CPSU Federal Office

From 1st July the federal government will take away the fee it pays to the pathology provider that means the pathology test(s) provided to us can be bulk billed.  Pathology tests include blood tests, urine tests, swabs (such as pap smears) and tests on other samples of tissue or body fluids.  At present the federal government pays the provider but once they stop paying, the pathology providers will be forced to ask patients to pay for these tests themselves.  Patients who were previously bulk billed may need to now pay.  For mor

NOTICE OF ELECTION FOR OFFICERS IN THE NEW SOUTH WALES BRANCH  

In accordance with the Directions of the AEC Returning Officer and with the Rule 17 of the SPSF Rules we notify our New South Wales members of an election for officers in the New South Wales Branch. 
Election Notice.   Nomination form.  
NOMINATIONS OPEN ON 14 APRIL 2016.

The US Supreme Court announced that it had reached a 4-4 tie in the Friedrichs case that challenged the legality of allowing unions to charge an agency or fair share fee to non-members. The tie upholds a lower court decision that recognizes the constitutionality of the agency fee system, but does not prevent similar cases from making their way through the federal courts in the coming years.  In issuing a 4-4 opinion in Friedrichs v.

Fears of a massive jobs exodus from the west could be realised with a planned 'real cut' to wages as the Barnett Government in Western Australia imposes a 1.5%-a-year wages cap for agreements replacing those expiring after June 1 this year.  The Government says the cap is "consistent" with State Treasury's CPI forecast for 2015-2016 however UnionsWA secretary Meredith Hammat said the Government's forecast is for a 2% increase in the CPI for 2016-17, "so

The Research Report on the Proposed Reforms to Western Australian Prisons Sector by Associate Professor Jane Andrew, Dr Max Baker and Dr Phillip Roberts from the University of Sydney is now available.  This research report emerges from a larger research project, entitled ‘The Costs, Performance, Efficiency and Accountability of Australian Private Prisons’ which examines the effects of prison privatization in different states within Australia, and evaluates the types

TPP: What you need to know and what you can do about it  The Trans Pacific Partnership allows foreign corporations to bypass our courts and sue our governments in international tribunals if they can argue that future laws could harm their investment (read: their profits).

The Western Australian government has recently concluded an inquiry into prisons and the recommendations point to an alarming new trend in the management of public prisons called commissioning.  The inquiry was conducted by the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA), which was charged with looking into options to improve the efficiency and performance of WA prisons.

Congratulations from across the ditch to Glenn Barclay who has been nominated as the new national secretary of New Zealand’s largest union, the Public Service Association (PSA).  Glenn is taking over the role of Richard Wagstaff who has been national secretary for 16 years and is now moving on to his new role as president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.  Glenn will join fellow national secretary Erin Polaczuk to lead the 62,000 strong membership.  Glenn is a familiar face within our region and the Public Services Internati

The Centre for Policy Development, has produced a new report entitled Grand Alibis, how declining public sector capability affects services for the disadvantaged, which asks whether "contracting out improved the public sector's capability to address persistent disadvantage and meet complex needs?"   The report argues that government’s role in designing and delivering integrated, flexible and holistic human services is more important than ever, but that the capabilities it needs to do so are u

As a result of the global attacks on Government provision of services and infrastructure, the Public Services International, the global Union Federation of public service unions, called a meeting of all major affiliates across the world, which was held at the AFSCME Offices (US Public Sector Union) in Washington DC in early December 2015.  For the last two days public services' union leaders from across the globe and policy leaders from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the U.S.