Page 5831 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 7 December 2011
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(2) calls on the Government to:
(a) foster regular meetings with our ACT teachers;
(b) explore alternatives to address and minimise delays in future negotiations over salary and conditions;
(c) work collaboratively with ACT teachers to ensure that negotiations do not hinder the daily operations of our schools; and
(d) report on the outcomes of these initiatives to this Assembly by the last sitting day in April 2012.”.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Leader, ACT Greens) (3.22): The ACT, after a protracted and at times tumultuous period of negotiation during which no less than four government offers were rejected by the ACT branch of the AEU, has finally moved closer towards remunerating our teachers as they deserve. The in-principle endorsement of the branch council of the enterprise agreement is a sign of the concerns raised by teachers and education directorate staff being recognised as genuine and valid.
Canberra is a vibrant city with a young population and a city that has a national and international reputation for providing world-class secondary and tertiary education. When viewed on the national stage, we have been rightly proud of our year 12 retention rates, which have historically been higher than average, and of the solid performance of our colleges in the Australian tertiary admission ranking scores.
Every weekday morning in the ACT nearly 60,000 children and young people are sent off by their caregivers to a variety of schools and into the care of professional teachers who have committed to supporting them to learn, achieve and strive for success. It is the teachers and educators of this territory—the backbone of any schooling system—who have provided this achievement and created such positive outcomes for our children.
Teacher salaries in the ACT are amongst the lowest in the country. Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales and the Northern Territory already offer better remuneration and retention programs than the ACT, and the other states are currently and successfully negotiating for better conditions. Over the past decade, the workloads of principals, teachers, support staff and those in the Education and Training Directorate central office have increased significantly. The recent earn or learn legislation, while seeking to improve the positive educational and life goals of young people, has seen increased pressure on teachers and schools. They are expected to engage with those students that are disengaging, to work harder with multidisciplinary teams to support families and to be even more active in identifying and responding to barriers faced by students.
Teachers are also being tasked to ensure that excellence is rewarded and that a culture of success and educational ambition is being fostered. The former Minister for Education and Training, Mr Barr, told the Legislative Assembly this time last year:
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