Your industrial update provides information and news related to your rights and conditions at work, brought to you by the team of experts in the AEU office. This edition covers:
- Upcoming pay and super increase
- Secure work conversion
- SLB and SLC additional increment point
- New fact sheet: reasonable adjustments and flexible working arrangements
- The end of year/Christmas party: make it one to remember, not regret
Upcoming pay and super increase
Effective 4 December 2025, all ACTPS employees will receive a salary increase of 1% plus $1,000. This combination of a percentage and flat-rate amount is the amount your salary will increase by, to set your new salary level. The $1,000 component is not a one-off payment. It is part of the increase applied to form your overall new salary level which you receive in fortnightly payments. Refer to the ‘PAYMENTS’ section of your payslip to see your annual salary amount.
Remember, this pay rise will be reflected in your pay slip for the fortnight following 4 December 2025, on the 18 December 2025 payday.
In addition to pay increases, a further increase of 0.5% to superannuation contributions will occur from 1 January 2026. This will see employees who are not part of a Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme fund have their employer contributions increased to 12.5%.
Employees who are part of the CSS, PSS and PSSaP will continue to receive the contributions they currently do.
Secure work conversion
Some temporary, fixed-term contract and casual employees have recently received a ‘Notice of Secure Work Conversion Round 4 2024’ email that may have been confusing. This update explains what the notice means and what happens next.
What is Secure Work Conversion?
The ACT Government runs an annual review process to identify temporary and casual employees who should be offered permanent employment. This supports the Government’s commitment to providing secure, ongoing jobs in the ACTPS.
What does my notice mean?
Your notice will explain one of the following situations:
Situation 1: You’ve been found eligible for conversion
If your notice states you have been found eligible for conversion under the Secure Workforce Conversion Process, congratulations! You should be offered a permanent position. The Education Directorate will contact you with an offer.
Situation 2: You were not found eligible for conversion under Secure Work
If your notice states that you have not been converted in this round:
- You will be reassessed annually under the Secure Workforce Conversion Process
- Any future contracts you sign will count toward the Fair Work Act contract limitations (see below)
- Your situation may change in future assessment rounds
If you think this is a mistake or you are seeking further information as to why you weren’t eligible, you should contact edusecureemployment@act.gov.au.
Situation 3: Your contract limitations have been reached
If your notice includes wording like:
“Based on the assessment of your temporary contract history, in accordance with Section 333G of the Fair Work Act 2009, your contract end date is taken to have no effect and your employment will be ongoing.”
This means you have automatically become a permanent employee due to federal workplace laws. This may be confusing as the notice you received most likely says that you were not eligible under the Secure Workforce Conversion Process.
What are these contract limitations?
Since 6 December 2023, the Fair Work Act places restrictions on the use of contracts. The key limitations are:
- Contracts cannot exceed 2 years (including extensions)
- You cannot be offered successive contracts for the same or similar work beyond certain limits
When these limitations are exceeded and no exception applies, your contract effectively has no end date—you become permanent automatically.
What should I do now?
- Read your notice carefully to determine which situation applies to you
- If you’re being converted to permanent employment, respond to any offers
- If you have questions about your specific circumstances, contact the EDU (edusecureemployment@act.gov.au) for assistance
Need help?
If you’re unsure what your notice means or have concerns about your employment status, please contact our office. We can help you understand your rights and options.
SLB and SLC additional increment point
New SLB2 and SLC2 increment points were introduced on 27 January 2025. However, we identified an issue with the new increment points not being passed on to those on long-term higher duties. Many of our members have been acting in school leadership positions for extended periods – sometimes years – yet were being treated the same as someone just starting out in an SLB or SLC position.
In April 2025, we wrote to the EDU raising this issue. The EDU acknowledged that their current guidelines didn’t adequately address higher duties experience for school leader incremental progression. They committed to reviewing the guidelines and exploring options to fix the problem.
The AEU pushed hard for the changes to be backdated to 27 January 2025, when the new increment points first came into effect. We argued that members shouldn’t be disadvantaged simply because of the timing of these discussions.
After months of negotiations, the EDU agreed. They confirmed that school leaders who have acted for more than 12 months within a 24-month period should be entitled to the higher increment point – and crucially, they agreed to backdate this to 27 January 2025.
For example, if you had been acting in an SLB position since 27 January 2024 and were still acting on 27 January 2025, you should have been entitled to move to SLB2 from that date. The EDU estimated that affected members should receive approximately $2,000-$2,500 in backpay.
Some members have reported that they started receiving the higher increment point in their October pay. However, we understand that members have not yet received backpay for the amount owing to them between 27 January 2025 and when the increment point was reflected in their pay.
If you have been on long-term higher duties (i.e. more than 12 months in a 24-month period) please take a moment to:
- Check your most recent payslip – Look to see whether you are being paid SLC2 or SLB2. You can also check your HR21 profile to verify this.
- Check for backpay – You were entitled to the higher increment from 27 January 2025, and you should receive backpay covering the period from then until your pay rate was corrected.
- Contact us – If you haven’t received the higher increment point or backpay, or if unsure about your situation, please get in touch at aeuact@aeuact.org.au or (02) 6272 7900.
Starting a new acting role? If you’re about to commence a new SLB or SLC acting position and you’ve already done more than 12 months of higher duties in the previous 24 months, contact HR before you start and request to commence at SLB2 or SLC2. If you need support, reach out to us.
We will be following up with the EDU to ensure backpay is processed promptly for all eligible members.
New fact sheet: Reasonable adjustments and flexible working arrangements
The industrial team of the AEU office has published a new fact sheet on how to navigate reasonable adjustments and flexible working arrangements.
This will be of interest to anyone who needs adjustments to their work on the grounds of disability, managers, AEU members who support others, and anyone seeking a bit of flexibility to be able to meet the requirements of their role.
The end of year/Christmas party: make it one to remember, not regret
After another challenging year serving your communities and supporting your students, you deserve to celebrate. Here are essential guidelines to ensure a safe and enjoyable end-of-year celebration:
- Understand that workplace laws, rules and policies continue to apply at the event
A work event is considered work, for the purposes of safety, behaviour and conduct. This means:
- Your employer must ensure the event is safe
- Employees must follow employer policies and procedures
- The Code of Conduct and professional standards continue to apply to your actions
- If you act inappropriately, this may result in your employer commencing a preliminary assessment or misconduct investigation into your behaviour or actions
- You don’t have to go, and , and you should be able to leave at any time
End of year celebrations should be inclusive to all staff. This means everybody should feel welcome to attend, regardless of whether they drink alcohol, their religious or cultural background, or whether they want to spend much of their own money.
That said, if you don’t want to go to your staff party, you shouldn’t feel pressured to. And if you do go and something makes you feel uncomfortable, you can leave at any time.
- Don’t party without a plan
It’s a good idea to make a plan about how much you intend to drink and how you’re going to get home. Having a plan B in case one drink becomes a couple is essential.
For top marks, team up with some trusted colleagues and make sure that everyone has a great time and gets home safe.
- Solidarity means we look out for each other
If you notice that anyone feels uncomfortable, is engaging in unsafe behaviour, or needs a hand in any way – be the colleague they need in that moment. It’s always alright to call someone a taxi if they’ve had a few too many or remind them of the need to keep their conduct work-appropriate at work events. And it’s always alright to ask someone for help if you need it.
If we look after each other, we can all celebrate our hard work the right way.