The NSW Government has made a record offer to deliver professional rates of pay for paramedics and an average 19 per cent pay rise.
We are bitterly disappointed the HSU has rejected this and walked out of the mediation this morning.
If this means that triple-zero collapses on 1 January, it will be a disaster for the people of NSW. Vulnerable people will suffer the most, and it may cost lives.
The offer provides pay increases of 11-25 per cent over four years.
This would match NSW paramedic salaries with those in Queensland on the basis of take-home pay, by 1 January 2025. This is what they have asked for.
This is the largest government pay increase in recent history, and will take NSW paramedics from some of the lowest paid to some of the highest paid in the country.
We have made this offer to recognise the professional rates of pay of paramedics which have recently been established in Queensland.
In addition to this, we have previously offered private mediation, binding arbitration, and a paramedics taskforce to resolve this matter.
We now must take action to ensure the people of NSW have the services they need.
We have today asked the independent umpire to step in to resolve the dispute.
