Tuesday 30 June, 2026
As reported in the previous newsletter, there is an MOU with the government in the last year of the 4-year – average 25% pay deal achieved in 2023. The MOU requires a 12-month consent award to be made covering 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027 with a 2% pay rise.
The government has made a pre-emptive offer to immediately improve or change eight conditions in the award and form a strike force to endure NSWA ceases breaching the current Award on several others. Some examples of immediate changes include 4 weeks’ notice of roster changes, removing the requirement to take annual leave in 3-week blocks, prohibiting low acuity jobs being dispatched in the last hour of shift, enshrining FWA rights into the award, and a 20 minute ‘recovery’ break for each missed crib (on top of the penalty). The full list is found here.
There are pros and cons when considering the offer. The pros are that the list of changes on offer for this year’s award are locked into the award and secure – they will lead to many quality-of-life improvements, and there’s no guarantee that they would be achieved with a ground campaign. They are ‘in the bank’.
The cons are the benefits of the full list of 70 claims that the subcommittees have built, and members are willing to fight for, cannot be brought in until 1 July next year. It also represents a back down from what was agreed to between the government and ADHSU members in the 2023 pay deal.
ADHSU state-wide activists have considered the pros and cons of accepting the pre-emptive offer. There are different opinions among the activists, however a solid majority have endorsed the offer to go to full vote of the 5000-odd financial members in ambulance.
Activists are also of the view that the full log of claims that has been developed over the last year, including for actual professional pay, must be served on the employer immediately after members accept, or reject the current offer. The campaign for next years’ award starts straight away.
[Correction: the previous newsletter stated that the MOU allowed for ‘no cost or low cost’ conditions claims, this in incorrect, the MOU allows for any conditions claims without restriction].