QTAD Q and A
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 6, 23 August 2024, page 29.
Are we getting a COLA payment this year?
No, there is no COLA payment payable due this year. Here’s why…
Under the agreement, if the Brisbane Consumer Price Index (CPI) exceeds the wage increase for the relevant agreement year, a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) payment is paid to eligible employees, in accordance with clause 6.2 of the Department of Education State School Teachers’ Certified Agreement 2022 (https://www.qirc.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-12/2022_cb135.pdf). This payment would:
- be made at the end of the relevant agreement year
- be equal to the difference between annual inflation and the wage increase for the relevant agreement year, and would be capped at 3 percentage points (3 per cent)
- have reference to base wages earned under the agreement during the relevant agreement year, excluding allowances or additional payments
- be a one-off lump sum, not forming part of base salary and taxed according to the applicable law.
However, when the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the annual inflation figures on 24 April (https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/mar-quarter-2024), Brisbane’s annual CPI was reported at 3.4 per cent as at March quarter 2024, which is less than the salary increase as of 1 July 2023 of 4 per cent.
Therefore, no COLA payment is payable for the second “agreement year” (1 July 2023 to 1 July 2024).
Queensland Treasury resource: https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/issues/3441/consumer-price-index-202403.pdf
Agreement year – means one of the three 12-month periods from 1 July in one year to 30 June in the following year that includes a calculation date.
Calculation date – means, either:
- 30 June 2023 (COLA Payment Year 1)
- 30 June 2024 (COLA Payment Year 2)
- 30 June 2025 (COLA Payment Year 3).
CPI – means the Brisbane consumer price index (all groups, March quarter annual percentage change from the March quarter of the previous year), for the March that falls within the relevant agreement year, as published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Treasury will advise agencies of the CPI relevant to COLA considerations upon its release in each year.