This week, the Australian Public Service Commission released the Statement of Common Conditions (the Statement), representing the conclusion of APS-wide bargaining. This marks an important milestone and signifies that agencies and bargaining representatives can now finalise their agency-level negotiations.
At the start of APS-wide bargaining, the APSC proposed to negotiate 48 common conditions on behalf of the APS. In this first round of APS-wide bargaining since the 90s, this list was considered ambitious.
Today, the Statement outlines the outcome of negotiations on over 90 matters raised in APS-wide bargaining with employee bargaining representatives. It was a significant undertaking.
The Statement provides:
- 59 APS-wide common conditions
- 24 conditions referred to agency-level bargaining, within or without parameters
- 22 conditions to be maintained. This means any further bargaining on these conditions is not consistent with the Policy, unless it is a permitted policy matter as described on page 18 of the Statement.
There are a number of matters that were not resolved in this first round of APS-wide bargaining. Some of these matters, which require further consideration, will be explored through the APS consultative committee ahead of an expected future round of APS-wide bargaining.
The Statement represents a great outcome and surpassed expectations of what could be achieved in the first round of APS-wide bargaining.
You can read the Statement of Common Conditions to understand the common clauses that will be included in your agency’s enterprise agreement. The final terms and conditions in your agreement may vary. If there are more beneficial things in your current agreement they will be retained. You can expect your agreement to also continue including conditions that are unique to your agency’s operating environment.
You will still need to vote on your agency’s enterprise agreement before it can be approved by the Fair Work Commission. Once the agreement is approved and commences the new conditions come into effect. There will be some agencies that will ask their employees to vote on an agreement before the end of 2023. You can expect that many other agencies will go to a vote early next year.
We encourage you to read the Statement, or key matters that interest you, for more detail.