AEU Journal March 2020

Official publication of the Australian Education Union (SA Branch)

Vol 52 I No 1

March 2020

AEUJOURNAL SA

INSIDE: u New

YOUR NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM

Enterprise Agreement: Your guide.

u TAFE

SA: Bargaining kicks off.

UPCO I NGH EVE RU N NM I NG E ADNTS @ TH E AE U

2020 New Educators’ State Conference BUILDING YOUR CAREER IN PUBLIC EDUCATION

AN INVITATION TO RETIRED OR RETIRING TEACHERS & SSOs Have you retired or are about to retire?

Are you seeking opportunities to maintain or increase your level of fitness and want to learn more about your city and surrounding hills and bushland?

Are you seeking companionship with other retired teachers and their partners as well as other walkers drawn from a range of backgrounds (not just teaching!)?

The Retired Teachers Walking Group is affiliated with Walking SA Inc. Walks are organised at several levels. Rovers walk from 14 – 18 kms, Walkers – up to 10kms, Ramblers 6 – 7kms and Amblers – up to 5 kms. We walk in conservation and national parks within the Mount Lofty Ranges and Fleurieu Peninsula, suburban beaches, along the six creeks of the Adelaide Plains, the River Torrens Linear Park and other suburban trails. It’s a great way to get to know your city and surroundings! A camp is also organised each year in country areas within South Australia or Victoria.

Friday 27 March 9.15am – 4.00pm Conference dinner: THE KINGS HEAD

Saturday 28 March 9.15am – 2.00pm

Australian Education Union | SA Branch For further info or to register8: www.aeusa.asn.au>events&courses or email: training@aeusa.asn.au

Preschool Conference

2020

If you are interested in finding out more about our walking group, you are invited to contact: Secretary Peter Roodhouse Phone: 8278 3439 email: proodhou@bigpond.net.au John Eaton Phone: 8431 5460 email: joneaton@bigpond.net.au

We hope you will join us for the 2020 walking season!

Come and join us!

A conference specifically for members working in preschool! This one-day event at the AEU – 163 Greenhill Road, Parkside on Thursday 23 April will explore issues, ideas and celebrations in preschools.

Keynote speaker, MARTEL MENZ

[Deputy Secretary – AEU Victoria Branch]

will share the journey of campaigning and what a difference it makes to lives of children everywhere. We will consider preschool workload and hear from members about their work choices and goodwill – and in the afternoon you select a workshop that is right for you.

“THE CRITICAL WORK OF PRESCHOOL” Thursday 23 April 9.15am – 3.30pm

Conference dinner: Wednesday 22 April

Australian Education Union | SA Branch For further info or to register8: www.aeusa.asn.au>events&courses or email: training@aeusa.asn.au

2 | AEU SA Journal – March 2020

Directors, teachers and ECWs are encouraged to attend. This event builds community amongst preschool members. So if you know someone who isn’t yet an AEU member but would benefit from the conference please encourage them to join and then n register together!

Join the AEU today:

8: www.aeusa.asn.au>join For further info or to register:

8: www.aeusa.asn.au>events & courses

CONT E NTS PRESIDENT’S VIEW

UNION TRAINING

COVER: Principal Officers of the AEU SA’s new leadership team 2020.

Photo: Tony Lewis

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20

01

04

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NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM

MAINTAIN THE FOCUS

GENDER EQUALITY IN 2020

Centre front: President Lara Golding, middle left: Vice President Jan Murphy, middle right: Secretary Leah York, back: Vice President Dash Taylor

The ‘Focus on Teaching and Learning’ is as important as ever.

What has changed for women?

Johnson.

05 STRONG, PROFESSIONAL AND CONNECTED

Australian Education Union [SA Branch]

Branch President Lara Golding outlines her vision.

163 Greenhill Road, Parkside SA 5063 Telephone: 8172 6300 Facsimile: 8172 6390 Email: journal@aeusa.asn.au Editor: Jonathan Goodfield Graphic Designer: Jo Frost

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AEU Journal is published once per term annually by the South Australian Branch of the Australian Education Union.

Deadline Dates

Publication Dates

#2 May 1

May 20

#3 July 3

July 22

#4 September 25

October 14

Subscriptions: Free for AEU members.

Non-members may subscribe for $33 per year.

TAFE FOCUS Negotiations begin and disputes grow.

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Environment threats on many fronts.

17 SUNG INTO HER SEAT Lynette Riley’s powerful welcome relived.

20 FIRES LEAVE THEIR MARK The summer break was no holiday for some.

Branch Secretary Leah York argues for an activist union.

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AEU’s ROLE UNDER ATTACK

MOVING WITH YEAR 7

Teachers Registration Board is latest target.

How will staffing be affected?

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Print: ISSN 1440-2971 Digital: ISSN 2207-9092

AST2 – IS IT WORTH IT?

www.aeusa.asn.au

TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE

BUILDING POWER TO WIN

Print Post approved PP 100000753

Printing: Lane Print

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Time to get applying.

11 THE NEW ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 4-page guide to the essential clauses.

REGULARS 08 SSO FOCUS 09 QUESTIONS FROM THE WORKPLACE

09 WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY 19 UNION TRAINING DATES 20 PRESCHOOL NEWS AEU SA Journal – March 2020 | 3

RU C AM NN PAIG I NGNH E AD

f cus on teaching and learning

Workload has been a constant feature of enterprise bargaining negotiations for over a decade. It is outrageous that while the Government and DfE want to screw down salaries to the bare minimum, South Australian educators have amongst the highest contact times and lowest Non-Instruction Times in the country. The clear expectation is, work harder for longer.

Maintain the focus Not ‘working to rule’, just working to teach.

Andrew Gohl, urges members to continue the Focus on Teaching and Learning at your site.

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e can allow ourselves some small satisfaction that $15 million per year, for the life of the Enterprise Agreement, has been injected into our schools to provide greater support to the students who need it. In doing so, AEU members’ actions have secured some valuable support for teachers to educate students according to their complex and diverse individual plans.

Members in every site will need to decide collectively how best to use this funding and convey this to the Personnel Advisory Committee (PAC). Indeed, part of the union’s campaign to ‘Focus on Teaching and Learning’ (FoTaL) is to utilise decision making structures and clauses in the Enterprise Agreement to exercise our professional voice, claim back time for teaching and learning, and address spiralling workloads.

