APS bargaining

About bargaining in the Commonwealth public sector

The Australian Government is committed to fair and equitable conditions of employment and job security. The Commonwealth will act as a model employer, including through genuine bargaining to improve pay and conditions.

For the Australian Public Service (APS), the Government considers service-wide bargaining for common terms is an important part of delivering these commitments. These are the first steps to address pay fragmentation across APS agencies.

Meet the bargaining team

Chief Negotiator – Alison Stott FCPHR

Alison is currently Deputy Commissioner and Chief People Officer at the Australian Taxation Office, where she leads workforce strategy, industrial relations and people transformation across one of the APS’s largest and most complex agencies.

She has a strong track record delivering enterprise agreements in highly unionised and complex environments, including leading negotiations for the ATO’s 2024–27 Enterprise Agreement and bargaining for the ACT Teaching Agreement, both achieving successful outcomes without industrial action.

Alison brings extensive APS-wide experience, having advised central bargaining forums and contributed to whole-of-service bargaining settings. She is recognised for translating complex industrial, legislative and policy issues into clear, practical advice for Government and senior leaders.

She is known for a pragmatic, outcomes-focused approach, strong relationships across agencies and unions, and delivering implementable results that support a high-performing, modern public service.

Deputy Chief Negotiator – Damien Booth CPHR

Damien returns to the APS-wide bargaining process as Deputy Chief Negotiator, bringing direct experience from the previous APS-wide bargaining round and more than 20 years’ experience in the Australian Public Service.

His career has spanned employment, human resources and workplace relations legal-policy matters, including enterprise bargaining policy. Before returning to the APSC, Damien was an Assistant Commissioner at the Australian Taxation Office.

He has also held senior roles in the Industrial Relations Group at the Attorney-General’s Department, as well as key roles in the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner and the Fair Entitlements Guarantee program in the former Department of Employment and predecessor agencies.

Damien holds a Bachelor of Management, Bachelor of Laws and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.

Assistant Commissioner – Charlie Middleton CPHR

Charlie Middleton is the APSC Assistant Commissioner responsible for the bargaining strategy and day-to-day operations of the APS Bargaining Taskforce.

Before joining the APSC, Charlie held senior leadership roles at Geoscience Australia, including as the Chief People Officer, where he led workforce strategy, industrial and workplace relations, and work health and safety. He also served as General Manager, Enabling Services, leading corporate functions including communications, governance, contracts and procurement, and legal services.

Charlie has held senior management roles across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, including international sabbatical experience. He provides clear, practical advice on complex workforce and industrial matters and has extensive experience designing and implementing contemporary workforce, employee experience and organisational change initiatives. He is known for being pragmatic and outcomes focused.

Charlie is a certified HR practitioner, and holds postgraduate qualifications strategic leadership and business management, as well as qualifications in work health and safety, and training and assessment.