Agenda for Change is a important and compulsory business tool for gaining clear outcomes from the government in meeting with election promises and needs of the public servants. I believe that union received strong feedback for the topic from the public servants who participated in the conference held at Parramatta on 9th August 2008. We need measurable outcomes.

I'm from CSA in Perth. I bleieve the biggest issue for the CPSU is the Telstra-style burn and churn taking over the Public Service. It happened in Telstra and then CenteLink and then CSA and it's currently happening at the ATO. It seems we cannot articulate an argument against it. We know what it is and feel uneasy about its effects but cannot quiet muster a rational stance against it. Unions traditionally find it politically difficult to argue about workload or about designing jobs that are human friendly but I beleive we should hang the political expence and get invovled - at least lets have a discussion about it. Churn and burn effects us all, it degrades the human experience, it runs counter to the ABS code of conduct - the bit about care and empathy, and it is unhealthy. Lets get dirty with something that really matters. Wages and conditions, yes, well done everybody, but churn and burn, nothing happening. I think we might be able to get some heat going - generate interest from the younger employees if we drove this specific issue. Difficult though, but we should try to at least discuss it. Thanks everybody.

I think an APS wide agreement would solve a lot of issues and make inter-agency transferring easier. Skilled employees in the APS need to be able to transfer to where they?re needed; currently it can be difficult to transfer at level unless there's an opening in an agency. This would also contribute to the baby boomer exodus issue by enabling the APS to transfer skilled and experienced employees from one agency to another to fill the gaps that the baby boomers will inevitably create. This can also help retain staff to the APS as a whole by creating the ability to have a rotation scheme.

Additionally this will provide an APS wide consensus regarding certain policies such as the almost discriminatory smoking policies currently in some agencies agreements. These policies force smokers to abstain as long as 5 hours until their lunch break. But then in comparison, the department of Health and Aging have no such policy in their agreement.

I strongly believe that CPSU should be trying to abolish Agency agreements and re-introduce a whole of public service agreement.

An APS4 in Defence should have exactly the same pay AND conditions as an APS4 in Tax or Burea of Statistics or any other Federal Government department.

Apparantly "pattern bargaining" is a dirty word, but this is not pattern bargaining. This is one employer; the Ferederal Government; offering equal pay and conditions to all of it's employees.

The "divide and conquer" tactic has been in place too long. We must unite because there is strength in numbers.

I have heard arguments from the Union that it is in our interest to have different Agency agreements, because if one agency gets a good deal, then other agencies can lobby to get the same deal, but I think this argument is rubbish. Strength in numbers is far more important.

Since Rudd has come to government, I have repeatedly put this argument forward to the CPSU, and so have many other people, but the CPSU seem to be giving it a low priority. I feel that we should be giving it the highest priority.

APS salary scales in comparision to other sectors are very low. If union can influence the Government close this gap as soon as possible we all are winners.