West Australian nurses and police officers will receive immediate pay increases and bonuses despite wage negotiations remaining unresolved.
The administrative payments will flow to more than 18,500 nurses and midwives and 7000 police officers, increasing their salaries by a minimum of three per cent and handing them a $3000 one-off bonus.
It will not halt negotiations which are set to drag into the new year and, in the case of the nurses, have involved the industrial umpire.
About 112,000 public sector workers have already accepted the McGowan government's pay offer with negotiations still to come for prison officers and firefighters.
Premier Mark McGowan said the pre-Christmas announcement on Wednesday recognised the valuable work done by nurses and police officers.
He said the payments would be made as soon as administratively possible.
Nurses last month escalated their industrial battle with the government, holding a statewide strike and rallying outside parliament.
Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said there was "uncertainty" within the nurses union, which initially recommended an acceptance of the pay offer before reversing its position, and the workforce should not be punished for that.
"This is about our workforce and making sure they have access to this cost-of-living payment and the benefits of the agreement," she told reporters.
"They are under the same cost of living pressures as everybody else ... they need to be able to make ends meet and support their families."
Asked why the payments were not offered sooner, Ms Sanderson said the government had not wanted to interfere in the bargaining process.
The McGowan government has also resolved to implement nurse to patient ratios, one of the key demands of the Australian Nursing Federation.
In a message to members on social media on Wednesday, secretary Janet Reah said the union would continue to push for a five per cent pay rise.
