CPSU Members won a 24% increase to all six categories of District Allowance this Public Sector Unions Wages Agreement.
District Allowances are there to compensate workers for excess costs that come with living in certain isolated areas.
Access to public services is vital, no matter where you live. It’s important that workers can deliver these services to the public, yet often living costs are high in remote areas.
These areas include King Island, Flinders Island, Cape Barron Island, Maria Island, Bruny Island and workers who live in Taxation Area B locations.
District Allowances are even more if the worker has dependents.
These Allowances will be backdated to November 2022.
Flinders Island Service Tasmania CPSU Delegate Client Services Officer, Lyn Wilson:
“Although it only seems like a small amount, it’s an acknowledgement that we do live in isolated area and living costs are well above our Tasmanian counterparts.“
“It helps alleviate the high cost of living, although it will never fully alleviate the cost of living here. It’s really welcomed.”
“Fuel here and power prices are higher here on Flinders Island. Petrol is 30c a litre more expensive on than in Launceston.”
“Many of the staples are a lot more costly than on mainland Tasmania.”
Lyn lists a few examples:
- Milk, 1 litre: $3.50
- Milk, 2 litres: $6.71
- Eggs: $7.20 a dozen
- Fuel (ULP): $2.35 a litre
“We haven’t had an increase to this Allowance in over six years, so it’s a long time. “
“I’ve heard the line, “You choose to live there,” but we also have to provide a service to the citizens who live here on the Island.“
“Workers in Health, Education and Service Tasmania, we’re all there to service our public and we do it very well.“
“The Allowance also helps attract people to come here, live and work on the island.“
“I’ve worked for 20 years in Service Tasmania – I’m very happy to serve my community. I was born here, and worked elsewhere and came back.”
“This Allowance helps us provide a great service to our community.”
“It is our view that ensuring allowances like this happen without delay should be a priority of agency, but we’re often seeing a delay in workers able to access these, and as such backdating…”
“We also won a mechanism to automatically increase District Allowances each year, which means these will just happen, rather than the need to argue a case in the Tasmanian Industrial Commission, and without delay.”
