education. Workforce planners must retain the overall responsibility for the total skills and depth of the workforce. Devolving this responsibility to school principals will not only pile considerable extra workload upon school leaders but it will draw these experienced educators further away from their role as professional leaders as they execute more business-oriented, administrative tasks. This must be stridently opposed.
Government schools are, after all, part of a public service through which citizens expect appropriate social outcomes. These social outcomes cost money, but in the long run they save us money. Currently, the Minister is seeking a champagne education system on a beer budget. I’d like to be part of a reenergised and appropriately resourced, supported and remunerated profession.
Should this critical investment not be made, we will see further alienation of an increasingly tired and cynical workforce, with clear implications for the loss of passionate, dedicated and creative staff. Canberra’s children will be the ones to suffer.
This article appeared in The Canberra Times on 28 October 2011.
This article by TAFE Organiser Mike Fitzgerald is in lieu of the TAFE Vice President’S Report.
This year, ABC radio and the Canberra Times reported on bullying and harassment claims by a number of CIT teachers. Chronicled in these reports was the plight of some members who endured for up to three years the draining Comcare claims process for workplace stress. Questions were asked as to whether a culture of bullying and harassment has existed at CIT. The only case that was heard in the Federal Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) found that CIT’s actions following student complaints about a CIT teacher were ‘....unreasonable, untoward, misleading and without procedural fairness...’ (Canberra Times 17 September 2011, derived from AAT Transcript No 2009/2774). Following this finding, Comcare conceded the remaining three Comcare claims from members within that particular CIT Centre. The AEU has provided support to these members over an extended period through both the Comcare process and the preparation of cases for the AAT. The AEU engages the services of Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, and they provided sound and wise counsel over the duration of these claims. They offered members a
‘no win, no fee’ service in the successful pursuit of their claims.
lodge their claims directly to ACT Work Safe for independent investigation.
In late 2010 the ACT Work Safety Commissioner, Mark McCabe, served CIT with three Improvement Notices based predominantly on the complaints to Work Safety from teaching staff at CIT. Significantly, it is believed that this is the first time such notices have been served on an ACT Government agency. The AEU understands that ACT Work Safety is completing an investigation into the allegations of bullying and harassment across various CIT Centres.
The AEU believes that working relationships within the sector are under stress as a consequence of the continuous, significant reduction of funding to CIT since 1997. These funding shortfalls have generated unrealistic expectations on teachers and their managers to maintain quality educational outcomes in the face of unreasonable increases in output. If this pressure is to be relieved the ACT and Federal governments must adequately fund and support affordable public TAFE and VET education in the ACT.
In the Canberra Times of 17 September 2011, the Chief Executive of CIT is quoted as rejecting the existence of a culture of bullying and harassment, stating that ‘[n] obody has made a formal complaint to us and we don’t have any formal complaints on record’. Whilst CIT has offered Respect, Equity and Diversity (RED) training for some staff in some areas, management continues to deny that the problem is widespread. Meanwhile, the AEU is aware of a number of other teaching staff who wish to formalise their outstanding, informal claims of bullying and harassment. Where appropriate, these members are being advised to
The AEU has consistently encouraged all members to undertake training in programs aimed at establishing and maintaining respectful workplaces and to raise issues of concern about unreasonable work expectations with the AEU. The Union assists and supports aggrieved members to raise their concerns both within and outside CIT, and seeks to ensure the application of appropriate administrative procedures. Every member stands to benefit from these efforts.
Public Education Voice • Official Journal of the AEU - ACT Branch • PAGE 17