THOUSANDS of caseworkers will receive a pay increase in NSW as they battle staff shortages, with the largest wage rise reserved for new starters.
New child-protection workers will be offered more than $8000 in higher pay to fill critical shortages in NSW and help fix a "broken" system.
More than 2000 public-sector caseworkers will get a pay rise of at least four per cent under the deal with the Public Service Association (PSA).
But starting pay rates for new caseworkers will get a much-larger increase, rising by $8283 in the current financial year.
"Child-protection caseworkers have one of the most challenging and important jobs in the world, keeping vulnerable children safe," NSW Families Minister Kate Washington said on Wednesday (October 23).
"I have seen firsthand the incredible difference these workers make to children and families and I hope that this agreement will encourage more caseworkers to take up positions with (the government)."
As part of the new agreement, all child-protection workers will receive a minimum four per cent rise and a 0.5 per cent superannuation bump, backdated to the start of July.
Caseworkers walked off the job earlier in 2024, demanding better conditions, saying severe staff shortages were resulting in burnout.
The action came after the state's child-protection services were labelled ineffective and unsustainable in a damning auditor-general's report.
A lack of staff led to caseworkers seeing only 17 per cent of children reported to be at risk of serious harm across the Hunter Central Coast region, and a quarter statewide, official data showed.
"When we came into government, we inherited a broken child-protection system with a workforce walking out the door because they hadn't felt valued in years," Ms Washington said.
Under the agreement with the union, a standalone child protection workers' classification will be established and talks will begin on updating role descriptions and conditions.
PSA Assistant General Secretary Troy Wright said the opportunity to sit down and negotiate a specific award for child protection workers was very significant.
"We've been negotiating for months right across the NSW public sector and we have achieved a bit of a carve-out for community workers because they are in a very special situation," Mr Wright said.
"We will sit down over the next 12 months, and actually negotiate a specific award for child protection which we are excited about because we can build protections around work load, qualifications and structures into that award for the first time.
"We see it as a very good first step towards addressing some of the dilemmas in child protection."
The talks will also produce a three-year pay deal for 2025/26 onwards.
Labor has offered all NSW public-sector staff a blanket 10.5 per cent pay rise over three years, including mandatory superannuation increase, well short of the increases sought by several unions representing key frontline workers.
