Public Service Association of NSW

05/06/2026

NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) members met this week on a cold and rainy day at Katoomba RFS Fire Control Centre (FCC).

Members were thankful for the rain, as there is less need to "put the wet stuff on the red stuff".

It also gave us a good chance to talk all things Union.

Some members were not aware of the $1000 cost-of-living adjustment payment won by the PSA that they will receive shortly.

We also had a chance to catch up with the Mitigation Crew who joined us afterwards in the FCC to escape the weather.

05/06/2026

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐒𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐍𝐒𝐖 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐒

Every day, Homes NSW staff in Penrith help people facing some of life's toughest challenges.

They support families struggling with housing stress, assist people experiencing homelessness, help survivors of domestic and family violence find safe accommodation, and work with vulnerable tenants to keep a roof over their heads.

It is rewarding work, but it is not always easy.

Homes NSW staff often deal with high workloads, complex client needs, occupational violence risks, emotional stress and the pressures created by a shortage of affordable housing.

That is why having a strong union matters.

The PSA stands alongside Homes NSW members, providing advice, representation and support when they need it most. Whether it is addressing excessive workloads, workplace safety concerns, organisational change, workers compensation matters or protecting pay and conditions, the PSA gives members a strong collective voice.

PSA members also have access to professional workplace support, training opportunities and a wide range of member benefits and discounts.

PSA members have access to 12 days additional paid leave to attend PSA training courses.

Members are insured for up to 2 years income under the union's Journey Insurance.

See more about member-only benefits https://psa.asn.au/member-benefits/

Homes NSW staff support the community every day. The PSA supports Homes NSW staff.

If you work at Homes NSW Penrith and are not yet a member, now is the time to join your union.

JOIN THE PSA www.psa.asn.au/join

05/06/2026

PSA Organisers recently attended an Environmental Education Schools Conference held at Field Of Mars Environmental Education Centre, Gladesville.

School Admin Managers and Business Managers from EECs attended approximately 20 from all around the state including Taronga Zoo and Dubbo.

These type of specialised schools do not have students enrolled but the SAS Staff there support the Centres for other schools visiting for excursions and various other school activities.

PHOTO: PSA member Tanya Smith, SAM Camden Park Environmental Education Centre https://camdenpk-e.schools.nsw.gov.au/

05/06/2026

𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑: 𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐔𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐀𝐓 𝟏:𝟎𝟎𝐏𝐌
PSA CPSU NSW DevelopU live webinar
𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦
Human Rights Law Centre Webinar, free to all members
Friday 5 June 2026 1:00pm – 2:00pm

People who speak up about wrongdoing play a vital role in protecting the public interest. Are our laws keeping them safe?

This live webinar will give an in-depth overview of where whistleblower laws are currently falling short, what upcoming opportunities for reform look like, and what best-practice whistleblower protections can teach us about advocacy for legislative change.

This webinar is available to you through DevelopU – PSA CPSU NSW’s e-learning platform. Register via the link below to secure your spot and receive joining details.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧
• The current state of whistleblower protections in Australia
• Where existing laws are falling short of protecting those who speak up
• Upcoming opportunities for legislative reform

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
Kieran Pender
Associate Legal Director, Human Rights Law Centre – Whistleblower Project
Madeleine Howle
Lawyer, Human Rights Law Centre – Whistleblower Project

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬
This is the second in a series of learning modules on whistleblowing for union members, officials, delegates, and anyone interested in policy and law reform – developed by the Human Rights Law Centre’s Whistleblower Project in partnership with the CPSU. If you haven’t watched 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 101 (Module 1), you can watch it on DevelopU today – but it’s not a prerequisite!

Register via DevelopU to secure your place. A confirmation email with joining details will follow.

Login to DevelopU and register at www.psa.asn.au/training
This webinar is free for PSA CPSU NSW members. Log in to DevelopU via your Member Portal to access.

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗨
DevelopU is our union’s online learning platform – developed federally by the CPSU and made available to branches across the country, so every member can access quality learning no matter where they are. Courses cover everything from advancing your career and building confidence, to workplace health and safety, financial wellbeing and understanding the union movement.

DevelopU gives union members like you the chance to build career skills, life skills and workplace skills, all at your own pace. As part of the CPSU family, your branch is part of something bigger: a growing national learning resource that keeps adding new courses and live webinars, built by your union, for your union.

