Govt Commits Additional Funds to Community Workers’ Pay
16 July 2012 at 12:03 pm
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced an additional $1 billion to workers in the social and community sector (SACS) as part of its contribution to the historic pay rise awarded in February this year.
The Government says this takes the total commitment for equal pay for social and community workers to around $3 billion through to June 2021, as part of the phase in period.
“The Federal Government now expects state and territory governments to meet their obligations and commit their share of funds,” Gillard said.
From 1 December 2012, 150,000 of Australia’s lowest paid workers will receive pay rises of between 23 and 45 percent as a result of Fair Work Australia’s decision to lift the wages of some of Australia’s lowest paid workers. Around 120,000 of these workers are women.
Speaking at the NSW Labor Conference in Sydney at the weekend, the Prime Minister said her Government was committed to meeting its share of the costs associated with this historic decision.
“Employees in our social and community sectors work in some of the most challenging of jobs such as counselling families in crisis, running homeless shelters, working with people with disabilities and with victims of domestic violence or sexual assault.
“These employees make a real difference to lives of some of our most vulnerable community members and they deserve to be properly rewarded for their efforts.
We also need to do everything possible to attract and retain more workers in this sector of the economy,” she said.
Up-to-date information on the pay rise is available on a dedicated website here.
