“To all the staff across the ACT Government, we say let’s stand together and vote no. This will send a clear message that Andrew Barr and the ACT ALP Government can no longer take staff for granted.”
That’s the view of Will Mudford, spokesperson for the CPSU reform group Members United, as the government’s subpar offer to territory public servants goes to ballot from Wednesday 26 August to Tuesday 8 September.
CPSU members who are ACT public servants claimed a modest 5 per cent in the first year, 4 per cent in the second year and 3 per cent in the third year.
The ACT Government has offered just 3 per cent in each year.
Pay for ACT public servants is way behind inflation. Workers accepted poor pay outcomes during the recovery from the pandemic but in the context of the cost-of-living crisis they cannot keep losing out.
Mudford said, “We have been made to pay for the continued financial choices of the ACT Government. ASO5s, such as policy officers, lost 5.3 per cent in real wages between 2020 and the last pay rise in 2025, while Directors (SOGB) lost 7.6 per cent in the same period.”
Barr’s Labor government has made the political choice to make their public servants pay for the government’s financial losses over recent years.
They could cut costs by not paying significant redundancy packages to senior executives. They could also reduce the use of external consultants and contractors.
Similarly, the ACT Government could be demanding additional funding from the Australian Government.
CPSU members have already voted No in a union ballot. But Mudford said union officials had been reluctant to step up the fight.
“Every time we suggested getting organised, they opposed or delayed taking necessary action.”
Now management is holding an all-staff ballot.
All workers can send a clear message that they have had enough. Barr needs to instead invest in ACT public servants.
