Deal comes as Minns government remains mired in pay disputes with nurses and other public-sector unions
The Police Association has hailed 'generational change' delivered by wage rises that will see NSW officers become the nation's best paid. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
Police in New South Wales are set to be the best paid in the nation, thanks to a generational wage increase of up to 40% under a new pay deal.
The deal comes amid threats of industrial action from nurses and transport workers battling the state government for better pay offers.
More than 10,000 constables, senior constables and sergeants will receive increases of at least 25% before shift allowances while pay scales have been simplified.
It means the salary for a level 3 senior constable will jump from $107,600 to $146,600 by mid-2027.
The four-year deal, which includes back pay to 1 July, is in line with what the union had demanded and officials have asked members to accept the government's offer.
We set the bar high and for good reason, the Police Association of NSW president, Kevin Morton, told members on Monday. For the vast majority of members, this is a generational change to your award.
This offer will see the highest pay increases achieved in the last 30 years for NSW Police [and] outstrips what we have seen accepted by other public-sector agencies.
The offer introduces $5,400 leadership retention payments for senior officers and allowances for training first-year officers.
Commissioned officers – such as inspectors and superintendents – will receive increases of between 20 and 27%, inclusive of the retention payment.
The government was proud to have reached an offer that recognised the difficult and dangerous work police do every day to keep us safe, the police minister, Yasmin Catley, said.
The state, which has the nation's biggest police force, has been dealing with a debilitating shortage of officers and operating at several thousand positions short of full strength.
Morton last month told Guardian Australia the union was concerned about officers becoming fatigued by working on their rest days to staff continual protests, especially when the force was about 2,500 officers short.
A deal and avoiding industrial action is much needed for the Minns Labor government, which is mired in pay disputes with several public-sector unions for key frontline workers.
Nurses have threatened to disregard an industrial court's order and strike for 24 hours on Wednesday as they too demand a generational change to pay grades.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) last week said it had been left with no choice but to take action after the government would not budge on its offer.
All NSW public-sector workers have been offered a blanket 10.5% pay rise over three years, including mandatory increases in superannuation payments. But the nurses and midwives have been asking for an immediate 15% wage increase.
The NSWNMA general secretary, Shaye Candish, said members were extremely frustrated and disheartened.
They have been holding on for an outcome on better pay, juggling challenging working conditions, trying to manage their bills in a cost-of-living crisis and now they feel terribly let down, she said.
The premier, Chris Minns, said he was deeply sorry to anyone who would miss a planned surgery this week, calling it a huge inconvenience.
I'm sorry there hasn't been a breakthrough, I genuinely am … we wanted to get an outcome with the nurses' association, Minns said.
Meanwhile, Sydney Trains staff were also threatening industrial action, while the city's trams would be free until Thursday in a government peace offer to ward off go-slows amid drivers' dispute with contractor Transdev.
The Coalition, which oversaw a wages cap in government, said Labor was unwilling to stand up to unions.
The consequence of that is industrial chaos in NSW, the opposition leader, Mark Speakman, said.
Minns dismissed any suggestion the state's new industrial court and bargaining system was not working.
Bit by bit, week by week, we've been landing what we regard as fair increases in salaries and conditions across the public sector, he told reporters. I'm hopeful to announce more soon, Minns said.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/nov/11/nsw-police-pay-rise-minns-government-details