These funds were never going to be enough, no matter how much a school receives. Base amounts start at $2,000, 4 | AEU SA Journal – March 2020

“Changing culture will always meet resistance from an employer who has benefitted from unpaid goodwill.”

ranging up to $240,000, based on hotly debated school complexity data.

This is the point behind FoTaL. It was never introduced as a ‘working to rule’ measure. It was introduced as a means to avoid the distracting, the pointless and the political, and to concentrate on supporting students.

State Governments and the Department for Education (DfE) have ignored educators’ burgeoning workloads for too long. Most initiatives are yet another poorly funded priority and members’ unpaid goodwill is taken for granted and built into DfE’s business model.

Ensuring public education meets the needs of our diverse students is an obligation that must be equally shared between the Government, parents and educators. The Government is shirking its obligation to South Australian public education students and their parents.

The only way is to make a cultural change – for our health and the sake of our families and relationships – and take control of unreasonable workloads. Changing culture will always meet resistance from an employer who has benefitted from unpaid goodwill.

However, whether it has been reclaiming 20 hours from unnecessary report writing, saying no to DfE training and development out of working hours, or demanding additional time to complete One Plans, members in sub-branches around the State are pushing back.

AEU Organisers will be visiting schools and preschools to discuss progress at your site on FoTaL. It’s time to critically analyse what is being asked of us, make a professional judgement about its value, claim back our professional voice and have some influence over the work we do to ensure it truly supports teaching and learning. n Andrew Gohl is the AEU’s Campaign Director.

SUB-BRANCH ACTION • Call a meeting of AEU members to discuss your workloads and demand professional respect today. YOUR GOODWILL. YOUR CHOICE!

PRESIDENT’S VIEW RU N N I NG H E AD

Strong, professional and connected Lara Golding, incoming SA Branch President, outlines her vision for how the union can grow to face the challenges of the next decade.

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’m honoured to lead the team for the next two years and we are all committed to making a positive difference to public education in South Australia. My aim is for our union to be strong, professional and connected.

The strength of our union is critical to our success in winning improved conditions for our members. This strength is measured in the number of members in our union and especially their activism. The lengthy enterprise bargaining process we have just been through for schools and preschools has shown us that we need to be bigger and we need to be more active.

If we want to win continued improvements to the key things that we know really matter to student learning, like class size, permanency and country incentives we need to have more members in schools preschools and TAFE being active in the community. We need to be bigger and stronger so Ministers and Treasurers know that we cannot be ignored. We need you to ask your colleagues to join us and we need you to engage in our actions.

Our union is a professional union.

By that I mean not just in the way we conduct ourselves, but also active in professional issues. Public education is at a critical point due to the increasing levels of interference from politicians and bureaucrats into how we do our work. This interference adds to our workloads and impacts on our capacity to develop and maintain positive relationships with our students.

Our members are knowledgeable professionals. Together, we are the experts on education. We have the collective knowledge and understanding needed to strengthen public education.

We know what work we need to do to bring out the best in our students, and

“To be in the union means we are in this together. We support each other, and together we are strong.” we know the work we are asked to do by those who have never worked in education that has little educational value. We know what data is valuable to our teaching and assessment, and we know the negative impacts on our students of high stakes NAPLAN testing.

A system that relies on our goodwill to function must also trust our judgement. The AEU, as the voice of the profession, must be at the centre of policy development to enhance public education. Our views must be central to teacher professional standards and our representation maintained on the Teachers’ Registration Board. We need to raise our collective professional voice for the good of our students and public education. To achieve all this we must be a connected union.

Firstly, these connections are between our members in schools, preschools and TAFE across the state. I want our members to feel connected to each other – between schools, between regions and between sectors. Our union must find better ways of connecting our members together, because it is that connection and sense of community that holds our union together.

Secondly, to increase our influence and effectiveness, we need to strengthen our connections with community and the general public. People value public education and the great work that we do, but we need to help them understand how our working conditions are impacting on our students and children.

Our teachers’ working conditions are

our students’ learning conditions.

Our union has had its challenges and we will continue to face new threats.

We find ourselves in a difficult, hostile political and legislative environment. By being strong, professional and connected we can reclaim our rightful position as the voice of public education in South Australia and win significant improvements to our working lives and to our students’ learning conditions.

Remember, that to be in the union means we are in this together. We support each other, and together we are strong. n In Unity, Lara Golding AEU SA Journal – March 2020 | 5

TAF E FOCU S

Negotiations begin Ten months since TAFE SA enterprise bargaining talks were due to commence, the Government is ready.

A

t the time of publication two negotiation meetings for a new TAFE SA Enterprise Agreement have been held.

At the first on 25 February the employer commenced by outlining its bargaining position on the following matters: • Employee Accountability • Benchmark Hours • Non-attendance days • Scheduling of work

• Reduction of the redeployment period • 1% T&D fund • Classification Standards • Dispute settlement processes.

At the second meeting of 5 March AEU negotiators outlined the claim on behalf of AEU members. It included: • Maintenance of current conditions • Mechanisms to address excessive workloads

TAFE disputes growing

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ver the start of this TAFE year, the number of complaints we have received from TAFE SA members has increased. AEU Member Services have been supporting a number of members and workgroups in addressing concerns, and the union has lodged a number of workload grievances and Clause 3.1 disputes.

Many are workload disputes caused by the employer not consulting with staff over annual benchmark hours. The employer has in a number of cases tried to get staff to work more than 21 hours (or the part time equivalent) instruction and assessment. Consideration has not been given to the range of factors listed in the Enterprise Agreement (EA) at 6 | AEU SA Journal – March 2020

Clause 5.3.4 which would normally result in a reduction of instruction and assessment hours. TAFE lecturers have ordinary hours of 35 hours per week and in order to complete the work required by the employer many members are having to work in excess of this.

Other matters include: • The union has been working with a number of lecturers called “coordinators” who are being asked to take on a leadership and coordination roles with limited release time and no remuneration.

• Assisting members who have been declared excess and making sure that the employer follows the pro-

• Access to quality Professional development • Job security • Maintenance of the Retraining/ Redeployment/Redundancy clause • Improved consultation structures and processes • Measures to address gender inequality • Appropriate breast-feeding facilities • Domestic Violence leave • Transfer to Safe work and No Safe Job Leave.

