The Victorian public service will get a 3% a year wage increase after the state government announced its public sector wages policy.
Public servants may now also get a lump sum sign-on bonus equal to 0.5% of overall agreement costs.
Additional entitlements may also be generated for public servants by seeking productivity improvements and efficiencies.
Victorian industrial relations minister Tim Pallas said the government was proud to support its public sector workers.
“In addition to wage increases, workers will be able to obtain a sign-on bonus while productivity improvements will bring the potential for further advancement of conditions,” Pallas said.
“The policy provides fair outcomes for employees while being responsible as we deal with the types of budget challenges faced by families, businesses and governments across the world.”
The new policy applies immediately, including enterprise agreements that have reached their nominal expiry dates and where bargaining is already underway.
In response to the updated policy, CPSU Victoria said 3% won’t cut it. The union said Victoria was a long way down the public sector pay ladder, with Queensland, NSW and Western Australia ahead.
The union added there was interstate pressure now on Victoria when it was already short-staffed, with the Queensland model seen as the “smarter alternative”.
“Pillar 3 is largely illusory and it would be almost impossible for public service departments and agencies to fund money out of their own budgets, given the savings that have happened and have been threatened,” a CPSU spokesperson told The Mandarin.
Pillar 3 is one of three pillars of the Victorian government’s 2022 wage policy, which requires any additional changes to allowances and other conditions to “only be allowed if government agrees that the changes will address key operational or strategic priorities for the agency, and/or one or more of the public sector priorities”.
The updated Victorian wages policy comes as public services across Australia’s jurisdictions have rolled out their own wage increases.
The federal public service is starting its bargaining process, while in Western Australia, a 3% pay rise was accepted by the union.
In the ACT, the government is looking to give its workers $1,250 at the start of a new enterprise agreement.
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