Enterprise Agreement Bargaining and Pay Offer - Revised Offer April 2023
In November and December 2022, the ACT Government provided a formal pay offer and conditions and entitlements as part of the ACT Public Sector Enterprise Agreement bargaining. This was revised in February 2023 where the ACT Government further expanded entitlements to improve conditions across various areas including birth leave and superannuation. The Government has considered feedback received on this offer and during negotiations and has provided a revised offer as outlined below. The offer forms part of the common core aspect of all agreements.
The pay offer was developed to recognise our valued workforce and to assist in easing financial pressures.
Salary Calculator
A salary calculator has been developed to assist employees in calculating estimated pay-offer figures based on their individual salaries.
The calculator will allow employees to input their current FTE salary to determine the annual percentage increases and how their FTE salary will increase over the course of the agreement.
It is noted that the calculations are estimates only and may differ slightly to the final salary figures provided in the proposed enterprise agreement.
You can access the salary calculator by following this link - Salary Calculator.
Pay Offer in Detail
This pay offer differs from a traditional percentage-only increase. It combines multiple fixed-dollar increases over the life of the agreement and also percentage increases. This means that every year (from 2023 to 2025) employees will receive either a flat rate increase, a percentage increase or both a flat rate and percentage increase to their salary. The increases will be delivered every year as outlined in the table below.
The ACT Government also recognises there are immediate cost-of-living pressures on workers and has offered an initial $1,250 (pro-rata for part-time and casual employees working less than 0.5 Full Time Equivalent) cost of living supplement upon EA commencement. This once off gross payment will be paid on the commencement of the agreement, and will not be added to your annual salary.
Date of increase | Amount | Increase type |
Upon EA commencement | $1,250 | One off cost-of-living supplement |
Jan-23 | $1,750 | Flat increase |
Jun-23 | 1% | % increase |
Dec-23 | $1,750 | Flat increase |
Jun-24 | 1.50% | % increase |
Dec-24 | 1% + $1,500 | % increase and flat increase |
Jun-25 | 1% | % increase |
Dec-25 | 1% + $1,000 | % increase and flat increase |
The combination of the above increases results in significant pay rises for employees covered by enterprise agreements currently under negotiation. Importantly, it provides workers on lower salaries with higher increases than what would be provided if a recurrent percentage was applied.
For example, employees on Full Time Equivalent (FTE) salary of $157,201 will receive a 3.2% pay rise in year 1, and for employees on a FTE salary of $53,868 this amount is 7.5%. This means the offer will equate to a total pay increase of between 17.1% ($9,237) for a FTE salary of $53,868, and 9.6% ($15,045) for a FTE salary of $157,201 over the term of the agreement. For further information, please see the FAQs section.
The initial pay offer included a 0.5% increase to the Superannuation Guarantee from 1 July 2025, bringing contributions to Superannuation Guarantee funds up to 12%. The offer presented in April 2023 includes an increase in contributions to Superannuation Guarantee funds by an additional 0.5% from 1 January 2026, bringing contributions to Superannuation Guarantee funds to 12.5%. This does not apply to preserved members of other superannuation plans, including CSS and PSSdb. Employees covered by those superannuation plans must receive the employer contributions specified by the fund rules for the relevant superannuation plan.
All increases are payable on or after the first full pay period in the month specified. For part-time staff, this will be paid on a pro rata basis.
Enterprise Agreement claims
In addition to the pay offer, the ACT Government is also finalising initiatives that seek to enhance employment conditions in recognition of the contribution and valuable work performed by employees.
Some of the key claims that are being finalised include:
- Expanding current leave entitlements
- Broadening flextime provisions
- Broadening access to the health and wellbeing allowance
- Simplifying dispute and misconduct provisions
For further information on the claims being considered please click here
Frequently Asked Questions
We encourage you to use the salary calculator found here - Salary Calculator - to see what the offer may look like for your individual FTE salary.
It is noted that the calculations are estimates only and may differ slightly to the final salary figures provided in the proposed enterprise agreement.
The pay offer differs from a traditional percentage only increase, it combines multiple fixed dollars increases over the life of the agreement and also percentage increases.
Every year (from 2023 to 2025) employees will receive either a flat rate increase, a percentage increase or both a flat rate and percentage increase to their salary. Therefore, the increases will differ depending on individual salaries.