The AEU also provided an initial response to the Employer’s proposals at this meeting and sought clarification on a range of matters such as: • Employer’s rationale for performance and accountability proposals including other duties.

• Current Flexibility provisions and the employer’s rationale to introduce a monetary penalty for rostering outside of ordinary hours.

• Workforce impact of removing the 400 hours/year ceiling for HPIs. • Data regarding numbers and classificontinued over page 3 cesses in the EA in Appendix 1: Redeployment, retraining and redundancy.

• Supporting members whose workgroup is under review and more staff than positions have been identified.

In one case as a result of a dispute lodged by the union the employer has had to restart the review process as they failed to consult properly.

• Providing advice on permanency and ensuring that lecturers are correctly appointed as permanent/ongoing employees. The union has notified disputes in regard to individual members’ appointments.

• Providing advice to members on how to deal with unreasonable processes such as the new travel requirements, the new employment processes and n the closing of courses.

B RA NCH S ECR E TA RY ’S R E PO RT

Building power to win The balance between servicing and organising is essential, argues Leah York. cation of staff caught by the retraining/redeployment/redundancy clause.

• The apparent contradiction between the phasing out Education Managers and Quality Review findings.

• Transparency for the 1% training budget, its allocation and uses.

• Rationale for ‘workplace flexibility agreements’ and alleged limitations of the current provisions.

The AEU anticipates a response to these matters in the next meeting.

It has become apparent at this early stage of negotiations that the employer has an agenda, but to this point expressed little rationale for its proposals.

These negotiations are taking place against the backdrop of ongoing disruption in the sector.

Disputes TAFE SA restructure to reduce the number of directorates from five to three combined with a budget cut of $15m has resulted in disputes at the state level following a clear failure of the employer to consult and address the burgeoning workloads created by the flow on of tasks from suspended sections of TAFESA. The Employer has not responded satisfactorily, and the AEU will seek intervention by the South Australian Employment Tribunal (SAET). n TAFE members with any questions or concerns, should contact the AEU Information Unit on 8172 6300.

Watch out for the AEU TAFE eNews for updates on bargaining and disputes.

NOT AN AEU MEMBER YET? Join TODAY and have your say!

Or encourage a colleague to join.

Join online at:

www.aeusa.asn.au

O

ur union is transforming in line with our strategic plan to “build power and win”. Our new AEU staff organisational structure has been operational since 3 February, and its focus is to better support the transformation to a truly organised and activist union.

During the recent schools and preschools enterprise bargaining our union effectively mobilised members – we looked pretty damn impressive on Flinders Street, on the steps of Parliament House and across the State at electorate offices of key politicians.

But we need to be stronger to win.

Other large white collar unions are applying research and undergoing change processes to move from bargaining unions to activist unions. Increasingly governments, particularly conservative ones, are placing more restrictions on bargaining and dispute resolution processes through legislative control, increased compliance requirements, regulation and measures such as privatisation, wage ceilings, tied funding and interference in professional matters.

The evidence supports the importance of an organising union over a servicing union. While we can mobilise members to look impressive for a finite period, and from time to time win industrial or legal cases to force the employer to operate in line with existing industrial instruments, these actions are limited in their ability to grow the power of our union.

Mobilising requires the commitment of members to sustain centrally directed action, but we need more members and a sustained commitment to action. To get numbers we must be strong in our sites to ensure matters resonate at the local level with the majority of members engaged, who take action and directly

benefit from winning an outcome on widely and deeply felt issues. An example that is often raised is the operation of the PAC (schools), ESCC (TAFE) and workgroups (preschools) to actually function as they are intended to do in regard to conditions and matters pursuant to the applicable Enterprise Agreements.

Whilst winning formal disputes and legal cases also benefit members, these ‘wins’ do not build the strength of the union and tend to benefit individuals or small groups of members. These processes should complement and strengthen rather than diminish or replace direct member action that builds power. Of course, there will always be a place for individual matters to require an industrial or legal response, such as workers’ compensation, legal defence and managing under performance processes.

This is the ‘insurance’ element of union membership.

However, industrial and legal responses can also be a barrier to workplace leaders’ development and member activism. And, they do not always allow for the consideration of the professional matters in contention.

As research shows that the strength of a union is increased through member activism at the local level, the development of workplace leaders is key to collectivism – how do we resource this beyond what we currently do in terms of release time for sub-branch secretaries and workplace representatives to attend union training at Greenhill Road?

Branch Executive will be determining a position on budget priorities in the near future which will be reported at Branch Council.

There will always be a ‘servicing’ element of our union. But we must ensure that the balance of servicing and organising/campaigning provides the best opportunities for growing and strengthening our union to face the challenges that lay ahead. n If you have any queries or comments please email me at:

8: leah.york@aeusa.asn.au AEU SA Journal – March 2020 | 7

S SO FOCU S

TRA N S IT ION OF YE A R 7

SSOs and the Enterprise Agreement Congratulations on the wins you’ve achieved for SSOs due to your actions alongside all AEU members. These include: • a pay rise; • extension of the current Criteria Based Increment to include eligible SSO3s and above; • backdating of reclassification to application date; • the right to be provided with the opportunity to accrue TOIL for public holidays; • ability to transfer to a safe job while pregnant; • access to a simplified reclassification process to SSO2 for eligible SSO1s; • a commitment to increase permanency for SSOs; and • an increase in the Toileting Allowance in line with salary increases.

SSOs

These achievements were won because AEU members stood together as one united union. It was your union – the AEU – that took the Enterprise Bargaining campaign to the streets and to the community. That’s how you won for SSOs. n

“It will be vital to know about your new entitlements and how to get them working for you.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION The AEU will be rolling out Enterprise Agreement/PAC workshops in schools.

Get intouch with us to get informed.

To request a session at your school Contact your Organiser or call the AEU office: 8172 6300 or go to our website: >Events&Courses>MINIs:

8: www.aeusa.asn.au Jan Murphy AEU Vice President

8 | AEU SA Journal – MARCH 2020

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

Moving with Year 7 Jan Murphy reports on member consultation around the processes for recruitment and selection for the upcoming transition of Year 7.

