Pay Equity Announcement
Mark Henley The Queensland Council of Social Service welcomes the announcement by Fair Work Australia of a wage increase for community service workers.
The bench’s decision will bring rates of pay for most community sector workers throughout the nation into alignment with the Queensland pay equity decision. The decision is an acknowledgment of undervaluing of workers. This decision will assist the sector to employ and retain well trained staff.
I welcome the Federal Government’s commitment to provide in excess of $2 billion for organisations with federally funded workers and call on all state governments to increase their funding to support the implementation of Fair Work Australia’s decision.
A strong sustainable community sector is vital to every community and requires planning and negotiating with all stakeholders to ensure the continuation of services.
QCOSS continues to lobby both the Commonwealth and State governments to fund the full, fair cost of service delivery for all government contracted services and argues that the unique situation in Queensland warrants a unique funding response. QCOSS is calling for an industry support package to support Queensland organisations that are or soon will be bound by the Queensland pay equity rates whilst the Federal decision is phased in.
I refer you to the special member update sent out this week and the QCOSS News section of this edition of eNews for key points and further information about the Fair Work Australia decision.
