P Card Dispute – Letter of Offer
The PSA has notified an industrial dispute against DCS and SafeWork NSW (the Agencies) concerning the Agencies failure to pay travel compensation to SafeWork inspectors under cl 26 of the Crown Employees (Public Service Conditions of Employment) Reviewed Award 2009. Clause 26 deals with entitlements that arise if an employee is travelling which requires overnight accommodation, and includes the payment of travel allowances, meal allowances and an incidental allowance.
The core of the dispute is the interaction between purchase cards (p-cards) and the award entitlement, and specifically whether it is necessary for an employee to incur an expense personally in order to be entitled to compensation under cl 26.
The dispute was notified on 24 October 2025 and there have been multiple conciliation conferences conducted by the Industrial Relations Commission. A link to the PSA’s notification can be found HERE.
The outcome of the conciliation conference is a settlement offer from the Industrial Relations Secretary (the nominal employer) to resolve the dispute. The PSA and the SafeWork Vocational Group endorse members accepting the offer.
The Offer
- SafeWork inspectors who have travelled overnight at least once in 2025 or 2026 are entitled to a lump sum payment.
- The lump sum payment will differ per individual eligible SafeWork inspector and will be calculated based upon the number of instances of overnight travel undertaken between 1 January 2023 and 30 June 2026.
- Each eligible inspector will be categorised into a band corresponding to the number of instances of overnight travel and paid the rate corresponding the band. The bands and rates are:
| Tier | No of nights | Rate per band |
| 1 | 1-5 nights | 300 |
| 2 | 6-10 nights | 500 |
| 3 | 11-15 nights | 750 |
| 4 | 16-20 nights | 1000 |
| 5 | 21-25 nights | 1250 |
| 6 | 26-30 nights | 1500 |
| 7 | 31-35 nights | 1750 |
| 8 | 36-40 nights | 2000 |
| 9 | 41-45 nights | 2250 |
| 10 | 46-50 nights | 2500 |
| 11 | 51-55 nights | 2750 |
| 12 | 56-60 nights | 3000 |
| 13 | 61-65 nights | 3250 |
| 14 | 66-70 nights | 3500 |
| 15 | 71-75 nights | 3750 |
| 16 | 76-80 nights | 4000 |
| 17 | 81-85 nights | 4250 |
| 18 | 86-90 nights | 4500 |
| 19 | 91-95 nights | 4750 |
| 20 | 96-100 nights | 5000 |
| 21 | 101-105 nights | 5250 |
| 22 | 106-110 nights | 5500 |
| 23 | 111+ nights | 5750 |
- In addition, from 1 July 2026 SafeWork NSW will implement a new travel policy which provides for the payment of allowances under cl 26 of the award, less the value of meal or incidental expenses incurred on the p-card.
- This policy is still in negotiations with the PSA.
- In exchange, the PSA discontinues the proceedings and releases the Secretary from liability in respect of the historical failure to pay the entitlements under cl 26 to SafeWork inspectors.
Reasonableness of offer
The above offer needs to be considered with regard to what the PSA stands to achieve if the offer is rejected. If the PSA rejects the offer and proceeds to arbitrate the dispute, the PSA will either win or lose the proceedings.
If the PSA wins, the effect of the decision is that Inspectors are entitled to the payment of the allowances, despite the use of the p-card, prospectively. The PSA would need to bring further proceedings in order to obtain backpay. Those further proceedings would require the PSA to identify claimants and for the claimants to quantify their underpayment. If successful in those further proceedings, it would then fall to each individual inspector to calculate their own underpayment.
If the PSA loses, SafeWork’s current practices will continue (i.e. employees who incur expenses on p-cards are not entitled to the payment of the allowances) and employees will not be entitled to backpay.
As we all know, legal proceedings are inherently uncertain. While the PSA is confident of its position that employees do not need to incur expenses personally to be entitled to compensation under cl 26, there is every possibility that the PSA will lose.
The above offer avoids the risks of the proceedings and avoids the administrative burden of employees having to calculate their actual underpayment.
In the circumstances, the PSA and SafeWork VG strongly endorse a ‘yes’ vote.
If you are eligible to vote, an email will be sent to your email address.
PSA contacts
Greg Shaw
Senior Industrial Officer
Anne Kennelly
Senior Organiser
PSA Delegates
Maree Davidson
Chair
Toni McKay
Deputy Chair
Gavin Parker Secretary
Liam O’Dwyer
Delegate
Kate Grajales Ochoa
Delegate
