Delegates Handbook

6.1 Legislation, awards and agreements
As a delegate, members may ask you questions related to
the conditions, pay and a variety of rights and conditions
in the workplace.
This section outlines some of the key pieces of legislation
and other documents that will help you find the answers.
Within the PSA’s areas of coverage, public service
departments and related entities are governed by
NSW industrial relations law while Commonwealth
legislation covers our areas in Universities, TAFE, State
Owned Corporations and some private corporations.
These laws set out important ground rules such:
• how unions operate
• the making of awards and agreements
• resolving disputes (including unfair dismissals) by
the independent umpire (the Industrial Relations
Commission (NSW) or Fair Work Commission (Federal)).
NSW
New South Wales Industrial Relations Act 1996
Federal
Fair Work Act 2009
Conditions of employment
For most employees in NSW public service departments
and related entities, conditions are set by:
• Government Sector Employment Act 2013
• Crown Employees (Public Service Conditions of
Employment 2009) Award
• Crown Employees (Transferred Employees
Compensation) Award
Salaries are set by:
• Crown Employees (Public Sector – Salaries 2008) Award
• Some agencies have their own awards that set out
salaries and conditions specific to those workplaces.
You can find links to a list of awards and agreements on
the PSA website.
The salaries and conditions of employees under
the federal system are contained within enterprise
agreements.
Links to a list of the agreements that apply to our
members is also available on the PSA website.
As a delegate, it is important to remember that awards
and agreements are:
• negotiated by the union
• law and cannot be altered or disregarded by the
employer
• enforceable through the NSW Industrial Relations
Commission or Fair Work Commission.
Policies and guidelines
A number of rights or conditions will be set out in
workplace policy or guidelines.
They are different to awards and agreements in that
they are issued by the employer and as such can be
changed by the employer at any time.
However, it is important for delegates to be actively
involved when these policies are being developed or
altered.
Further, it is important that you are aware of the policies
that are in place in your workplace and how they apply
to members.
Workplace specific policies can be accessed from your
HR section or intranet, while those that are public sector
wide can be found on the Premier and Cabinet website.
http://www.dpc.nsw.gov.au/
The following Acts apply to all members of the PSA and
may also be useful:
Health and safety
• Work Health and Safety Act 2012
• Workplace Injury Management and Workers
Compensation Act 1998
• Workers Compensation Act 1987
Discrimination
• Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW) including
• Carer’s Responsibilities Amendment
• Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Federal)
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Federal)
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Federal)
• Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act
1986 (Federal)
Government information and privacy
• Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA)
• Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998
• Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002
• Freedom of Information Act 1982
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