The move of Year 7 to high school in 2022 will lead to a redistribution of staffing numbers away from primary. AEU Officers have been engaged in consultation with the Department’s project team regarding the recruitment and selection of staff to ensure that members have a say and entitlements are upheld.

As part of consultation on a draft procedure, a forum was held in February 2020 for members. Online surveys were launched for teachers, leaders and ancillary staff.

Members look at staffing processes from different perspectives. We received a range of views from a membership with different experiences and employment opportunities. Your feedback on the department’s proposal reflects that variety but in both the forum and surveys, members have expressed broad support for the Department’s proposals. Concerns have been raised, and suggestions provided to improve the process, and these have been passed on to the Department.

A key concern of members is the possibility of an excess of permanent teachers in primary schools. The AEU supports the prioritisation and support of these members in any process to avoid the need for required placements,

while also recognising the needs of TRTs, contract teachers, graduates and those who are underemployed. We want the best possible outcomes for members and schools.

Key elements of the department’s proposals include: • Options for eligible staff to apply to transfer for advertised high school positions this year, for 2022.

• Professional development and induction opportunities for teachers moving from primary to high schools and for high school teachers who will work with Year 7 students.

• Priority for permanent primary teachers applying for high schools positions.

• Generic applications and a centrally run initial eligibility check followed by schools running panels for advertised positions, to reduce workloads for applicants and panels. n Jan Murphy AEU Vice President

ACTION • The AEU has some Frequently Asked Questions on the shift of Year 7 on our website. Go to:

8: www.aeusa.asn.au

FAQs RU N N I NG H E AD

WO RK H E A LTH A N D SAF E TY

Questions from the workplace Q

A student has been suspended following a violent incident.

What has to happen before the student comes back into my class?

In 2019 the ACTU surveyed workers across the nation and found that 80% of workers have been injured or become ill, or both, as a result of their work.

‘Work Shouldn’t Hurt’ is the campaign for all workers that highlights the cost of identified risks not being controlled, the regularity of near-misses and the impacts on our mental health.

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Once a violent incident has occurred there is a foreseeable risk that it will happen again. There must be a process of investigation (by the supervisor in consultation with relevant workers) of the work environment in which the injury occurred to see why any existing hazard controls failed and what needs to be modified to control the risk from then on.

If the hazard is the behaviour of a student (unpredictable violence) the student should not return to the site until this investigation has occurred and controls are not just identified but actually in place. Whether the parent or agency wants this or not, this is the responsibility of the employer (that is, the Department via the Principal) to implement.

This process has to include all the relevant people, especially the staff working directly with the child, because they have the clearest understanding of the exposure and the hazards, and potentially what additional controls could be implemented.

A re-entry meeting is required with parent and student participation. Many sites utilise student contracts as part of the re-entry process. The health & safety representative (HSR) for the workers should also be present. In the absence of a HSR, a union representative or other support person would be appropriate.

If the parent or guardian wants the student returned to the site without the above happening – regardless of the Disability Discrimination Act – the employer must provide a safe workplace under Section 19 of the Work, Health and Safety Act, reinforcing the need for risk control consultation to have taken place before the student re-enters the site.

If a site leader is feeling overwhelmed in terms of the resources or knowledge

Safety is no accident

to be able to take the appropriate action to ensure staff safety, they should report this up the line to the Education Director, WHS Unit or relevant Director as this reduces the risk of the site leader being found culpable in the event of a further injury.

This is an excellent opportunity for AEU members to express solidarity with other workers, especially those who have been exposed to the violent incident, through the passing of a motion stating that there must be a review of risk control in consultation with workers, and necessary modifications made prior to the student being returned to the site. n Further advice and resources are available by contacting the AEU Information Unit – see details below 5

AEU INFORMATION UNIT Mondays: 8.15am – 5.00pm Tuesday to Friday: 10.30am – 5.00pm

)8172 6300 • Qualified AEU Officers standing by to answer your enquiry • A service for AEU members only • For advice and assistance call us or email: info@aeusa.asn.au

Mental health is also the focus of a recent Federal Government Productivity Commission inquiry with draft findings showing that one in two Australians will become mentally ill in their lifetime, and the cost of managing this is three times the cost of prevention!

The Department for Education’s launch in October 2019 of a focussed ‘Wellbeing’ intranet page recognises the importance of a mentally healthy workforce and the accompanying procedure outlines the risks clearly.

The question now is that when it comes to the identified workplace and environmental risk factors, what is the employer doing about it?

Here’s where you can help. The Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act 2012 has very clear expectations of employers, as it has always been the case that work shouldn’t hurt. Every workplace has the right to elect a health and safety rep (HSR) and they are to be given time to be trained in and undertake their roles by the government. Section 68 of the Act and Clause 3.6 in the 2016 (and 2020) Enterprise Agreement is all about this.

If you are the HSR, that is great and being part of HSRconnect, the AEU’s own HSR support network is the next step. All HSRs are encouraged to do so.

If you know who your HSR is, support them in their role. If you don’t then start the conversation about why you need one – they represent your health and safety. This is so important the Department has its own Work Health and Safety Hotline: 8226 1440.

The AEU WHS Standing Committee meets every term to discuss workplace issues, and the AEU meets regularly continued over page 3 AEU SA Journal – MARCH 2020 | 9

W H S CONT I N UE D...

PROF E S S ION A L DEVE LOPM E NT

with the Department to focus on systemwide health and safety. It is through these structures that workplace violence has been an ongoing area for greater clarity and consistency of expectations and outcomes.

Advanced Skills Teacher 2 – is it worth it?

The AEU is part of the working party making recommendations about how we can mitigate instances of violence and when they do occur, manage them professionally and respectfully. We all need to be safe at work! n Vice President Dash Taylor Johnson was recently elected at the AEU Federal Conference to the ACTU Occupational Health and Safety Committee.

25 YEAR MEMBER RECOGNITION Sub-branch Secretaries and AEU reps.

Please contact the Branch Secretary lyork@aeusa.asn.au if you would like to organise recognition of members of 25 years standing at your site.

The new Enterprise Agreement spells the end of AST2, but it’s not too late to secure this classification, writes Jackie Bone-George.