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁
The Human Rights Law Centre’s Whistleblower Project is Australia’s first dedicated legal service providing specialist advice and assistance to whistleblowers in the public and private sectors across all jurisdictions. The Project advocates for law reform to strengthen whistleblower protections and delivers community legal education on whistleblowing laws.

04/06/2026

"There is simply no way to improve housing affordability for those who don't own a house while continuing to build the wealth of those who do, and the national consensus is that affordability must come first," said Alan Kohler.

04/06/2026

"𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐈𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄. 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐀 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄."

Aussie Home Loans founder, John Symond, said this week that home builders and developers do not want to take the risk anymore as the cost of building a new home has gone through the roof.

"Since COVID, construction costs have increased by 40 per cent. First homebuyers will be going way out of town to buy a two–bedroom basic apartment and paying $800,000 to $1 million. Who is going to pay that?" Symond said.

If private sector developers are unable to build the 240,000 new homes Australia needs each year, the only solution is for the federal and state governments to step in and start building.

If the market is not delivering enough homes, government should be willing to build homes itself, particularly for lower- and middle-income households.

03/06/2026

𝐏𝐀𝐘𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝟏 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

From July 1 this year, all Australian businesses will have to pay their employees’ superannuation on the same day as they pay salaries. If you’re an employee, that means your employer’s super payment will need to reach your super fund within seven days of pay day.

Unpaid super costs Australians around $6 billion. So how much is ‘payday super’ likely to boost your balance? And where can employees or employers get more help?

03/06/2026

Sign the Goulburn Correctional Centre Petition Today!

www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/pages/epetition-details.aspx?q=atjSXhxBn9Tmv-wbI6K64A

02/06/2026

𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍

House prices have been climbing for a generation. Undoing the damage could take even longer.

Imagine it is 2001, and a young couple are ready to buy their first home, a slice of suburbia with a small backyard and room for their young child.

They have saved diligently, setting aside 15 per cent of their wages for the past six years. Between them, they have accumulated $23,000, enough to cover a deposit on a modest home.

Now in 2026, their eldest is a government worker nearing 30. She and her partner are on the hunt for a home of their own.

Just like her parents, they have saved 15 per cent of their wages for six years.

They earn more than their parents did, so they have amassed a tidy sum of $85,000, about double their parents once adjusted for inflation.

But the house their parents bought for $300,000 in today’s dollars, and still live in, is now worth $1.5 million.

The home they'd like to buy is simply out of reach. They do not earn enough.

It is Australia’s familiar housing story, repeated across families and cities. The social contract, where a middle-class job yields a middle-class home, has been left at the bottom of a house price mountain.

Australia has spent decades rewarding capital growth more than wage growth.

That means that existing owners have benefitted but first-home buyers are asked to “earn more” in a market where the target keeps moving.

Many economists argue the system is structurally designed to preserve high prices.

If homes are to become genuinely affordable again, either wages must rise materially faster than housing costs for many years, or house prices must fall (or flatline) relative to incomes.

The uncomfortable truth is that a lot of policymakers want “improved affordability” without meaningfully lower house prices.

If house prices were to flatline and wages were to grow at 3.3% each year, it would take about 25 years for houses to get back to being genuinely affordable (4 times income).

So by about 2051 - and that's if house prices rise at 0 per cent annually for the next 25 years!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-02/house-prices-climbing-for-generation/105954416

02/06/2026

PSA Organiser Tracey recently caught up with two long term PSA members, Karen Kitchener, School Administration Manager and Charmian Steel, School Administration Officer at Berowra Public School.

The Public Service Association of NSW (PSA) represents School Administrative and Support Staff (SASS), School Learning Support Officers (SLSOs) and other non-teaching employees in NSW public schools.

For support staff at schools such as Berowra Public School, PSA membership provides:

• Collective bargaining for wages and conditions.
• Workplace representation if problems arise.
• Advice on leave, classification, workloads and entitlements.
• Assistance with workers compensation and workplace health and safety issues.
• Legal and industrial support when needed.
• A stronger collective voice when advocating for increased staffing levels and funding for support services.

All of the improvements to pay, job security, leave provisions and career structures for support staff in NSW schools have come through collective union representation rather than individual negotiation.

Why It Benefits Students Too

Strong support staff conditions are not just an employee issue. When schools can recruit and retain experienced SLSOs, Administrative Staff and other support workers, students receive more consistent assistance, particularly those with disability, additional learning needs or wellbeing challenges.