District Allowances up and down

Friday 09 May 2014

The debate about District Allowances (DA) has been raging for some time now.

The rates have been calculated in accordance with the terms of the District Allowances Agreements. There are two agreements (both in similar terms) - one for wages employees and one for salaried employees. Each agreement is multi-union. The agreement the HSUWA is party to includes the ANF and the public service union, the CSA.

The calculation of the DA is based on the Regional Price Index (RPI), which measures the difference between prices in Perth and prices in each of the designated local government regions. Because it measures the difference between Perth and regional prices, the index is impacted by Perth prices and prices in the designated region.

According to the RPI, the difference in prices between Perth and the regions has reduced, so for some locations, the index has reduced. For more information, see the ABC news article, which includes the full report.

We are told that government departments, including WA Health, have not been advised or consulted about the changes from the Department of Commerce.

Details of how members might be affected are here.

We think the allowances being reduced should be frozen at their current levels, at least for existing employees. They should not have been reduced.

It is a government decision to reduce the allowances, and they are obviously out of touch and show no respect to the employees they rely on to deliver vital services to the communities in remote areas, where it costs more to live.

If members wish to have their voices heard, we suggest they protest to their local Members of Parliament, their local management, and the Minister for Commerce Minister.Mischin@dpc.wa.gov.au