Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment

Bulletin 2 - Enterprise Agreement negotiations commenced - issued May 2026

The first negotiation meeting for a new NTPS Dental Officers’ 2022 – 2026 Enterprise Agreement was held on Wednesday 29 April 2026.

This was a productive meeting attended by the Community and Public Sector Union, the Health Services Union, as a nominated employee bargaining agent, representatives from my office, Department of Corporate and Digital Development and Department of Health where the parties discussed the bargaining process and committed to work constructively to finalise a new agreement.

I outlined the expectations of bargaining conduct aligning with the good faith bargaining principles in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FWA), the NTPS Enterprise Bargaining Policy 2025-2028 and the employer-based proposals.

Details of the proposals

It is important you are kept informed on the progress of negotiations as these proposals relate to your employment, where I am committed to making a formal offer prior to the expiry of the current agreement on 21 August 2026.

My proposals are outlined below:

  • A 4 year agreement to provide certainty and security of conditions, with an expiry date of 21 August 2030.
  • Total package consistent with the Wages Policy, with increases to apply from 7 days after the agreement is approved by Fair Work.
  • Initiatives that provide greater flexibility for the workforce.
  • A focus on professional development.
  • New and improved leave provisions and conditions that align with the Northern Territory Public Sector 2025 - 2029 Enterprise Agreement as follows:
    • Supporting living organ donor leave – recredit of leave in line with national scheme.
    • Leave to engage in voluntary emergency management activities – expanded to cover preparation and planning (not just response and recovery).
    • Compassionate leave – provision to allow access to compassionate leave if on approved recreation leave (recredit recreation leave).
    • Personal leave – to include certificates of attendance for medical appointments.
    • Blood donor leave – expanded to include plasma.
    • Employee Assistance Program clause to include reasonable travel time to attend appointments.
    • Diversity and disability in the workplace – new clause to recognise and support these identified groups.
    • Safe & healthy work environment – include provisions to prevent and address psychosocial risks in the workplace.
  • Determinations and By-laws into the agreement
    • long service leave
    • community language allowance.
  • Align/improve/review clauses with FWA/Northern Territory Public Sector Enterprise Award 2016 to reflect recent changes including:
    • right to disconnect
    • dispute settling procedures
    • management of change
    • union rights (representative rights)
    • individual flexibility arrangements.
  • Efficiencies to contemporise agreement:
    • Review allowances to ensure they are contemporary and fit for purposes including the removal of accident allowance (covered by other entitlements).

Have your say – your feedback is important

Should you wish to provide feedback or make a suggestion, you can provide your feedback to me by emailing enquiries.ocpe@nt.gov.au.

More information

Regular updates in relation to the bargaining process are posted on the Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment website.

For more information on bargaining in general, go to the Fair Work Commission webpage or call their information line on 1300 799 675.

Nicole Hurwood
Commissioner for Public Employment
May 2026