Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel will get a pay rise of 11.2% over three years “after the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal agreed to the latest Workplace Remuneration Arrangement (WRA) on October 3”, Defence has said.
The increase will be distributed as 4% in year one, 3.8% in year two, and 3.4% in year three. The new arrangement takes effect from November 9, and ADF personnel will see the first 4% increase in their pay on November 23, Defence said.
The pay rise reflects the current offer to the broader Australian Public Service that has been rejected by the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU). The union has instigated industrial action against the offer.
Notably, the ADF pay determination comes before the broader Australian Public Service negotiations have been concluded, with discussions possibly dragging out until March.
Defence force chief General Angus Campbell said he was “committed to recognising in salary people’s skills and contribution to capability, particularly as Defence undergoes a period of significant change while it implements the Defence Strategic Review (DSR).”
“One of the DSR’s critical priorities is to ensure that we have an integrated force to deliver enhanced combat power. To achieve this, we must retain and grow our workforce,” Campbell said.
The realisation of non-union negotiated pay rises for the ADF comes as the CPSU holds out for a claim of a wage increase of 20% over three years.
Professionals Australia, the peak industrial body for engineers, scientists and technologists, previously confirmed it was shut out of any upgrade in formal pay recognition of its members’ skillsets, despite formal evidence to previous parliamentary committees that pay gaps as large as $100,000 are common.
There are also looming issues as to how nuclear skills, which Australia will need to import in the first instance, will be accommodated.
More to come …
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