Pay equity for workers

The Government has approved a $173 million funding package to give 5000 mental health and addiction workers pay equity.

Health Minister David Clark said that sector’s employees would soon receive the same pay rates as aged care and support workers.

In an agreement with unions and employers, the Government will extend the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act to include mental health and addiction support workers.

The act was born out of a $500m settlement between aged care workers and the previous government, brought about by a precedentsetting court case led by aged care worker Kristine Bartlett.

But a claim was later lodged with the Employment Relations Authority by the Public Service Association and E tu¯ , seeking that mental health and addiction support workers be paid the same increased wage rates.

Clark said nearly half of mental health and addiction workers would get an increase of more than $3 per hour, meaning fulltime workers would be paid up to an extra $120 a week before tax.

A further 20 per cent of workers were expected get an increase of more than $5 per hour or an extra $200 for a 40-hour week.

The new pay scale reflected workers’ qualifications and experience and would be backdated to July 1. The package would be implemented over a five-year term.