FPAs can level the playing field. They create standards, which means better terms and conditions for everyone in your sector.

Whatever issues are affecting your industry (base wages, hours, overtimes, health and safety, flexible working, skills and training), they can be resolved by an FPA.

There are three places where you can have your say:

• If you want one
• What you want in it
• Voting on the proposal

Workers in the industry are the ones who decide if they want an FPA or not. For an FPA to be initiated, it needs 10% of the workforce, or 1000 people – whichever number is lowest.

Once an FPA is initiated in your industry – all workers in your industry are entitled to meet to discuss and vote on it. Here, you can talk about the changes you want to see (more pay, fewer hours etc).

You can use your collective voice to talk about the things that matter in your workplace and industry. Once this has been decided, the agreement is negotiated with your employer.  If you are not happy with the negotiations, you can turn down the agreement.

The FPA process is an opportunity for working people within a sector or industry to raise issues using their collective voice.

By joining with other working people in your industry, you can help set new terms and conditions for everyone. These conditions might include pay, overtime and leave – but anything is up for discussion.

An FPA is not a contract between an employer and employee. An FPA is a law which sets standards for all the agreements in a sector or an occupation, like sick leave or minimum wages.

If an FPA is agreed in an industry you work in, you still need to have an employment agreement. But whatever employment agreement you have – individual or collective – it will have to be the same or better than what’s listed in the FPA.

You don’t need to be part of a union to be covered by an FPA. But if you want to continue to improve your conditions at work, it’s important you’re a member of your union. You can find the union to join here.

No. If an FPA is initiated in a particular industry, by law employers must comply with the Fair Pay Agreement that results.

No. This is the first opportunity in a generation for people to have more say than ever in their working conditions. Workers decide this process every step of the way. 

Unions represent working people in Fair Pay Agreement negotiations. We can’t have good FPAs without resourced unions. It's important you are a member and contributing to your union so we can win good FPAs.

Additionally, higher unionised sites will always be better off – FPAs set the minimum, but do not set the maximum.  FPAs will work in favour of union members because there will be nowhere that an employer can go to undercut union members.  Lifting people up in the industry will benefit everyone, and mean we are not pitched against each other.

Your family will benefit from FPAs.

If you are paid better you can cover the increased costs you and your family are experiencing You may have family members who are covered by a Fair Pay Agreement which will bring more money into the household.  

Decent hours of work and increased hourly rate will also mean more time spent with your family and your community.

Everyone will benefit from FPAs. They have a particularly positive impact on low-paid workers, such as cleaners, supermarket workers, bus drivers, hospo workers and ECE teachers. Anyone who is covered by an FPA will benefit from improved terms and conditions, like pay, additional training and leave.

Our wider communities will also benefit from FPAs. People who ride buses, have kids in daycare or go out to restaurants will know the people doing that work are treated fairly.