The Public Service Commission has fired a starting gun on Labor's second round of pay talks for public servants, releasing a policy that includes a commitment to pay increases underpinned by productivity growth.
The commission will act on behalf of the Albanese government to reach agreement on a common pay offer and conditions for federal bureaucrats over the next three years.
Talks are due to begin imminently, though the government has not said when it will present a first pay offer to unions and other representatives.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has already talked down the main public sector union's claim of 15 per cent, saying any pay deal reached will need to be "manageable and affordable".
Asked about this at Senate estimates last week, Senator Gallagher said to expect a period of "turbulence" as parties headed into negotiations.
"We're in the bargaining kind of framework now, so, the unions will say a whole lot of things, we will respond, it will be public," Senator Gallagher said.
"There will be disagreements aired publicly, I imagine, and then we will reach agreement.
"And I don't think it is surprising that the government would not agree to the first claim put to us by the [Community and Public Sector Union] or other unions."
The commission's bargaining policy, released on Wednesday, outlines the broad principles of its approach to the negotiations, including support for a "unified, capable and contemporary" public service.
It will be the second round of service-wide talks since 1995, meaning that more than 100 agencies covered by the Public Service Act will bargain for a common pay and conditions agreement.
The government is eager to use this round of bargaining to further reduce pay fragmentation between agencies, making it easier and more attractive for staff to move around the federal bureaucracy.
Some smaller agencies with less bargaining power had fallen well behind the larger, more powerful departments over decades of single-agency bargaining.
While the last round of negotiations resulted in an 11.2 per cent pay deal, additional pay rises for lower paid public servants reduced average pay fragmentation significantly.
This round of talks will focus on further reducing disparity, though the commission maintains that "reducing wage dispersion will likely be a gradual process over multiple bargaining rounds".
Common conditions will build on the 59 that were agreed upon in 2023, including improved parental, personal and cultural leave entitlements for many agencies.
An enshrined right to request flexible work, including a bias towards approval, was a centrepiece of the last agreement but is not mentioned in the latest statement of conditions.
