Taking a pay cut to get a promotion might sound ridiculous, but that was the dilemma facing police officers in the world's largest force until now.
A transformative wage deal, accepted on Tuesday, will end overlapping pay scales, improve conditions and jack up most wages by at least 25 per cent over four years for NSW Police officers.
Mid-tier police officers will get a $750 bump to their weekly pay by mid-2027, as the government tries to stem the flow of senior officers exiting the 16,000-strong force.
More than 2200 positions were open in August - the highest police vacancy rate in the nation.
"Prior to this award, if I took a promotion, I would have gone up to the rank of sergeant, but I would have taken a pay cut," Leading Senior Constable Elise Hulley-Thomas told reporters on Tuesday
"It would have taken me another two years before I was earning the same amount (as now).
"Hopefully the pay increase will mean more police officers will be able to afford to live in or near the cities and communities they serve."
The $697 million pay lift, fully funded through police insurance reforms, was backed by a record 96 per cent of voting Police Association of NSW members.
"Despite the challenges faced with staffing shortages, the professionalism of our police officers has been recognised with a once-in-a-generation pay rise," union president Kevin Morton said.
The deal was struck without the need for industrial action a fortnight after Victorian police officers went on strike for the first time in 20 years.
Officers there are demanded less than their NSW counterparts - 24 per cent over four years and new 8.5-hour shifts - but are now bound for the Fair Work Commission to break the deadlock.
The NSW police deal improves flexible work arrangements and includes a $5400 one-off leadership retention payment for senior officers
More than 10,000 constables, senior constables and sergeants will receive increases of at least 25 per cent before shift allowances, with the rest getting at least 22.3 per cent.
For a level-three senior constable on $107,600, they will be collecting an extra $747 per week or $39,000 per year by mid-2027.
It follows other recruitment incentives, including payments to trainees while they live at the academy in the southern NSW city of Goulburn.
Long-term retention and recruitment issues have plagued the force, with resignations particularly high for officers with 10 to 15 years' experience.
The reformed pay scales, bonuses and overall pay rise would help keep more in the organisation, Police Commissioner Karen Webb said.
"Your future is much clearer now, and that is a retention strategy," she said.
While settling a wage dispute with a key workforce, the massive pay offer has caused consternation across the public sector.
Nurses and midwives have used the deal as a rallying cry for their demand for a 15 per cent instant pay increase, while rail chaos was narrowly averted over the weekend as those workers pressed for 36 per cent over four years.
