CPI Uplift Adjustment triggered for current and eligible former QAS employees
In addition to guaranteed annual wage increases, the current Public Sector Wages Policy includes a Consumer Price Index Uplift Adjustment (CUA) for employees covered by the following Agreements:
- QAS Certified Agreement 2025 (QASCA 25)
- Queensland Public Health Sector Certified Agreement (No.12) 2025 (EB12)
- Medical Officers’ (Queensland Health and Department of Education) Certified Agreement (No.7) 2025 (MOCA7)
- Nurses and Midwives (Queensland Health and Department of Education) Certified Agreement (NMEB12) 2025
The CUA is a mechanism that responds to inflationary conditions by ‘topping up’ the guaranteed wage increases to a maximum increase of 3.5% for each year of the agreement, depending on inflation.
The CUA is based on the percentage difference between the guaranteed wage increase under the agreement for the agreement year and the relevant CPI Measure (March Brisbane CPI figure) as published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
On 29 April 2026, the ABS published the March 2026 Brisbane CPI figure as 4.2%. As this figure exceeds the guaranteed 3% first year wage increase provided in the above four agreements, the CUA has been triggered and the maximum additional .5% wage increase will be applied to year 1 of each agreement.
This will result in the previous 3% first year wage increase being increased to the maximum 3.5%.
New rates for QAS Operational employees covered by QASCA 2025 can be found here: Wage Rates [PDF 104.01 KB]
The new rates for QAS employees covered by EB12, MOCA7 or NMEB12 can be found here:
Administrative stream wage rates | Queensland Health
Operational stream wage rates | Queensland Health
Professional stream wage rates | Queensland Health
Technical stream wage rates | Queensland Health
Wage rates – Medical stream | Queensland Health
Nursing stream wage rates | Queensland Health
Queensland Shared Services (QSS) have advised the CUA will be paid as follows:
- QAS Certified Agreement 2025 (QASCA 25) wage increase and backpay paid on 24 June, allowance increases and backpay paid on 8 July 2026.
- Queensland Public Health Sector Certified Agreement (No.12) 2025 (EB12) wage increase and backpay paid on 5 August, allowance increases and backpay paid on 19 August 2026.
- Medical Officers’ (Queensland Health and Department of Education) Certified Agreement (No.7) 2025 (MOCA7) wage increase and backpay paid on 5 August, allowance increases and backpay paid on 19 August 2026.
- Nurses and Midwives (Queensland Health and Department of Education) Certified Agreement (NMEB12) 2025 wage increase and backpay paid on 5 August, allowance increases and backpay paid on 19 August 2026.
For more details on eligibility and how the CUA works, read the CUA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) [PDF 558.31 KB] and CUA effect of terms [PDF 313.5 KB].
Former employees of the QAS and employees on secondment from QAS
Former employees of the QAS are also eligible for the CUA in year 1 of the relevant agreement only when they meet the following requirements:
- They provide the relevant information (outlined below), confirming they were employed under the relevant agreement on or after the date of certification.
QAS employees who were employed under a QAS agreement between certification and the CUA payment date, but who not currently covered by the QAS agreement due to a secondment, will need to submit the relevant information (outlined below) verifying that an exception applies.
Payment to an employee in this circumstance will take into consideration their earnings under the relevant agreement during the CUA period and take into consideration full-time, part-time and casual employment.
The certification dates for the relevant agreements are as follows:
- QASCA 25 – 27 November 2025
- EB12 – 23 December 2025
- MOCA7 – 29 October 2025
- NMEB12 – 29 October 2025
For example: a former QAS Paramedic covered by the QASCA 25 must have been employed by the QAS on or after 27 November 2025
Relevant information to be provided
For the employer to determine eligibility, former employees and employees on secondment seeking a payment of the CUA are required to provide the following ‘relevant information’ to qas.hrservices@ambulance.qld.gov.au:
- full name (first, middle and last);
- date of birth;
- employee or payroll number;
- the department/entity for which they are seeking for an exception to be applied; and
- confirm that the bank details that QSS last paid into remain current. If the bank details that QSS hold are not current, please note this in your email to HR Services who will assist with further steps.