T

he short answer is ‘yes, AST2 is worth applying for’. Advanced Skills Teacher 2 (AST2) is a personal classification that stays with you for the rest of your career.

The Advanced Skills Teacher classification was introduced in the early ‘90s as an alternative career pathway for teachers who wanted to stay in the classroom. The focus was on being a highly regarded teacher who influenced others to improve their practice and therefore improve student learning outcomes.

AST1 was introduced in 1993, with AST2 taking another decade to be implemented. AST1 then became the new Step 9 in the arbitrated decision of 2010.

Fast forward to 2020. The new enterprise agreement will see 2022 as the final year of assessment for AST2 applications.

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Teachers with AST2 at that time will continue to hold that as their substantive classification level until they leave the teaching profession. The number of teachers classified at AST2 is not subject to a quota.

The Department’s preference is for the Highly Accomplished Teacher (HAT) and Lead Teacher (LT) classifications.

These positions are subject to a quota insofar as the Department will determine the number of HAT or LT positions.

Eligibility for these positions is based on holding national certification at the HAT or LT level.

The salary difference between Step 9 and AST2 is the new agreement at 1 May 2022 is $4,014 – not an insignificant amount. It’s even more if you stay on Step 8 and miss the boat in being able to apply for AST2.

The significant eligibility requirement

“AST2 is a personal classification that stays with you for the rest of your career.” for an application for AST2 is that you are on Step 9. We are encouraging all teachers who are Step 8 and completed 207 duty days to apply for Step 9 as soon as possible and then apply for AST2.

We suggest that you establish collaborative groups within your worksite or across your partnership and work together to achieve both classifications by the end of 2022. Existing AST2s could also provide support and guidance on how to achieve the classifications.

This work forms part of your Professional Development Plan (PDP) and you deserve the opportunity to apply for both classifications, and, if successful, have the AST2 salary guaranteed for the remainder of your career.

Throughout the year the AEU will be offering collaborative sessions and discussion groups to support members in working together to achieve both classifications. The sessions will be facilitated by the AEU and supported by members who have achieved the classifications. The times of these sessions will be advertised on the website and Facebook.

Remember, these professional and industrial entitlements have been won through collective action and by working collaboratively. You can achieve them to improve your salary and gain professional recognition for the work that you do every day in your classrooms. n Jackie Bone-George is an Industrial Organiser working with the AEU’s Member Services Centre.

E NT E R PR I S E AG R E E M E NT

The new Enterprise Agreement

EA GUIDE

The 2020 School and Preschool Education Staff Enterprise Agreement, endorsed by a ballot of employees last month, is now in the process of being registered. This 4 page lift-out is your essential guide to the New EA – the ‘highlights’ package.

Approval process By the time of publication, it is possible that the State Government has sought the South Australian Employment Tribunal (SAET) approval and registration of the new agreement. .

Make the PAC Yours!

Several matters arising from the new Agreement will shortly arise for members’ collective consideration in sites and deliberation by the Personnel Advisory Committee (PAC) for implementation.

In order to secure hard fought gains to the benefit of AEU members and your students, sub-branches and members in small sites must be organised and active.

Electing an AEU Rep for PAC is normally conducted around the start of Term 2 each year. Members should also try to ensure that the non-teaching staff rep and the staff rep are also AEU members, by nominating and supporting union members in the ballot process.

“In order to secure hard fought gains to the benefit of AEU members and students, sub-branches and members in small sites must be organised and active.”

classifications the first increase is 1.35% backdated to October 2018, with further increases as follows:

Members will need to meet regularly to decide on implementation of Enterprise Agreement matters, amongst others.

Sub-branches should be actively engaged in decision-making about staffing and allocation of funds to ensure a focus on teaching and learning.

Principals and preschool directors will receive an additional 0.5% on the first two increases and an additional 1.0% per year after that. This means:

1.35% backdated to October 2018 1% backdated to May 2019 2.35% May 2020 2.35% May 2021 2.35% May 2022

1.85% backdated to October 2018

Salary increases

1.5% backdated to May 2019

Following registration of the Agreement with the SAET, the employer has indicated that new salary rates will apply as soon as possible. For most

3.35% May 2020 3.35% May 2021 3.35% May 2022

AEU SA Journal – MARCH 2020 | 1 1

E NT E R PR I S E AG R E E M E NT

Guide to the new EA Some clauses are new, some are important, some require implementation with the support of members at a sub-branch level.

EA GUIDE The PAC

Clause 3.5.1: Consultative arrangements will be established in each school site to ensure the principal’s responsibility to make decisions is carried out in a framework that enables staff to have genuine and direct input into human resources and their working life.

COMMENT: Members have the right to be consulted in a planned manner about most things including workload.

Applicable to FoTaL

Clause 3.5.2:

The principal is the decision maker and has delegated responsibility for human resource decisions at the school level, provided that these decisions are made in accordance with the process outlined below.

COMMENT: Prior to making a decision the principal must ensure a decisionmaking process that is inclusive of the AEU members and all staff. Decisions made without consultation can be disputed (see Clause 3.1).

Clause 3.5.3: Each school will establish a PAC comprised of (a) principal or nominee, (b) a member elected by AEU members, (c) a member of the teaching staff elected by a vote of all teaching staff, (d) a member of the non-teaching staff elected by a vote of all non-teaching staff.

COMMENT: AEU members should nominate and vote en-bloc for AEU teaching 1 2 | AEU SA Journal – March 2020

and non-teaching staff members.

Contact your campaign organiser and book in a PAC MINI education session.

positions on use of funding, especially as it relates to workloads and management of complexity.

Clause 3.5.4: For the purpose of this clause consultation means the sharing of information and the exchange of views between the department and the employees and a genuine opportunity for employees to contribute effectively to the decisionmaking process and a bona fide opportunity to influence decision making.

$15m Complexity Funding

COMMENT: While the AEU considers principals as education workers all, in this clause ‘the department’ is the principal who must provide a real opportunity to union members to influence decisions.

Clause 3.5.11: For the purposes of performing the consultative role … the PAC will be provided with information sufficient for genuine consultation including information about the funding provided to the school and information – about composition of staff and class sizes –including (a) Resource Entitlement Statement, (b) school budget, (c) week 2 survey enrolments, (d) school budget enrolments, (e) enrolment trends, progression, ratios and predictions and (f ) Resource Entitlement Notes.

