MIA paramedics celebrate after tense negotiations end in victory

Paramedics have been pushing for a pay increase to bring rates in line with neighbouring states for almost nine months, before announcing a boycott of AHPRA registration recently in a last-ditch effort to bring the government to the table.

That threat has worked, with HSU announcing on on December 13 that they had agreed to an offer from the government.

Griffith's HSU delegate David Mecham said they were pleased with the outcome, even if it wasn't exactly what they were hoping for.

"We were hoping for 20 per cent upfront. What they've decided, what we've looked at and what's been put forward to us is that it works out around a 20 to 30 per cent increase over a few years," he said.

The exact increase will vary depending on individual circumstances, largely based on experience - but will include six months of backpay for all.

"We're quite happy to accept the offer, we feel it's probably the best thing we could hope for at this stage ... We're getting the increase we wanted, just not straight up," Mr Mecham said.

Leeton's delegate Angela Fraser was similarly excited to land a deal.

"Our HSU delegates and the HSU leaders have worked tirelessly for two years on this and we've had a really good outcome ... we're very happy with the outcome."

The goal of pay parity across all states is still some distance away, with other states likely to negotiate their own increases while NSW catches up, but Mr Mecham said that was always likely to be the case.

"As soon as we get on parity, they'll increase. We're always going to be a bit behind."

He clarified that the new deal would bring an end to the registration boycott, with all the paramedics now registered with AHPRA and ready to work on January 1.

"This boycott has done the trick. It brought the government to the table when they didn't want to and that's what we needed ... We'll all be fully registered and the politicians can go on their holidays."

Ms Fraser said that using the registration as a bargaining chip had never been done before, and she wondered if it would come back again in the future.

"I don't know if it will ever be used again. Nobody has ever used their professional registration as a tool with the union, I suppose ... the whole point was that we've been professionally registered for years and if we're not going to be treated and paid like professionals, why do it?"