For the first time in memory, police will be paid to stay, rather than incentivised to leave.
The vote was slated to run for two weeks but The Police Association of NSW (PANSW) this morning called the result with a majority of members having voted yes.
The reform also includes a one-off payment and improvements to allowances and pay-scales.
Voting on the offer opened on Monday November 18. As of yesterday, 70 per cent of PANSW members had voted on the pay offer – the largest turnout on record for such a vote.
The ‘yes vote’ in favour of accepting the offer was 96 per cent– an overwhelming endorsement of the Government’s pay offer by NSW police officers.
The reform was achieved under the Labor Government’s mutual gains bargaining framework, which replaced the former Liberal-National Government’s widely resented wages cap that drove police numbers and incomes backwards.
The payrise is funded by reforming the Police Blue Ribbon Insurance (PBRI) scheme and bringing it into Government ownership to return money to front-line police and not into the profits of private insurance companies.
The new Enhanced Police Officer Support Scheme better supports injured officers, wraps services around them and is intensively focussed on helping them get back to work wherever possible.
Police Association members voted to accept:
- 19 per cent base pay increase to non-commissioned officers over four years, plus allowances which will enhance this base pay rise;
- Accelerated pay scales – it currently takes 16 years for a Probationary Constable to reach the top level of Senior Constable. It will now take just 10 years;
- Consolidation of pay scales for Senior Constables, Sergeants and Inspectors to remove overlapping pay scales, retain experienced officers much longer and accelerate progression for currently serving officers;
- Updated and improved allowances;
- Moving to a full-time equivalent (FTE) model to allow police to work part-time or job share if they can’t manage a full-time work load but don’t want to leave, a landmark reform;
- A one-off $5,400 Leadership Retention Payment to senior police officers who undertake a leadership and wellbeing training program focused on supporting and rehabilitating injured officers and helping them return to work wherever possible;
Under the new agreement, the starting salary of a Probationary Constable – including loading - will increase from $81,517 to $84,777 and further increase to $97,206 by 2027.
The salary of a Senior Constable Level 1 – including loading - will increase from 101,516 to 105,577 and further increase to $121,054 in 2027.
The Minns Labor Government’s work to support NSW Police officers and address the chronic shortage of police officers presided over by the former Liberal National Government has also included:
- abolishing the wages cap;
- setting up a historic new scheme to pay students to study to become an officer, which has already seen applications surge by 55 per cent over the previous year; and
- two recently announced programs specifically aimed at attracting both experienced officers and regional recruits. This is part of the NSW Government’s long-term plan to rebuild our essential services, including addressing the recruitment and retention crisis of frontline workers.
Thanks to Labor’s recruitment plan we are on track to see more than 1,000 recruits attest in 2025.
The Minns Labor Government was elected with a mandate to rebuild public services and reinvest in our front-line workforce and ensure we provide support when people in NSW need it most.
It’s part of our plan to build a better NSW.
Minister for Industrial Relations Sophie Cotsis said:
“This four-year pay agreement with The Police Association of NSW recognises and rewards the efforts of our officers.
“We were elected on a mandate to fix the recruitment and retention crisis in essential services and that is what we are doing.”
Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley said:
“I am proud and delighted to have delivered this historic breakthrough for our police. It’s the result of a lot of hard work over almost a year and tough negotiations.
“I want to pay tribute to the leadership of the Police Association of NSW. They are hard bargainers and go all out to achieve results for their members, NSW cops. Working together, we’ve achieved a monumental result for our cops.
“From day one in this job I’ve said I’m only here to back the police. Officers risk their lives every day to keep us safe and it’s critical we recognise and thank them with a pay rise they deserve.
“This is generational change that will pay police properly for the first time in more than a decade. It will attract a lot of recruits and, crucially, encourage a lot of experienced officers to stay on in a police force that values them, their service and their unique knowledge.
“The Former Liberal Government had no plan for recruitment, no plan for retention and they sent police wages backwards. That ends today under the Minns Labor Government.”