COMMENT: Follow the money … PAC and therefore AEU members can legitimately access funding information to inform the development of sub-branch

Part B, Exchange of letters: Complexity (p.16): It is proposed to provide $15m per annum … to be deployed at the site level to assist teachers in managing their workload relating to complexity. Funds will be allocated at the start of the 2020 school year … How funds are used will be determined after consultation with the PAC …

COMMENT: Amounts will vary according to complexity ranging from $2,720 to $158,914. Allocation of funding through PAC following sub-branch agreement must address workload and complexity.

Attachment G, Education Staff Complexity Funding (p.32): Whilst the model refers to in scope students this is a reference to the way funds are allocated to schools and has no bearing on how funds are used ... to address teacher workload across a range of class complexity.

COMMENT: This acknowledges the use of complexity funding to be targeted to address workloads and class complexity following AEU sub-branch agreement and PAC decision. continued over page 3

E NT E R PR I S E AG R E E M E NT

Managing Workloads Clause 3.5.10: The Principal will in all cases, except where it is not practicable because of the nature or urgency of the matter, consult through the PAC at the school in relation to:

*Clauses Relevant to FoTaL Clause 3.5.10 (e):

Clause 3.5.10 (f): Strategies to manage work organisation, class structure, specialist teaching load, face-to-face teaching time, non-instruction time, leadership time and the allocation, size and configuration of classes.

Clause 3.5.10 (g): Strategies to manage the workload for teachers where one or more students with an individual learning plan or students with other special needs are enrolled, including the provision of adequate release time for teachers to liaise, develop and write an individual education plan having regard to the teacher’s total workload.

Clause 3.5.10 (h): Determining the number, length, frequency and timing of staff meetings.

Clause 3.5.10 (j): Concerns regarding excessive workload including class size.

Clause 3.5.10 (l): The use of funds allocated to a school to address teacher workload and class complexity.

Clause 5.2.9: Teachers will be provided with adequate release time to liaise, develop and write an individual education plan, having regard to the teacher’s total workload.

Sub-branches should meet and develop positions to address workload as part of our FoTaL campaign utilisng these clauses.

Permanent Employment Clause 1.9: The aims and objectives of this Enterprise Agreement are to:

Clause 1.9 (a): Attract school and preschool employees to, and retain employees in, permanent full-time or part-time employment in the South Australian public education sector and to reduce reliance on temporary contracts and/or casual employees to meet ongoing and planned workforce requirements.

Clause 1.9 (b) (i): The Department recognises that permanent part or full-time employment is the preferred form of engagement for employees covered by this Enterprise Agreement.

Clause 1.9 (b) (ii): The Department recognises that temporary and casual employment are not the preferred modes of employment, and the Department will work towards minimising the use of temporary and casual staff in all school and preschool sites.

COMMENT: Sub-branches are encouraged to continue to identify members who meet the criteria for conversion to permanency and support their PAC to recommend their conversion. This process remains unchanged.

Country Incentives Zone Allowance Schedule 2.2,1 (g) (i): If a teacher is required to relocate either within a relevant Country Zone or across relevant Country Zones then the entitlement period will be deemed to recommence, that is if a teacher has complet-

ed up to and including five years in an eligible school/preschool and relocates to another eligible school/preschool .

For relocations of 20 days or less, and where the teacher has a right of return to the school/preschool from which they relocated, the applicable Year 1 incentive will apply while the teacher is appointed to the school/preschool to which they relocated.

COMMENT: Improvements have been made to the eligibility. There are qualifications to this clause applicable to temporary teachers, instrumental music teachers and multiple appointments. Country Incentives payments have been increased between 7.3% and 7.5%.

Transfer to A Safe Job

EA GUIDE

The planning and organisation of the program of instruction for all staff at the school, including face to face teaching requirements and applicable part-time arrangements, the size of classes (including practical classes); arrangements for beginning teachers; the total number of students and classes for which a teacher has responsibility for preparation of lessons, report writing and assessment of student work.

COMMENT: Members are continuing with a ‘Focus on Teaching and Learning’ [FoTaL] to ensure professional control of the working day and that students and their learning are not compromised by poorly funded initiatives and priorities. Clauses to address workload issues have carried over from the last agreement.

Clause 4.6 (b): If in the opinion of a legally qualified medical practitioner: illness or risks arising out of the pregnancy; or hazards connected with the work assigned to the employee make it inadvisable for the employee to continue her present work, the employee must, if the Chief Executive (or delegate) considers that it is practicable to do so, be transferred to a safe job at the rate and on the conditions attaching to that job until the commencement of maternity leave.

COMMENT: Members who are pregnant or whose work has become hazardous may be transferred to a safer job.

Domestic/Relationship Violence

Clause 4.10.3: Employees experiencing or escaping domestic/family violence are entitled to access up to 15 days’ special leave with pay in a 12-month period separately from existing leave entitlements and any applicable flexible and safe working arrangements (regardless of whether they are consistent with operational requirements). Special leave with pay for domestic and family violence is not considered to be part of the general 15 days special leave with pay for special purposes.

COMMENT: The Department has agreed to provide reasonable access

continued over page 3 AEU SA Journal – March 2020 | 1 3

to existing leave and flexible, safe working arrangements to employees experiencing domestic or relationship violence.

Band A Face-to-Face Time Clause 5.2.16: 1- 99 students: 100-114 students:

11 hrs, 15 mins/wk.

9 hrs/wk.

115 - 129 students: 6 hrs, 45 mins/wk.

130 - 144 students: 4 hrs, 30 mins/wk 145 - 159 students: 2 hrs, 15 mins/wk.

160+ students:

0 mins/wk.

COMMENT: Principals of schools with a weighted enrolment less than 175 students will have face to face teaching requirements reduced by 135 minutes per week.

AST2 Clause 6.7.4:

Ancillary Support Staff Classification Review Exchange of Letters: … a programme to review the classification of employees classified at SSO1 and ECW1 … if employed on an ongoing basis for 12 months prior to this EA approval or, on a temporary basis provided the employee has been engaged on that basis for a continuous period and commenced their third year of service.

COMMENT: SSO1s and ECW1s who meet the criteria in the clause may have their classification reviewed with a view to be reclassified at level 2.

