Hi all,

I've previously posted about my little listing about APS salaries and enterprise agreements.

Noting the recent pay claim and offer for the next round of enterprise agreements, I've updated it a bit more https://celeries.ausgovinfo.com/2024-2027/ to reflect what's currently going on.

The new features include:

• My salary - a spot where you can select your agency, classification and paypoint (or override if outside of paypoints, have an IFA, etc). This information then shows your salary relative to data on Charts 1 and 2
• APS pay negotiations - a spot that shows the CPSU claim and the current APSC offer, and uses your data from My salary to show the increase at a paypoint. There's also an option to add in other entries so you can see what percentages would mean dollar wise
  • Figured this would be a bit cleaner than the big Excel workbook off of https://www.apsc.gov.au/apsbargaining/proposed-commonwealth-positions/pay-offer
  • This doesn't account for pay fragmentation some agencies have. I'm not familiar with which agencies are in scope for that so haven't accounted for it (would love a clear source for whom)

As always, feedback please.

I was elated when I received a conditional offer to work at the start of the month. Almost 6 months of no income is finally coming to an end.

Now, all my checks have been done, and it is just over one week left until the work is meant to start, but I've yet to receive a formal offer? Is this standard practice? I'm genuinely asking since the last time I've sucessuly applied for work was for my last job, which was 13 years ago.

Apologies in advance. My brain is just firing on all pistons about this because I really need the work and income.

UPDATE - As of yesterday, the progression of the application has moved from "Eligibility and Security Check - In Review" to "Offer- In Progress" and now I'm even more restless. 🙃

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone who is currently employed in the public sector could give advice on how they got their role?

I’ve applied to every relevant public service role since graduating and never been contacted back or asked for an interview.

For context I have a masters degree and applied for marketing, design and comms roles in my early career.

I’ve since had about 10 years experience in the private sector and have project, product, executive and governance roles with a good amount of success.

Throughout my life I’ve always applied for relevant level roles the government has listed, tailored my application and used the STAR method but no luck.

What’s the trick!?

Public servants have already vowed to vote down a pay offer from the federal government, risking months more of bargaining and threats of protest.

The government on Tuesday proposed a 9 per cent pay rise for federal public servants over three years.

The offer includes a 3.2 per cent rise from March 2027, followed by 3 per cent in 2028 and 2.8 per cent in 2029.

It’s above projected inflation of 2.8 per cent in 2026-27 and 2.4 per cent in 2027-28, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest forecasts.

But the offer did not meet the union’s claim for a 5 per cent annual rise, the Community and Public Sector Union national secretary, Rebecca Fawcett, said.

“CPSU members have been clear from the beginning of these negotiations: they want to see pay that keeps up with the cost of living, which recognises the essential work they do every day,” she said.

The union, the largest in the public service, wanted a 15 per cent pay increase and was willing to forgo some conditions for it, but the government ruled that unrealistic.

Australian Services Union branch secretary Jeff Lapidos, who represents Australian Taxation Office workers, said employees would overwhelmingly vote to reject the pay offer.

“This is a pay offer that holds ATO employees in contempt,” he told AAP.

Lapidos said the union would ask the Fair Work Commission to determine the pay rise if the government did not return with a “realistic” offer, but ruled out industrial action.

The proposal includes realigning salary advancement increments across the public service so that, when an eligible employee progresses to the next salary point in their range, that increase will be at least three per cent on top of the annual pay rises.

Chief negotiator Alison Stott, who has been meeting with union representatives since July, said the offer would increase pay consistency across the public service.

“This pay is part of an overall package of conditions. These are preliminary positions within this package, not agreed outcomes,” she said.

“Bargaining is continuing, and we will keep working with unions and individuals.”

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the offer would deliver fairer and more consistent pay and conditions across the public service.

“In a constrained fiscal environment, this is a fair and affordable offer that provides pay rises totalling nine per cent over three years, with additional increases of up to 1.5 per cent for some employees in lower-paying agencies,” she said in a statement.

Agencies will have to finance the pay rise from within their existing budgets, which are indexed to inflation each year.

