UWS to get 18 per cent

Academic staff at the University of Western Sydney will receive an 18 per cent pay rise over four years under their enterprise agreement. The increase includes a 4 per cent administrative pay rise that was paid in April, 2009. In addition the agreement provides for a more collegial approach to developing academic workloads, a reduction in the notional working week from 37.5 to 35 hours, enhanced personal leave and the introduction of a range of new provisions for casual academic staff, according to a statement for the university. Sydney-based universities are leading the charge on salary increases. The NTEU has been demanding a 16 per cent minimum. Ian Argall, executive director of the Australian Higher Education Industrial Union, said the UWS agreement simply reflected “a Sydney metropolitan market for academics”. “Universities in Sydney tend to have slightly higher salaries – probably in recognition that it is so expensive to live in there. And there is a tendency for Sydney metropolitan universities to keep up with each other.”