Melissa Donnelly | What's in the CPSU's APS-wide bargaining claim

And as I reflect on what this moment means for our union, our delegates and our members, I revisit the question that I asked at the very beginning of all this - what sort of public service does Australia need?

The answer is simple - we need it to be strong, frank and fearless. We need it to be bigger and more accessible, and to efficiently and effectively deliver the essential services that Australians rely on.

But to be that it needs to be a better employer. It needs to be a model employer.

Reaching this standard is a goal the Albanese Labor government set for itself as a pre-election commitment in 2022, and one that Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher has only reinforced since.

They know that re-establishing the APS as a model employer is the only way to rebuild capacity and capability.

Reaching that goal starts with giving the APS a real pay rise.

Public sector wages are woefully behind the private sector thanks to a decade of attrition at the hands of Coalition governments.

Under the previous government, APS employees were waiting three or more years at a time for a pay rise and offers as low as 0 per cent were tabled in negotiations.

When they finally did get a pay rise, they weren't much better off as they were subject to caps as low as 1.7 per cent.

With 10 years of progress to catch up on, it's no wonder some agencies have hundreds of vacancies to fill.

Rightfully so, our pay claim is front loaded: 9 per cent in year one, 6 per cent in year two and 5 per cent in year three, plus a cost-of-living adjustment payment that provides support in any year that CPI is higher than the pay increase.

We'll also be looking to establish a mechanism to achieve real progress on pay equity in the APS, with the lowest paid employees having their pay lifted immediately.

Other aspects of the claim will look to guarantee flexible work and working from home rights, establishing a right to a workload reviews, increasing the employer superannuation contribution, futureproofing workplace rights and more.

Is it ambitious? Yes. It has to be.

You only need to look as far as the robodebt royal commission to see why.

Earlier this year, front-line Centrelink worker Jeannie-Marie Blake, moved people to tears as she recounted her experience of robodebt - a scheme that dehumanised public services, public servants and of course welfare recipients.

Jeannie was one of many APS employees who raised concerns with robodebt in the very beginning, but like everyone, she was completely ignored. That's because a shift had occurred.

Rather than the public service being fearless, helping people and doing what is right, we saw a toxic culture from the top, disempowering and undermining a whole workforce.

At the same time, wages were being kept low, improvements to conditions were banned and people's jobs were being increasingly being outsourced.

Staff turnover skyrocketed, and the APS lost people who were experts in their field and who had worked in the public service for years, some decades.

A well-resourced, strong, frank and fearless public service would not have allowed a scheme like robodebt to prosper- its take off was symptomatic of system in crisis, and we can see the ongoing consequences today; recruitment and retention issues, uncompetitive wages and conditions, unanswered phone calls, and frustrated employees and customers alike.

Our claim works to undo that damage across the whole APS. It will empower the public service, pull back people we lost, it will fill vacancies, guarantee flexibility and restore integrity. And a better functioning public service will deliver better public services for the Australian community.

Our claim is the recipe for the APS getting it's spark back and for the government to deliver on its commitment of becoming a model employer.

I could say as a word of warning to the government that not following a recipe often leads to disaster, but I'm not known for my cooking abilities, so I'll say this: you either choose to become a model employer, or you don't.

You either give the public sector a real pay rise, or you have wages that not only fall further behind the private sector but contribute to wage stagnation across the country.

You either keep up with people's expectations around flexible work, or you lose them to workplaces that have kept up.

You either grow the public sector in our regions, or you maintain a barrier between the public and the public services they rely on.

You either address pay inequity across the service, or you continue to allow financial discrimination to exist.

The choice is clear.

Rebuilding the public sector needs to be a priority for the Albanese Labor government, and their success in delivering for the public depends on it.

Peoples' encounters with government aren't in newspapers or policy documents.

Most people don't watch question time, press conferences, or listen to the 15-minute speeches that get delivered in Parliament.

The public's encounter with government is their encounter with public servants, which is why it is in the Albanese Labor government's best interests to have good-hearted, experienced, well-trained people in positive and effective workplaces - people like Jeannie-Marie Blake.

The CPSU represents tens of thousands of people just like Jeannie, and we'll be fighting for all of them to have better working lives, better workplaces, and a real pay rise.

Not just because they need and deserve it, but because the Australian government and Australians deserve the public sector that this will take meaningful steps towards creating.

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The service wide claim reflects what CPSU members across the APS want to see: real pay increases that keep up with the cost-of-living, significantly improved and innovative workplace conditions, measures to address pay disparity, and rights and conditions locked into enterprise agreements. Here are some key highlights from the CPSU's claim:

Pay: Front-loaded pay claim for 9 per cent in year one, 6 per cent in year two, and 5 per cent in year three. A cost-of- living adjustment providing an extra payment in any year that CPI is higher than the pay increase. Backpay, so that no employee has their pay rise delayed. Increasing the employer superannuation contribution to 17 per cent.

Pay equity: an agreed mechanism to achieve pay equity in the APS, with lowest paid employees in the APS having their pay lifted immediately.

Flexible work and working from home: Guaranteed flexible work and working from home, appeal rights, and no caps on the number of days an employee can work from home.

Workloads: A right to a workload review if employees have concerns about their workloads, with a right to union involvement. KPIs to be transparent, with any changes subject to consultation. EL employees to have access to TOIL or flex arrangements.

Secure jobs: Ongoing employment restored as the preferred basis of engagement, with clear pathways to permanency for casual and non-ongoing employees. APS and agencies required to demonstrably reduce the use of insecure forms of employment. Minimum seven and 13-month retention periods for employees subject to redundancy.

Careers and classification: A joint union-APS review of the work level standards. A right to a classification review with union involvement where employees believe their roles are underclassified. Adequate career pathways for professionals and specialists, study leave, and guaranteed learning and development time.

Workplace rights: Pre-decision consultation, the right to be represented by your union in all matters, support for union delegates to perform their roles, support for health and safety representatives, and measures to make workplaces physically and psychologically safe.

Leave: No reduction in existing leave entitlements. Improved parental leave, family, domestic, and sexual violence leave, emergency services leave, pandemic, gender affirmation leave, and disability leave.

Diversity: Employee and union involvement in improving diversity in employment and leadership in the APS, including increasing First Nations employment and leadership, and employee and union involvement in the gender equality strategy.