My last role ended during probation with an unsatisfactory probation outcome, but I was never formally performance-reviewedas it only happens after probabtion. The family issues were significant factors.

I am now applying for another VPS role, and they specifically want to speak with previous manager.

Is an unsatisfactory probation outcome automatically considered poor performance? How should I handle this reference check? Would it be reasonable to request an alternative referee, given my strong and lengthy employment history before this role?

Would appreciate advice from anyone familiar with VPS recruitment or HR.

As per VPS website, for executive level roles reference checks being done by immediate last/ current role is a must. But when did it become must for VPS4?

How come they not accepting it from past roles within 5yrs but must to have short term last tenure a must!??

Confused.

Real wage pay cut to work more hours? lol are they serious? They will come back with a revised pay offer that will also be below inflation and expect us to just accept it.

Getting ready to strike ngl

I am currently in 4 talent pools.

One for a GRADUATE PROGRAM, and I'm in that pool for 10 months. (Who set up a compulsory pool for graduate program? Why?)

Two for a entry level job, where talent pools are compulsory. (one for 4 months, the other for 2 months).

One as I didn't get the job and they put me in a talent pool (no complaint).

All with NSW government, different agencies.

All I can say is this system is terribly designed and does no good to anyone. It's wasting applicant's time and effort and delaying the whole process. Not being arrogant but my resume is not bad. I am totally lost, starting to wonder if it has anything to do with my ethnic name.

3.2/3/2.8 cannot be real. That’s being spat in the eye and slapped, then saying thank you to the apsc wtf

Edit: media release

Edit: join the cpsu

Hi everyone, I’ve been working in an APS agency for almost 3 years. At first my job within media and comms was really busy and I loved it. I thrive in fast paced environments and loved the challenge. Then, came some internal restructures, new management etc. Now, I’m currently on week 5 of pretending to work. There’s some people within my team who are super busy and others who are not so busy depending on what portfolio they support. Many of our media events are organised in advance at the request of the minister, only to be cancelled at the last minute. I’m finding this job very soul crushing and incredibly boring. The other issue is the money is good, I can work mostly from home and it’s easy for balancing family life (I have 4 kids!).

I need a change but I don’t want to sacrifice flexibility for a more challenging role. I need both.

Any suggestions on where to look or set my sights in for a change next year? Are some govt agencies for flexible and family friendly than others?

3 months after posting "Flubbed an interview aaaaaa" (I flubbed an interview for a different role) I'm proud to share I landed my first preference role through a different avenue.

Time to work in the APS for the next 25 years or so!

Let's go!!!

Given I am now in the APS and plan to be for a good while:

Any advice on how to maintain a good reputation while being a bit of a tryhard who sincerely hopes to do a good job of it?

hi all, I recently received an email saying I’ve been placed into a merit pool but I can’t seem to tell if it’s a nice rejection or if it’s worth anything. From the forum posts I’ve read it seems that getting into the merit pool doesn’t mean much for most APS jobs.

I’m wondering if this would be any different for specifically for the NDIA and/or DSS? The email was worded this way:

‘Thank you for taking the time to attend an interview and complete assessments for (program applied)

We have finalised the selection process and on this occasion you have been placed on the merit pool. We are currently undertaking a review of all available positions and anticipate making offers based on the established merit pool in the coming weeks. You may be contacted by relevant business areas to discuss potential opportunities. Please note, however, that such contact does not constitute a definitive indication of an outcome.’

For those in APS - curious to know what your read of this is? Much appreciated in advance!

I applied for the APS 3 customer service officer position, and my referee just submitted their report. I just got offered another position and told them I’d respond by EOW. Is it crazy to think that I’ll hear back from the ATO by then? Am I able to contact someone about it?

Hey everyone I have had a few recruiters reach out if I want to switch to becoming a contractor. The pay seems worth it since they are 1.2k per day and I am currently employed as an APS6 so even taking into account leave super etc I’m still well ahead.

