On 3 October 2025 the Full Bench in Health Secretary, Ministry of Health v Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation (New South Wales) (No 2)[2025] NSWIRComm 27 ("Psychiatry Staff Specialists (No 2)") determined to make an interim award that provides a temporary attraction and retention allowance of 10% calculated on base salary, the Special Allowance, and the Level 1 Private Practice Allowance to be paid to all psychiatry staff specialists for a period of 12 months (the temporary allowance).
The Full Bench observed that this allowance will supplement an existing 10% allowance which, by operation of a determination made under the Health Services Act1997, the Health Secretary is paying to all psychiatry staff specialists with the aim of retaining those staff specialists in their current employment (the Health Secretary's retention allowance): Psychiatry Staff Specialists (No 2) at [4]. The Full Bench also observed that, in combination with the Health Secretary's retention allowance, the temporary allowance would effectively result in a combined interim uplift on the base salary of psychiatry staff specialists of 20% for a period of 12 months: Psychiatry Staff Specialists (No 2) at [5].
To give effect to this decision, the Full Bench directed the parties to have discussions for the purpose of providing the Commission with an agreed version of the new interim award reflecting the decision or, in absence of agreement, to file a document setting out their competing draft award clauses.
On 17 October 2025, the parties provided the Vice President's chambers with two versions of the proposed interim award which highlighted the clauses that are not agreed as between the parties.
The principal difference between the parties concerns the clause for the payment of the allowance. In the version provided by the Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation (New South Wales) (ASMOF) the proposed award mandates the payment of both the temporary allowance and the Health Secretary's retention allowance. This version also contains a table which identifies the monetary rates for each of these allowances and a clause setting out a rationale for the payment of the allowances covering some of the issues relating to the shortage of psychiatry staff specialists in New South Wales which the Full Bench addressed in its decision.
In contrast, the Health Secretary's version provides for the payment of the temporary allowance without addressing the Health Secretary's retention allowance. This version does not otherwise attempt to explain the purpose of the allowance and omits any reference to the monetary rates relating to the temporary allowance.
For the following reasons, we determine that the interim award should be in the terms proposed by the Health Secretary, with two qualifications.
The Full Bench clearly decided to make an interim award for the payment of the temporary allowance alone. Whilst the ongoing payment of the Health Secretary's retention allowance was an important consideration that the Full Bench took into account in deciding to make the award, we did not contemplate incorporating the Health Secretary's retention allowance as an award obligation. The Health Secretary's retention allowance is currently payable by operation of a statutory determination − Determination No. 52 of 2024 made under s 116A(1) of the Health Services Act 1997 (NSW) − as qualified by a directive from the Ministry of Health to Chief Executives to pay that allowance to all psychiatry staff specialists. The Full Bench clearly stated its expectation that, at least as an interim arrangement, the status quo in terms of the payment of the Health Secretary's retention allowance should continue in tandem with the proposed award (Psychiatry Staff Specialists (No 2) at [24]):
[2]
"It is clear from our reasons that the continuation of the payment of the Health Secretary's retention allowance during the term of the interim award is a critical underlying assumption on which we have relied in determining the interim relief. Should that change for any reason during the life of the interim award, the parties are granted leave to apply to the Commission at short notice."
(Emphasis added)
[3]
The Commission has recently recognised that it may be beneficial for parties to be able to find all relevant conditions in a single instrument, being the award, instead of having multiple instruments in the form of an award and one or more statutory determinations: Award Review Principles Case 2025[2025] NSWIRComm 1089 at [138]. However, the interim nature of the case advanced by ASMOF on behalf of psychiatry staff specialists was not an appropriate occasion for a comprehensive review or consolidation of the relevant instruments covering these employees.
The result is that the temporary allowance awarded by the Full Bench is in addition to, not in substitution for, the Health Secretary's retention allowance. It is appropriate that this be made clear by the terms of the interim award.
Accordingly, the first qualification to the Health Secretary's proposed award is that cl 3.3 should be amended to state explicitly that the award also does not rescind or replace the Health Secretary's retention allowance.
We do not consider it necessary or appropriate for the interim award to contain a statement of the underlying rationale or purpose of the temporary allowance. This has been expressed by the Full Bench in its decision to grant the application for an interim award.
We do, however, consider that it would be useful to the parties and the individual psychiatry staff specialists for the interim award to contain a table setting out the value of the allowance in terms of the monetary rates for each classification level.
Accordingly, the second qualification to the Health Secretary's proposed award is that it should contain the section headed "Part B - Monetary Rates" appearing in ASMOF's version of the proposed interim award, with a table that sets out the rates for the temporary allowance alone (excluding the column for the rates relating to the Health Secretary's retention allowance).
Finally, we do not consider it necessary or appropriate to include ASMOF's proposed definition of "Psychiatry Staff Specialist" in the Definitions clause. This cohort is already adequately defined in cl 3.2 of both versions of the interim award proposed by the parties.
[4]
(1) The Health Secretary is to file and serve a clean Word version of the new interim award that reflects this decision by 4:00pm on 24 October 2025.
[5]
21 October 2025 - Grammatical correction to the last sentence in paragraph 15