After its first staff strike in decades, the ABC has reached an agreed position on a 10.5% pay increase for staff over three years following conciliation at the Fair Work Commission. The proposed enterprise agreement delivers a 4% rise in year one and 3.25% in each of years two and three, with back pay to the first full pay period after 1 October 2025. The CPSU and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance will now consult members and hold a staff vote under the Fair Work Act. This deal also includes clearer pay-band progression, targeted bonuses and enhanced leave entitlements.

What was agreed

The bargaining parties reached an agreed position at conciliation at the Fair Work Commission. An ABC spokesperson confirmed the package. It delivers 4% in year one and 3.25% in years two and three, totalling 10.5% over the life of the agreement.

The offer includes back pay to the first full pay period after 1 October 2025. It also promises clearer progression pathways between pay bands, targeted performance bonuses, retention of existing promotion rules and enhanced leave entitlements. The CPSU and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, or MEAA, supported the position at the commission, the broadcaster said.

Why talks escalated

Tensions rose after ABC staff staged a 24-hour strike last month. It was the first industrial action of that type at the broadcaster in decades. The strike followed months of bargaining and an in-principle deal reached on 31 March.

That in-principle deal didn't end the dispute. The MEAA said management then narrowed the scope of a key clause on pay-band progression. The union said management limited how far it would backdate progression for staff on pay band 5. This MEAA warned that change would make it harder for colleagues stuck at the top of the band to earn the next step.

Which staff are most affected

The MEAA told members there are about 560 staff on pay band 5 who could be hit by the drafting change. Under the clause in dispute, staff move to the next level after receiving three "exceed ratings" in performance appraisals.

The disagreement has been over which ratings count and over what period.

ABC management told unions it was still working through the drafting. An ABC spokesperson said the broadcaster is negotiating final wording with the CPSU and MEAA. The spokesperson said the detail of band progression was still being considered and that the ABC had put a position to unions to take back to members.

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Union response and next steps

The MEAA described the revised offer as a big improvement after last week’s strike. Erin Madeley, MEAA chief executive, welcomed management’s acknowledgement that staff need fair pay and secure jobs, the union said. The MEAA called an urgent meeting after it claimed management had backpedalled on the draft clause; that meeting was convened to discuss possible further action.

The CPSU and the MEAA will consult their members ahead of a staff ballot, the union and ABC said. The vote will be conducted in line with the Fair Work Act. If members accept the proposed enterprise agreement, the terms would be formalised and applied to staff covered by the deal.

The headline 10.5% increase is a fixed, negotiated uplift across three years. Year-one pay rises are backdated to October 2025, according to the agreed position at the commission. The agreement also aims to make progression rules clearer, rather than creating entirely new promotion mechanics.

Targeted performance bonuses are part of the package. The deal keeps existing promotion provisions, rather than removing routes to pay increases linked to new roles. It also expands leave entitlements, a non-wage benefit that affects workforce costs and staff work-life balance.

The rises raise payroll costs for the broadcaster over the life of the agreement. The package allocates pay increases and bonuses across a multi-year schedule. That spreads the cost rather than delivering a single-year spike in wages.

For staff, the immediate effects are clearer pay pathways and the prospect of back pay if the vote approves the deal. For those on pay band 5, the resolution of the drafting around progression will determine whether long-stalled salary steps are finally recognised.

Despite the agreed position at the Fair Work Commission, some issues remained contested in drafting. The MEAA flagged that management’s revised stance limited counting of performance appraisals to those completed since 2023. The union said that approach would disadvantage people who received strong ratings earlier but haven't had recent appraisals counted.

The union’s urgent meeting and public statements signalled it was prepared to press further if members reject the final drafting. That creates a window for fresh industrial action if the vote fails and no new path to agreement emerges.

Conciliation at the Fair Work Commission produced the agreed position that the parties will now take to members.

The use of conciliation is a formal step in industrial disputes and aims to produce a settlement both sides can live with. In this case, the CPSU and MEAA backed the position reached in the commission.

The bargaining process combined pay rises, progression rules and non-wage benefits. That package shows bargaining linked cash increases to structural changes in how salaries progress within the broadcaster. It also reflects the unions’ focus on long-term pay fairness as well as immediate wage gains.

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The CPSU and the MEAA will consult members and hold a staff ballot in coming days under the Fair Work Act.

This article was created with AI assistance.