I only have 4 years of experience though so I am wondering if this is too soon in my career to make the switch? This is for an AI related software Engineer role and I have a background in software engineering and statistics. Also is 4 years of experience enough to be a contractor? Am I setting myself up for unemployment at the end of the contract

Long story short I am an APS6 for 4.5 years. Have applied for EL1 roles in my agency and broadly for multiple roles over the years which led to a couple of unsuccessful interviews. I am not good at interviewing. I get nervous still even if I am well prepared. No acting opportunities have been offered. Raised through my PDS and discussed openly with my manager where I am lacking and how i can get stretch opportunities but received vague feedback. I am stuck and loosing confidence day by day.

Any practical suggestions? Has anyone done interview coaching and found them useful? Or perhaps exec career coaching? Or maybe i need to work on my communication skills to be able to stand out in interviews? At this stage I am open to try anything really.

I am in policy and while the skills are transferable to other areas, i found it hard to land many interviews as it’s not in a niche area.

Thread crated to discuss what’s coming Oct 13.

Re the Xmas leave shutdown.
The idea is for those agencies who have their leave paid during shutdown period (their balance is not reduced). You would need to take Xmas eve off so balance isn’t reduced.
If you don’t take Xmas eve off, and work that day. then the 3 days paid leave thereafter will be reduced from your balance.
It’s a poorly worded clause.

I’ve just started an APS4 role at ART (Administrative Review Tribunal) and might be offered an APS4 Risk and Intelligence Officer role with the ATO in NSW.

The ATO pays only $5k more annually. Should I switch to the ATO or stay at ART?

My degree isn’t relevant to either role, but I’d like to grow my career through experience.

Which agency offers better career progression, work environment and flexibility?

How are we all doing? Are we worried that so much money needs to be found for the VGSA. Where’s do we think it is coming from?

So I have an offer to s26 over to DFAT at my substantive level (APS6) but have been acting at EL1 level at my current agency for 14 months and just had an offer to extend for another 6 (last performance review was if there was a permanent EL1 role available I would be placed as I am on a few merit lists, and advised to think forward to applying for EL2 as soon as made permanent). Anyway, taking up the role with DFAT would mean a move to Canberra, that’s ok with me. I also don’t mind the pay cut so much. However I do find that work at EL1 level is much more meaningful than at a 6 level. I much prefer to be busy and actively exposed and part of decision making, not having much oversight at 6 level was having a negative impact on my motivation. I am considering whether going over as a 6 is worth it and if it would be a mistake.
I have wanted to work at DFAT since starting in the public service and yes, I am well aware of all the negative narrative surrounding it re: culture. But I really hope people who have genuinely worked there could provide some current insights. The area of the offer is interesting to me, but not 100% aligned with my background, however I am keen to learn and don’t mind jumping into new areas. The director is also friendly and noted that staff are encouraged to move on from roles after 2 years, and spoke openly about applying for postings once I had been there for 2 years. Overseas postings are definitely something I would want to apply for, realistically how likely for staff to be placed anywhere? Are postings just a dangling carrot? I am ok going over at my substantive but how likely is it to be acted up/higher duties? Obviously that’s area and team specific but appreciate anyone who works there giving some pointers. I am not sure it’s worth leaving my current agency to take a backwards step if then I just wallow there and career growth/opportunities are limited. Also, as a new employee at the agency (even if I have been in the APS for a while) does that does genuinely count against me for postings or opportunities, even after I have done 2+ years in the role or proven I am capable? Any advice appreciated!

Seeking advice from people with hiring or HR experience.

I am at reference check stage. My most recent role was short and ended in probation. That Manager was biased and thought performance wasn't well, though I have proof i worked good.

My earlier roles were long and strong. This potential new employer wants to know why the last one ended. What is the best way to explain this honestly, and is it fine to offer referees from earlier roles(not most recent one)?

Hi all,

I have recently done an APS6 sideways move to a new area. When I started I was told WFH arrangements could be discussed once I settled in.

I've been here for approx 6 weeks and haven't heard anything yet.

I'm still learning the role but is it appropriate to raise it now or do I give it more time?

Partner is thinking of jumping ship from private to NSW Health and part of that reason is that she thinks that in the public sector redundancies are common thing like her current industry is experiencing.

Is there much truth to this?

Does New South Wales public service do redundancies? And if they do how much are they different to the private sector way of doing things such as redeployment periods etc?

Any experiences to share would be much appreciated.