"Modernisation" of public service award: the lessons to be learned

The award modernisation process ushered in by the Newman government earlier this year has proved to be one of the most tortuous exercises in Australian industrial relations history.

The government has had to revise its timelines twice so far, moving the original deadline back a full 12 months, to 31 December next year, and chopping and changing the order/priority in which awards are to be dealt with. Nurses, for example, were originally a priority to be dealt with by 30 June this year, but have now been moved to the group to be dealt with by 31 December next year. TAFE has been elevated as a priority, but because of the revised timelines, this actually results in an extension of the deadline for dealing with it!

Of the five original priority areas, only rail and the public service have been completed. Auxiliary fire fighters are no longer a priority. Health (now excluding nurses) and local government are still ongoing, with numerous proposals, counter-proposals and objections from employers, unions and the award modernisation team being worked through. In addition to the byzantine processes taking place in the Industrial Relations Commission, there are at least two legal challenges to aspects of the process afoot.

From the QTU point of view, the finalisation of the Queensland Public Service and Other Employees (Modern) Award (QPSOE Award) is probably the most significant recent development. This award replaces the Queensland Public Service Award and several other public sector awards. The QTU is not a party to this award and so was not involved in the modernisation process. However, we have followed developments closely and there have been some lessons learned, which we will apply when it comes time to deal with the TAFE Award and Teachers’ Award.

It should be noted that, in common with other industrial relations changes brought in by the Newman government, the award modernisation process is intended to strip away the employees’ rights and conditions. The QPSOE Award provides a specific case in point. The following are among the noteworthy features.

• Deletion from the modern award of clauses in the previous awards that were considered “non-allowable”. This includes clauses relating to training and professional development; workplace health and safety; union encouragement; the role of union delegates; right of entry; and industrial relations education leave. It also includes some clauses relating to hours of work and rostering.
• Movement of some content previously covered by the award into legislation. Though, for the most part, this did not reduce entitlements, it means that the entitlements can in the future be unilaterally altered by the government.
• Inclusion of clauses that mandate a focus on individual flexibility and exclude a collective approach to workplace change.
• References to public service directives, a common occurrence in previous awards, have been almost entirely deleted.

Finally, it should be noted that despite the fact that the QPSOE award has been certified, it doesn’t actually apply to anyone. This is because the Industrial Relations Act specifies that a modern award does not come into effect until such time as a “modern” certified agreement has been created for the relevant employees. Given that the “pre-modern” core public sector certified agreement is currently subject to arbitration, the emergence of a modern certified agreement could be quite some time down the track.

John McCollow
Industrial Services Officer

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 119 No 7, 3 October 2014, p12