USU win in the Industrial Relations Commission clarifies when first aid and camping allowances are payable under the Local Government (State) Award

When Charles Luyt drove the mobile library to towns across the Coolamon Shire, he did it alone. That solitary reality turned out to be the heart of a case that has just delivered a clear win for our members, and a result that reaches well beyond one library truck.

The Backstory

Charles worked for Coolamon Shire Council as a Mobile Library Operator from May 2024 to June 2025. He held a current first aid qualification and kept the first aid kit on board. Three times during his employment, his roster sent him overnight to towns too far from home to return the same day.

Despite this, the Council refused to pay him two allowances set out in the Local Government (State) Award 2023: the first aid allowance and the camping allowance. Our Union took up the fight on his behalf, and when conciliation didn’t resolve it, we pushed for the matter to be determined by the Industrial Relations Commission as a small claim.

Round One: The First Aid Allowance

The Award says the first aid allowance is payable when an employee is appointed to perform first aid duty and to be in charge of a first aid kit — and where those skills aren’t already recognised in their pay.

The Council argued Charles was never formally appointed to either role. Despite conflicting evidence the Commission went on to ask a bigger question: does the Award itself require an employer to appoint someone, in a workplace with no other staff, to perform first aid duties?

The answer was yes. The Award requires “an adequate number” of trained first aiders at every workplace. In a one-person workplace, there’s only one number that satisfies that requirement: one. The Commissioner found that an employer can’t sidestep this by simply encouraging staff generally to get qualified — where someone works alone, they must be appointed to the role, and once appointed, they’re in charge of the kit as well.

That’s a principle with teeth for every USU member working solo. If you’re on your own and you’re qualified, required to give first aid and managing a kit, you’re entitled to be paid for it.

Result: Charles was awarded $1,000.20 in back-paid first aid allowance.

Round Two: The Camping Allowance

The second fight was about interpretation. The Award pays a camping allowance to employees “required… to camp out or where no reasonable transport facilities are available” to get home each day. The Council argued this only applied to old-school camping — tents, swags, the kind of arrangement historically used by road gangs — and that Charles, staying in caravan park cabins, didn’t qualify. It also argued the mobile library itself counted as “reasonable transport” home.

The Commission didn’t accept either argument. Looking at the Award’s own Schedule setting minimum standards for “caravan accommodation… provided to employees required to camp out,” the Commissioner found the clause was never limited to tents. It extends to caravan or similar accommodation where an employee has no reasonable way to buy a meal nearby. And a work vehicle doesn’t count as “reasonable transport” home when the employer’s own roster requires an overnight stay in the first place.

Of Charles’s three overnight stays, two — where he stayed in a caravan park cabin with no nearby options to buy food — were found to attract the allowance. The one occasion he stayed in a hotel and could buy a meal there did not.

Result: Charles was awarded $149.08 in camping allowance.

Why This Matters for All of Us

On the numbers alone, this was a small claim — just over $1,100 for one member. But the reasoning behind it is anything but small:

  • Solo workers must be appointed first aiders. Employers can’t rely on general encouragement or a pool of qualified staff elsewhere; where you work alone, the Award requires you to be formally appointed — and paid accordingly.
  • “Camping out” isn’t just tents. Caravans, cabins and similar accommodation can trigger the allowance, so long as there’s no reasonable way to buy a meal nearby.
  • A work vehicle isn’t “reasonable transport” home if your employer’s own roster has you staying overnight.

This case is a reminder of something we tell members again and again: entitlements buried in award clauses are only as good as our willingness to test them. Your union didn’t let an ambiguous clause and a solicitor talk us out of pursuing what he was owed — and because we didn’t, every USU member in a one-person workplace, or facing an overnight stay away from home, now has a clearer, stronger Award interpretation behind them.

If you think you might be owed an allowance your employer isn’t paying, don’t assume the answer is no. Get in touch with your organiser — it might be a bigger fight than it looks.

NSW Local Government, Clerical, Administrative, Energy, Airlines and Utilities Union v Coolamon Shire Council [2026] NSWIRComm 1087