Bargaining 2026
NTEU members voted to take protected industrial action, and we will be taking protected action soon.
You can find posters, templates and FAQs for our protected action campaign here Resources
Countdown to Cake and STRIKE!
Enterprise Bargaining is the negotiation between Unions and the University on the working conditions and wages at UQ for all staff.
Our previous Enterprise Agreement expired in early 2026, so bargaining negotiations are on right now!
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT AND ACTION!
We developed our Log of Claims through a deep, broad consultation with UQ colleagues. But we want to know even more, now we are bargaining around the table.
Read on for updates and information about how to be involved in issues relevant to you.
Bargaining Progress Report
| Claim | management response | status |
| EA coverage for UQ College employees | Agreed by UQ Management. | 😊 |
| - | - | - |
| 20% pay rise over 3 years | 12% pay rise over 4 years (would move wages further backwards) | 😡 |
| - | - | - |
| Union & delegate rights | Some improvements to elected officers' time release, ask Chief HR Officer if you need more 🙄 | 😐 |
| - | - | - |
| Artificial Intelligence | Some movement towards agreement. Management refuse to include human oversight for AI and human decision makers for employment decisions | 😐 |
| - | - | - |
| Reproductive Leave | You can access before exhausting sick leave, but you'll need to ask Chief HR Officer if you need more that 5 days 🙄 | 😐 |
| - | - | - |
| Gender Affirmation Leave | Slightly easier to access, but you'll need to ask Chief HR Officer if you need more that 20 days 🙄 | 😐 |
| - | - | - |
| 17% superannuation for casuals | No. | 😡 |
| - | - | - |
| Fixed term & casual staff job security | Academic casuals: Some movement towards agreement, but management want Teaching Assitants lose all research time.
Professional casuals: just read the Fair Work Act. Professional fixed term: Fair work says 2 years then convert, management say 4 years. |
😐 |
| - | - | - |
| Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Employment | Some improvements, NTEU and managment Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander representatives working together | 😊 |
| - | - | - |
| Professional staff- Workloads | No. Too hard to model or benchmark. | 😡 |
| - | - | - |
| Professional staff-Flexible Working | Proposal to combine TOIL and VBT into single FLEX time, clearer outline of flexible available to workers | 😐 |
| - | - | - |
| Professional staff-Further Compensation | No | 😡 |
| - | - | - |
| Academic Staff- Workloads | No. Your workloads are fine. | 😡 |
| - | - | - |
| Academic Staff- Sabbaticals | No. Whatever you've got now is enough (it's not). | 😡 |
| - | - | - |
| Leave & Allowances- End of year close down | No (Griffith and QUT are guaranteed leave btw) | 😡 |
| - | - | - |
| Leave & Allowances- Chronic Illness & Carers | No increase in quantum, but you can ask the Chief HR Officer for more if you run out 🙄. | 😐 |
| - | - | - |
| Leave & Allowances- Additional Responsibilities | Management don't think Mental First Aid Champions deserve additional allowances. | 😐 |
| - | - | - |
| Agreement expiry | Don't want a 3 year agreement. | 😡 |
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Enterprise Bargaining (EB) is a regular process to decide the pay and conditions of staff at a workplace, recorded in an Enterprise Agreement (EA).
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) represents all affected staff in EB negotiations at UQ (including those who are not Union members).
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The ‘Log of Claims’ is the list of things that workers want to achieve in negotiations with their employer.
The Log of Claims endorsed by UQ workers at the end of 2025 are:
The NTEU seeks a new Enterprise Agreement at the University of Queensland with the following provisions to apply to all staff.
Coverage
1. That a single Agreement will apply to all University employees, all UQ College employees and the employees of all other wholly-owned subsidiaries of UQ.
Salary
2. The Agreement will provide a salary increase for all staff of 20% (flat).
Expiry
3. The Agreement will, contingent upon reaching agreement within 9 months of expiry of the current Agreement, have an expiry date of 1 September 2029.
Union and Delegates Rights
4. The Agreement will provide improved union and delegates rights via increased time release for union representatives, access to staff email lists, access to staff inductions, and access to at least 10 days trade union leave per member each year.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
5. The Agreement will include provisions to protect staff against any adverse effects of artificial intelligence systems in the workplace.
Reproductive Health Leave
6. The Agreement will improve reproductive health provisions.
Gender Affirmation Leave
7. The Agreement will improve Gender Affirmation Leave provisions, including increasing the number of days per annum and extending access to casual staff.
Superannuation
8. The Agreement will provide 17% superannuation for casual staff.
Fixed-Term and Casual Job Security
9. The Agreement will strengthen limitations on fixed term employment and insecure work.
Drafting
10. The Agreement will provide for minor changes to drafting, including compliance purposes such as BOOT, FW Act and incorporation of undertakings.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment
11. The Agreement will improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment provisions, including: a. Strengthening of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment clause.
b. Adding definitions and approvals.
c. Increase to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural leave.
Casual Staff
12. Improvements to casual staff working conditions, including by ensuring casual staff are paid penalty rates on public holidays.
Professional Staff
13. Enforceable workload protections and review procedures for Professional Staff.
14. Enforceable access to flexible working arrangements (including and beyond the NES provisions), including Remote Working (Working from Home) with rights to make collective arrangements for Professional Staff.
15. Access to further compensation in recognition of experience for Professional Staff at the top of their band.
Academic Staff
16. Improved academic workloads, including by establishing a joint union–management committee to ensure that academic workload models are fair and consistent throughout the university.
17. Guaranteed sabbaticals after three years of continuous full-time service for Academic Staff.
Leave and Allowances
18. Provision of paid leave between Christmas and New Year without staff having to access annual leave.
19. Improvements to working conditions, flexibility and support for staff with chronic illness and staff with caring responsibilities, including increasing personal leave.
20. Allowances for additional workplace responsibilities (eg, Health and Safety Representatives, Emergency Wardens, Harassment and Workplace Support Officers, Mental Health First Aid Officers).
Further claims
21. NTEU reserves the right to make further claims.
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Sign up for Solidarity Ink, the branch newsletter, for regular updates.
Take protected industrial action :)
Join one of the Issues Groups - these are coordinating the campaigns to achieve specific items within the Log of Claims (see more, below).
Join the Organisers Council - this is the body that meets monthly to design and coordinate our union’s bargaining campaign. Contact us to join - all members are welcome.
Issues Groups
Issues groups are where union members turn shared concerns into collective action.
They bring together the workers most affected by particular claims to shape demands, build strategy, and drive campaigns forward. If an issue in the Log of Claims affects you, joining one of the issues group is the most direct way to influence outcomes and exercise collective power.