SSO/ECW/AEW Reclassification: Clause 6.4.1: Criteria based increments apply to SSOs, ECWs and AEWs Level 1 and 2 for progression to the top increment level.

The rates are provided for in Schedule 1.4 (AEW), Schedule 1.5 (ECW) and Schedule 1.6 (SSO).

No further applications will be accepted for the AST2 classification level after the end of Week 4, Term 1 in the 2022 school year. Teachers who hold the AST2 classification as at that time will continue to hold that classification level as their substantive classification level until their resignation/retirement from the teaching service or the Department.

COMMENT: SSO/ECW/AEW reclassification – new criteria-based increments will apply to non-teaching staff.

COMMENT: No further applications for AST2 will be received after Week 4, Term 1, 2022. Members are encouraged to achieve this classification. AEU workshops available.

Stand-alone Preschools Face-to-Face Teaching Hours

Highly Accomplished Teachers [HATs] and Lead Teachers [LTs]

Clause 5.3.9: A teacher shall not be required to teach in excess of the maximum number of hours per week of face-to-face teaching.

EA GUIDE

E NT E R PR I S E AG R E E M E NT

Clause 5.3.11: The maximum number of hours of face to face teaching per week or the number of face-to-face teaching hours averaged over a fortnight, term or year for teachers is 24 hours per week.

COMMENT: Face-to-face teaching time and non-contact time is defined with maximum hours of contact limited to 24 hours per week over 12 months.

Circular 32 Review:

Clause 5.5.1: The Department, in consultation with the AEU, will undertake a review of the application of the Department guideline known as “Circular 32”, which concerns staff contact time, non-contact time, preparation time, programming time, directors’ administration time and meal breaks.

Clause 5.5.2: The review will occur during the life of this Enterprise Agreement with a view to informing future enterprise bargaining negotiations.

COMMENT: A review will be undertaken of Circular 32 which defines staff contact time, non-contact time, preparation and programming time, administration time and meal breaks. n

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8: www.aeusa.asn.au

Clause 6.8.5: The number of HAT or LT positions that are made available shall be determined by the Department.

Clause 6.8.6: Appointments to a HAT or LT position will be for a period of up to 5 years subject to: holding national certification at the HAT or LT career stage; and remaining at the site in which the HAT or LT position is located.

COMMENT: The number will continue to be determined by the Department.

Based on merit, HATs and LTs will be appointed for five years.

1 4 | AEU SA Journal – March 2020

Illustration: Simon Kneebone

NOTE: Not all clauses on all matters are included and some lengthy clauses have been abridged retaining context.

8: tchampion@aeusa.asn.au

RU NMNEIN’S NG HFOCU E AD S WO

The 2020 International Women’s Day theme is ‘Generation Equality’, a call to action to join forces across generations, to create a world where every girl and woman has equal opportunities to fulfil their full potential. Equal access to education and income are central to levelling the playing field for women around the world.

If this sounds like a broken record ... it is. Society has been calling for true equality for over 100 years – maybe 2020 will see the record fixed!

Unpaid care and economic insecurity

Gender equality in 2020 A quarter century on from the Beijing Accord, what has changed for women’s equality?

AEU Women’s Officer Tish Champion asks.

T

his year marks 25 years since the Fourth World Conference on Women at which the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, known as the Beijing Accord, was globally adopted. For two weeks in September 1995, 17,000 representatives from 189 governments around the world, discussed, debated and ultimately agreed to a global commitment and strategies to address gender inequality.

Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, said of the Beijing Accord in 2015; “Its stature and significance as a roadmap for the achievement of gender equality remains undiminished.”

In the 25 years since the Beijing Accord – considered the most progressive blueprint ever for the advancement of women’s rights – there has been much debate and research around many aspects of the lives of women around the world.

In 2015, the United Nations established 17 Sustainable Development

“Too many women find themselves living in poverty in retirement.”

Goals in an effort to establish a global partnership aimed at ending poverty, improving health and education, reducing inequality, and boosting economic growth – at the same time addressing climate change and working to preserve the oceans and forests. Two Goals in particular were included to specifically address barriers to equality encountered by women – Goal 4 “Quality Education” and Goal 5 “Gender Equality”.

So, has any of this helped in the advancement of women’s rights, freedom, safety and equality? In 2020, one woman a week will be killed as a result of partner violence in Australia, domestic violence is still legal in many countries, and globally more women than men are illiterate and more young girls than boys are denied an education.

In Australia, the Federal Economic Security for Women Alliance (eS4W) recently commissioned economist Stephen Koukoulas to produce a white paper on ‘The impact of unpaid care work on women’s economic security in Australia’.

Women are significantly more likely to take on unpaid caring responsibility for family members in their lifetime.

Zero income attracts zero superannuation contributions, and significantly undermines the economic and financial security of many women. Sacrificing paid employment for unpaid caring ultimately reinforces the persistently wide gender pay gap which exists in Australia. Too many women retire with little or no accumulated superannuation and find themselves living in poverty in retirement. The rate of homelessness for women over the age of 55 is increasing faster than any other demographic.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 2.65 million carers across Australia in 2018 or 10.8% of the population, and 862,000 people were primary carers of which 72% were women. When we consider that just over 50% of all carers live in households with extremely low incomes, it’s easy to understand why women in Australia continue to be economically disadvantaged.

According to a report from Deloitte Access Economics, there were 1.9 billion hours of unpaid care work in 2015 which was worth at least $60 billion to the Australian economy. Until governments value the significant contribution of carers to the nation’s economy and stop taking that goodwill and sacrifice for granted the situation for women is n not going to change.

AEU SA Journal – March 2020 | 1 5

CLI M AT E CHA NG E

Tackling climate change and nuclear dumps “If we are in a climate emergency why aren’t we acting like it? We need to do more and we need to do it now!” have created and help them take it further.

PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO

Dash Taylor Johnson looks at the AEU’s actions on the environmental threats to human survival.

Concerns about the impact of human behaviour on our world are not new.

Over 100 years ago, the warning signs were being noticed and they continue to the present day.

Not everyone has been prepared to listen and some, like the fossil fuels industry, have made concerted efforts to distort the facts.