These increases are set out below:
Date of increase | Amount | Increase type |
Upon EA commencement | $1,250 | One off cost-of-living supplement |
Jan-23 | $1,750 | Flat increase |
Jun-23 | 1% | % increase |
Dec-23 | $1,750 | Flat increase |
Jun-24 | 1.50% | % increase |
Dec-24 | 1% + $1,500 | % increase and flat increase |
Jun-25 | 1% | % increase |
Dec-25 | 1% + $1,000 | % increase and flat increase |
The combination of both flat dollar and percentage increases results in significant pay rises for employees covered by enterprise agreements currently under negotiation. Importantly, it provides workers on lower salaries with higher increases than what would be provided if a recurrent percentage was applied.
For example, employees on a FTE salary of $157,201 will receive a 3.2% pay rise in year 1, and for employees on a FTE salary of $53,868 this amount is 7.5%. This means the offer will equate to a total wage increase of 17.1% ($9,237) for a salary of $53,868, and 9.6% ($15,045) for a salary of $157,201 over the term of the agreement.
Bob works full time and is employed as an Administrative Service Officer 3, at increment 1 with a current salary of $68,685. The below will be an estimate of how much he will be paid over the next three years.
Bob will receive a one-off cost of living supplement of $1,250 upon commencement of the agreement. This will not count towards their salary increase.
Throughout the life of the agreement, Bob’s salary will increase as follows.
In 2023 the employee will receive the following increases to their salary:
- A flat increase of $1,750 in January 2023.
- A 1% increase in June 2023.
- A flat increase of $1,750 in December 2023.
This will amount to a 6.1% ($4,204) increase to Bob’s salary in 2023. Their new salary will now be $72,889.
In 2024 the employee will receive the following increases to their salary:
- A 1.5% increase in June 2024.
- A 1% plus $1, 500 increase in December 2024.
This will amount to a 4.6% ($3,333) increase to Bob’s salary in 2024. Their new salary will now be $76,223.
In 2025 the employee will receive the following increases to their salary:
- A 1% increase in June 2025.
- A 1% plus $1,000 increase in December 2025.
This will amount to a 3.3% ($2,532) increase to Bob’s salary in 2025. Their new salary will now be $78,755.
For additional examples see here. These examples have been developed to demonstrate the effects of the pay offer on a sample list of classifications and salary levels across various enterprise agreements only. These do not include the additional increases that will continue to be provided under the Enterprise Agreement through annual incremental advancement.
As there are hundreds of classifications and associated salary increment levels across the 17 enterprise agreements currently being negotiated, we were unable to provide the effect of each salary/increment level in the table. We encourage you to use the salary calculator to understand the effects of the pay offer on your own individual salaries.
The Government has made several pay and entitlement offers as part of the current ACT Public Sector Enterprise Agreement bargaining and has made a revised offer in April 2023. This pay offer is an offer only and may be subject to change during the course of enterprise bargaining negotiations.
The Government has made a formal pay offer as part of the current ACT Public Sector Enterprise Agreement bargaining. This pay offer is an offer only and may be subject to change along the course of enterprise bargaining negotiations.
We will continue to work through the pay offer in bargaining and will keep staff informed as negotiations progress.
There were a variety of factors that were contributed to the preparation of this offer. This includes:
- In-depth consultation between the Government and ACT Treasury
- Comprehensive consideration of the proposed enterprise agreement claims
- Consideration of the current ACT economic climate, such as inflation and cost-of-living
The Government recognises there are immediate cost-of-living pressures on employees and has offered a $1,250 (pro-rata for part time and casual employees below 0.5 FTE) cost of living supplement upon EA commencement. This once off gross payment will be paid on the commencement of the agreement and will not be added to your salary.
The initial pay offer included a 0.5% increase to the Superannuation Guarantee from 1 July 2025, bringing contributions to Superannuation Guarantee funds up to 12%. The offer presented in April 2023 includes an increase in contributions to Superannuation Guarantee funds by an additional 0.5% from 1 January 2026, bringing contributions to Superannuation Guarantee funds to 12.5%. This does not apply to preserved members of other superannuation plans, including CSS and PSSdb. Employees covered by those superannuation plans, must receive the employer contributions specified by the fund rules for the relevant superannuation plan.
If you cease employment between 5 January 2023 and the commencement of the enterprise agreement that you are covered under you can send a request for back pay to payroll at hrsharedservices@act.gov.au . Once your relevant enterprise agreement has been approved by Fair Work the payroll team will process back pay for you as soon as practicable.
More Information
As the bargaining process continues, more information will be updated on this page in due course.
You can find versions of the current enterprise agreements here.
For more information please contact your relevant Directorate Human Resources area or email EBA@act.gov.au