PSA News – 17 April 2014

PSA starts a community conversation about “public services”

On 14 April, the PSA launched a statewide advertising campaign to ask the community “which direction are we headed?” when it comes to the provision of public services in NSW.

The television advertisement, which will also be screened in cinemas across the state, was creatively driven by respected author and novelist, Jane Caro.

Jane, along with PSA General Secretary Anne Gardiner, spoke at the launch at PSA House in Sydney about what is at stake for the people of NSW.

On the same day as the ad was launched, the Public Service Commissioner released a report called “Collaboration Blueprint” which is a report on models for outsourcing public services.

Clearly, as union members, we need to fully understand the implications of this type of report.

Click HERE to read Anne Gardiner’s address given at the launch which highlights some of the issues around privatising public services.

The ad commences screening in picture theatres from 17 April and on television from 27 April and will be shown throughout the state.

Click HERE to view the ad and show your support for public services.

Click HERE (our Facebook page) to see the video and the poster. Please share them with your friends.

Win for Casual Correctional Officers

This week, the PSA had a win in the Industrial Relations Commission. Justice Boland decided that where a casual in Corrective Services works more than one shift in any 24 hour period they will be paid overtime. No overtime was being paid previously for the second shift. This will apply even if the shifts are on the same or different daily rosters.

Win for School Admin Support Staff leads to win for all public sector workers

In 2012, the PSA applied to have a redundancy clause inserted in the School Administrative and Support Staff Award. Because the Liberal Government had unilaterally changed rights around redeployment and redundancy pay for public servants in 2011, the application for the redundancy clause was rejected by the Industrial Relations Commission.

The decision went to the Full Bench of the Commission and then finally to the Appeal Court. Last week we won in the Court of Appeal and this decision will benefit all PSA members working in the public service as the decision found that the section of the Regulation that the Government relied on was invalid.

The effect of the decision is that the Industrial Relations Commission is no longer barred (because of the Government’s 2011 policy) from including redundancy provisions in an award for public sector employees.

The PSA has again led the way for all other public sector unions who were also impacted by the Government’s regulation and will immediately move to vary all relevant awards to include redundancy rights.

Red Tape

The January-April edition of Red Tape came out this week.

If you did not receive your copy please email

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Authorised by Anne Gardiner, General Secretary, PSA of NSW, 160 Clarence Street, Sydney