Bulletin 9 - ballot outcome - issued 2 November 2026

I wish to advise the proposed Northern Territory Public Sector Dental Officers’ 2026-2030 Enterprise Agreementwas not approved by the majority of dental officers who voted in the ballot process.

The results of the ballot conducted by Vero Voting was as follows:

Next steps

I believe conducting a ballot for the new agreement was the right approach, as it provided dental officers with the opportunity to have their say on the package of improvements to terms and conditions of employment, including a compounded salary increase of 12.55% over the term of the agreement, with backpay, new entitlements and improvements to current allowances and leave provisions. Collectively, these improvements continued to rank Northern Territory dental officers among the highest remunerated public sector dental officers in Australia.

The result is disappointing given the improvements to dental officer terms and conditions that it contained, which were responding to a number of CPSU claims. I have been clear throughout bargaining that any improvements are required to be within the parameters of the Northern Territory Wages Policy and future considerations will also necessarily be informed by those policy constraints.

As the offer was to the maximum possible, and discussions around the claims being maintained by the CPSU have been exhausted, I have asked that the CPSU reconsider their position on the offer.

Nicole Hurwood
Commissioner for Public Employment
2 November 2026