Page 3980 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 1 December 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
our teachers to be treated fairly. I urge the Labor Party and the Greens to stand up for teachers, to stand up for what they purport to be their values and to support this motion.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, Minister for Housing and Suburban Development, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Women) (3.48): I am pleased to talk about and support, value and respect our hardworking teaching professionals in the ACT public school system. I thank Mr Hanson for moving this motion today. I move the amendment that has been circulated in my name:
Omit all text after “notes” (first occurring), substitute:
“(a) that the ACT Division of the Australian Education Union (AEU) recently released their study called Under-staffed, under-resourced, under-appreciated: The teacher shortage and its impact on our schools—the biggest survey of ACT public school educators ever conducted in the ACT;
(b) that study found:
(i) nearly all respondents (97 percent) said they work more than their maximum weekly hours. This includes working on the weekends, evenings and during periods of leave or stand down;
(ii) 79 percent say they work excessive hours every week:
(A) 59 percent of classroom teachers say this happens every week; and
(B) 70 percent of primary level classroom teachers say this happens every week;
(iii) almost all teachers report working additional hours every week with more than 40 percent of them working 10 or more hours, and even more hours when weekend work is included;
(iv) teachers regularly supply classroom materials and resources from their own pockets; and
(v) according to the report ‘The harsh reality is that ACT public school teachers subsidise the ACT Government’s spending on education to the tune of at least $75 million every year on salaries alone’;
(c) that the AEU study demonstrates that action is required to address unsustainable workloads and a shortage of staff in the teaching profession;
(d) that, in response to the survey, the ACT Government and the AEU jointly formed a teacher shortage taskforce; and
(e) the AEU’s strong representation of teachers, who care deeply about their students;
(2) further notes:
(a) wage theft is a major issue in modern Australia, is criminalised in some states and is being reviewed in all others;
(b) the Australian Council of Trade Unions has claimed wage theft has reached ‘epidemic’ proportions and the exploitation of workers is
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video