The Australian Public Service Commission's proposal to address pay fragmentation has revealed which agencies have fallen the furthest behind on salaries.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The commission on Tuesday tabled its offer to reduce discrepancies in pay between government agencies, which have emerged over more than a decade of single agency bargaining.
Agencies with more bargaining power, such as the central agencies, have negotiated better pay for their staff, leaving behind agencies which are often staffed mostly by women and First Nations employees.
The public service commission wants to take "the first step" on evening out pay in this round of bargaining by setting minimum base salaries for each classification.
The base rates would mean staff at 48 agencies would get an additional pay rise, on top of an APS-wide boost to be decided in negotiations.
It would be an average increase of 7.2 per cent across all of the lowest paid classifications, and would reduce the current average fragmentation from 26 per cent to 18 per cent.
Staff at the Australian National Maritime Museum would receive the greatest benefit from the offer. Every classification at the agency is paid less than the base rates suggested by the commission, at minimum and maximum salary levels.
READ MORE:
An APS6 at the museum, receiving the minimum salary, would receive an increase of $8009, under the pay fragmentation mechanism. If the commission's proposal for an APS-wide 4 per cent pay increase was also applied, they would receive $11,450 in total.
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and the Aboriginal Hostels Limited are also among the lowest paid agencies, with 15 of 16 pay points affected.
An executive director at the agency earlier this year called pay discrepancies across the public service which were negatively impacting staff at her agency "an Aboriginal inequity".
An AP6 working at Aboriginal Hostels Limited, earning the maximum salary of $86,978, could see a pay boost of $9363 under the pay fragmentation model.
What is the public service commission's 'end goal'?
Public service experts have reiterated comments from the commission's chief negotiator that the offer is a good "first step".
Research Associate at the UNSW's Public Sector Research Group Dr Miriam Glennie welcomed the offer as a first step with real impacts for the lowest paid, but questioned what the commission was working towards.
"There's been an announcement that this is a first step without making announcements what the end goal is," she said.
"So is the end goal equal pay bands, is the end goal, kind of, a system that encourages uniformity and equity or ... what level of interference or oversight might we expect in the future in terms of how the APSC might be more actively involved in supporting equity across agencies?"
"At minimum, better articulating what the desired end game is, at least will highlight will establish some stronger expectations around where we might expect to go."
Former senior public servant Paddy Gourley added that it was a "desirable and sensible" proposal, but the commission could not move towards becoming a model employer if it did not tie its salaries to others in the labour market.
"It will take some time to make the necessary adjustments to even things up and get them back on proper keel," Mr Gourley said.
"That job will be more difficult for as long as the public service commission and those responsible for public service pay don't try to set public service rates of remuneration on the basis of level of pay being paid for comparable employment in the outside labor market.
"They're not doing that now."
Below is the complete list of agencies who would receive an additional pay boost under the proposal, including the number of pay points deemed below the proposed minimum.
The number refers to the number of pay points affected within the agency. Each classification, between APS1 and EL2 has a minimum and maximum salary, leaving 16 pay points across the ranks.
- Australian National Maritime Museum: 16
- Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies: 15
- Aboriginal Hostels Limited: 15
- National Capital Authority: 11
- National Museum of Australia: 8
- Climate Change Authority: 6
- Federal Court of Australia: 6
- Old Parliament House: 6
- Australian War Memorial: 5
- Bureau of Meteorology: 4
- Geoscience: 4
- National Film and Sound Archive: 4
- PC - Productivity Commission: 4
- Torres Strait Regional Authority: 4
- Sport Integrity Australia: 3
- Commonwealth Ombudsman: 3
- Australian Human Rights Commission: 2
- Australian Public Service Commission: 2
- Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: 2
- Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: 2
- Director of Public Prosecutions: 2
- Home Affairs: 2
- National Library of Australia: 2
- Professional Services Australia: 2
- Administrative Appeals Tribunal: 1
- Australian Bureau of Statistics: 1
- Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission: 1
- Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission: 1
- Australian Digital Health Agency: 1
- Australian Electoral Commission: 1
- Australian Fisheries Management Authority: 1
- Australian Institute of Family Studies: 1
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: 1
- Australian Law Reform Commission: 1
- Australian Research Council: 1
- Cancer Council: 1
- Commonwealth Grants Commission: 1
- Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence: 1
- Department of Social Services: 1
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand: 1
- Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority: 1
- National Blood Authority: 1
- National Disability Insurance Agency: 1
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission: 1
- National Health Funding Body: 1
- National Health and Medical Research Council: 1
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: 1
- Screen Australia: 1
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.