Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment

Bulletin 2 - Negotiations commenced - issued 25 February 2025

Negotiations commenced

The first negotiation meeting for a new NTPS Enterprise Agreement was held on Wednesday
19 February 2025.  This was a productive meeting and was attended by union representatives and delegates, a self-nominated bargaining representative, representatives from NTPS agencies and my office.

Whilst a number of unions are still to lodge their log of claims, we had collective discussions regarding the bargaining process in which we committed to work constructively in bargaining negotiations over the coming months to finalise a proposed new agreement.

At the meeting I advised that I am seeking an enterprise agreement with improved conditions of employment that fall within the Northern Territory Public Sector Bargaining Policy 2025- 2028 that was released on 14 February 2025.

Economic outlook

The Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) provided an economic overview at the meeting that showed the cumulative general wages since 1995 compared to the cumulative growth in the Darwin Consumer Price Index (CPI)

As shown by the graph below wages have been consistently above Dawin CPI for the past 30 years.

Series: NTPS General Salary Index and Northern Territory CPI (Source: ABS)

DTF reported that inflationary pressures in Darwin have subsided faster than has been the case nationally. Inflation in Darwin currently sits below the national rate and is expected to remain between 2% and 3% for the remainder of the outlook.

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 (10 August 2025).

My proposals are outlined below:

  • A 4 year agreement to provide certainty and security of conditions, with an expiry date of
    10 August 2029.
  • Total package consistent with the Wages Policy, with increases to apply from seven days after the agreement is approved by Fair Work.
  • Retention Allowance for Katherine and Alice Springs based employees, in recognition of conditions and services particular to living in these regions.
  • Improve the overtime and restrictive duty provisions to allow CEOs to approve payment above the AO6 barrier in exceptional circumstance, subject to meeting certain criteria.
  • Introduce a Technical Excellence Scheme (similar to the Professional Excellence Scheme) to provide annual lump sum payments to technical employees for demonstrating excellence in their field.
  • Enhance “Leave to engage in voluntary emergency management activities" to provide leave may be granted for the prevention, preparation, response and recovery in an emergency operation.  This will clarify that leave may be granted outside of operational exercises or participating in an emergency operation.
  • Review terms and conditions for more efficient application e.g. overtime provisions, restrictive duty provisions, hours of duty.
  • Review remote localities and remote locality provisions to ensure they remain relevant and improve attraction and retention in the regions.

To provide improved conditions I am also seeking the following efficiencies:

  • Amend or remove the following restrictive provisions introduced in the current Agreement that fetter the Commissioners powers:
    • Clause 30 to allow the Commissioner to declare potentially surplus employees redundant without the restriction of being on the Redeployment Database for at least two years.
    • In relation to the issuing of By-laws and Determinations.
  • Review allowances to ensure they are contemporary and fit for purposes.

Technical provisions proposed:

  • Include a clause in the Agreement to clarify that Determinations or Public Sector Instruments issued by the Commissioner that are related to matters in the Agreement can be made retrospectively, provided employees are no worse off.
  • Include a clause to allow the Commissioner to issue Determinations or Public Sector Instruments that are inconsistent with the Agreement, provided employees are no worse off.

Have your say – your feedback is important

Should you wish to express a view on the proposals 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 will be posted on the Enterprise agreement negotiations.

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

Nicole Hurwood

Commissioner for Public Employment

February 2025