS?
The Workplace Relations Bargaining Taskforce has assembled a dataset of salary rates across APS agencies:
How long is APS-wide bargaining expected to take?
There is no set time-frame for APS and agency-level bargaining to finish, but Government has set an expectation that service wide bargaining should be concluded by end of July 2023.
It is beneficial for all parties to reach agreement on common terms as quickly as possible, so that agencies may finalise their enterprise agreements.
What is a log of claims?
Each party usually prepares a list of issues or items (“log of claims”) they would like to negotiate. This will make sure that all issues are discussed during bargaining negotiations.
Do I get to vote on the final enterprise agreement?
Employees will vote on pay and conditions negotiated during APS-wide bargaining and specific conditions negotiated during agency-level bargaining at the same time. Employees will vote on their agency-level agreement, which will include any outcomes negotiated during APS-wide bargaining. The vote will happen at the conclusion of agency-level bargaining and will be coordinated through your agency. Although the vote is not compulsory, employees are encouraged to participate when the ballot occurs.
How can I stay up to date as bargaining progresses?
An overview of the Workplace Relations Taskforce’s consultation to date, can be found on the APS bargaining website.
APS employees were provided an opportunity to complete a survey to inform the work of the Taskforce.
Updates on the general progress of APS bargaining are available on APS bargaining website and this will continue throughout the bargaining process.
APS employees can sign up to an APS bargaining newsletter for direct updates.
Where can I find out more about enterprise bargaining generally?
Visit the Fair Work Commission or Fair Work Ombudsman website.