An improved offer by the Department of Justice yesterday averted industrial action by forensic scientists at the State's Forensic Science Laboratory on Monday.
A meeting of the 48 scientific and technical staff accepted the improved offer put to the IMPACT union in the morning.
The offer made immediate improvements to the career structure and established an independent review to address remaining problems.
Mr Peter Nolan, of IMPACT, said the settlement represented significant progress towards a career structure which could help recruit, retain and reward highly skilled and dedicated staff in the forensic science laboratory.
He said the independent review was crucial to them accepting the deal, as there were significant issues still to be resolved.
The dispute was over promotions and an improved career structure, which the union wanted to reflect the "massive increase" in forensic work in recent years.
The union said a large number of staff had left for private-sector jobs, and the union was looking for 18 promotions.
There was now a major backlog of forensic work.
In the past decade there had been a 500 per cent increase in drugs seizures, and in the last four years a 42 per cent increase in sexual assaults reported.