We provide this update on the current personal/carer's leave dispute between the AFAP and the RFDS Qld, ahead of our report-back to Commissioner Durham scheduled for tomorrow.
As previously advised, the AFAP has lodged a dispute with the Fair Work Commission following changes made by RFDS Qld in November 2024 to how personal/carer’s leave is accrued and deducted for pilots. These changes effectively altered long-standing practices, without agreement, and affect how many occasions of leave a pilot can take.
The RFDS Qld maintains that under the current Enterprise Agreement (EA), pilots are entitled to accrue 76 hours of personal/carer’s leave per year, in line with the National Employment Standards (NES), which define 10 days of leave based on an average 38-hour workweek. However, the RFDS Qld says it has chosen — as a “goodwill gesture” — to allow 84 hours of annual accrual for pilots, but emphasises that this is discretionary and not required under the EA.
If the matter proceeds to arbitration, RFDS has concerningly stated its intent to reduce your entitlemnt (in the event it is successful at arbitration) to the lower 76-hour accrual. This reduction would mean even fewer instances of paid personal leave, especially given the 12-hour shift patterns pilots commonly work.
The AFAP considers that the removal of those 8 hours from pilots’ accruals merely because the AFAP has exercised rights under your EA to have a dispute arbitrated may constitute adverse action, and this will be raised before Commissioner Durham should a further conference be listed.
We have made clear our position: Pilots should be entitled to 10 paid occasions of personal/carer’s leave per year, regardless of shift length. This reflects the common understanding among pilots and aligns with past practice. The AFAP says that this is the entitlement upon which pilots voted when it voted the EA up.
Pilots can read the correspondence between the parties [
HERE] (RFDS Qld initial proposal), [
HERE] (AFAP request for clarification) and [
HERE] (RFDS Qld response). You should read that correspondence carefully. It is important for the future conduct of this dispute.
In light of the RFDS Qld's response, the AFAP’s initial thoughts are to seek a further conference with Commissioner Durham, with a view towards moving to arbitration. However, the AFAP will act on the advice of its members. Accordingly, we need to hear from you whether you wish for the dispute to be continued. You need to consider the RFDS Qld’s threat to further reduce your ability to take personal/carer's leave.
Your feedback is essential — the AFAP acts on the direction of its members. Please let us know your preferred course of action.
We will continue to keep members informed as developments occur. If you have any questions about this dispute, or wish to provide any information, please contact Andrew Molnar (
andrew@afap.org.au) by email or by calling (03) 9928 5737. Alternatively, please contact your Pilot Representatives James Bate and Hayden Watson.
Your AFAP Industrial Team