Now the crisis is real! Even long term deniers can no longer ignore the scientific evidence as extreme weather events wrack our world. We are perilously close to a tipping point from which we cannot return.

The Australian Medical Association has declared a health emergency, no longer able to ignore the impact on human life that climate change brings.

At a governmental level, 1,432 jurisdictions in 28 countries have declared a climate emergency, as have many professional associations On 14–15 February the National Climate Emergency Summit met to discuss how to address our current situation. The premise was simple: 1 6 | AEU SA Journal – March 2020

if we are in a climate emergency why aren’t we acting like it? We need to do more and we need to do it now! Branch Executive has endorsed the Summit’s declaration.

In the words of Education International’s President and our Federal AEU Secretary Susan Hopgood’s days before the September 20 International Day of Action: “There is no time to lose.

Schools urgently need to become sites of climate action. This means updating our curriculum to address all aspects of climate science and sustainability across subjects. It means providing all educators with training and continuous professional development to be able to present the facts and push back against ignorance and denial. It means implementing sustainable practices within schools themselves. And it means convincing governments of the imperative to provide adequate resources for this systemic change.”

It is our responsibility as educators to prepare our students for the world.

It is our responsibility as educators to convey the facts of climate change and to call out the lies. Let’s build on the formidable momentum young people

May 15 sees the next international School Strike 4 Climate and our support is unequivocal: “The AEU stands in solidarity with students and supports their democratic right to take direct action and give voice to their real concerns.”

AEU Federal conference statement.

The SA Branch, we are developing our own Climate Change policy that places education and action side by side.

The Nuclear State We are also under attack on another front – the recent federal announcement of Napandee (near Kimba) as the location for a nuclear waste storage facility. While 61% of Kimba residents voted to support the facility, the ballot excluded the Barngarla Native Title Holders of the area – an action that undermines the democratic process and the legitimacy of the action.

This decision is against current SA law: nuclear waste dumping is illegal in South Australia. The Nuclear Waste Storage (Prohibition) Act 2000 aims to “protect the health, safety and welfare of the people of South Australia and to protect the environment in which they live by prohibiting the establishment of certain nuclear waste storage facilities in this State.”

AEU SA Branch policy does not support an expansion of SA’s role in the nuclear energy industry. This doesn’t mean that low level waste generated through medical procedures is not our responsibility or cannot be managed appropriately. Yes, it takes a century to break down but it can be stored safely. continued over page 3

ABO R IG I N A L FOCU S

The concern comes from the significant re-location of intermediate nuclear waste from Lucas Height in NSW. This takes over 10,000 years to break down and is volatile, requiring controlled environments. To move it by road or by sea in order for it to be above ground for up to 100 years until a more permanent storage and secure facility can be built, doesn’t feel particularly safe to me.

As the First Nations peoples of the region, the Barngarla may have native title but they get no say under the current State Government. The Barngarla have produced a petition seeking support.

As a member of the No Dump Alliance the AEU will continue to advocate for our state politicians to work for the best interests of all South Australians.

You do make a difference and contacting your local MP and local council to seek their support of current state law is a great start.

On the bright side, this is what made a difference about exploratory oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight. We stood together and Equinor have now officially packed up their plans and gone home. n

ACTION • For links to the resources mentioned in this article and more:8:www.aeusa.asn.au >Campaigns>Environment Action

FOR OUR PLANET! Dash Taylor Johnson is AEU Vice President and convenor of the Branch’s Environment Action Group.

1 Lynette Riley (centre) gives a traditional Indigenous welcome from the public gallery.

PHOTO: MICK TSIKAS - AAP

Sung into her seat Dr Lynette Riley is keynote speaker at the AEU’s Reconciliation Conference in May. Here we relive the powerful welcome she gave Linda Burney to Federal Parliament in August 2016.

W

iradjuri woman Lynette Riley has been “blown away” by the international interest in her Indigenous acknowledgement, sung from the public gallery of the Australian Parliament, to welcome her long-time friend Linda Burney as the first Aboriginal woman to be elected to the Lower House.

Federal Parliament is no stranger to ceremony, but none so ancient as the Wiradjuri song that heralded the entry of the first Indigenous woman in the Lower House. As Ms Burney delivered her first speech last week, the call and response rang out across the cavernous chamber.

The singer stood in the public gallery, a place usually reserved for quiet seated observance and off limits to the press.

But the Speaker of the Lower House made an exception so that Lynette Riley – a Wiradjuri Gamilaroi woman – could give a traditional Indigenous welcome

“Lynette is looking forward to a time when Indigenous welcomes are so commonplace they are no longer newsworthy.” and ensure Linda Burney was “sung into her seat” according to Indigenous tradition and protocol.

Ms Riley rose in the public gallery, where even pen and paper is banned lest it be used to send messages or projectiles, clothed in a kangaroo skin cloak. The song and the speech would soon become a worldwide viral phenomenon watched and shared by hundreds of thousands of people.

“What I’m doing in that acknowledgement is I’m introducing who I am as an Aboriginal person, my nation, my clan, continued over page 3 AEU SA Journal – March 2020 | 1 7

ABO R IG I N A L FOCU S ... continued 3

ment must not be underestimated.

“To know that we have somebody of her calibre, but also that we have Aboriginal people who are going into parliament and representing us. People get to see us as people and not as stereotypes and stories that they’ve heard,” she said.

my family connections,” Ms Riley later explained.

“Traditionally what would happen is when people get together for the first time, what they have to do is say ‘this is who I am’. In the context of Linda being in Parliament, what we’re doing is saying, ‘this is who we are, we’re of the Wiradjuri nation, this is who I am as a person, now tell me who you are’.”

The messenger bird The outline of the sulphur crested cockatoo was burned freehand into the kangaroo skin cloak worn by Ms Burney as she began the speech. The white cockatoo is her totem — the messenger bird. She has been given that totem within Wiradjuri Indigenous culture because she is the messenger, representing her electorate, her clan and Indigenous Australians in Parliament.

While Ms Riley sang, with her daughter by her side, silence blanketed the green amphitheatre.

Since the speech there has been an outpouring of support for Ms Burney and for Indigenous Australians. Some from countries like Canada expressed disbelief that the historic election of an Indigenous woman to the Australian Parliament had taken until 2016.

Ms Riley made the cloaks, for herself, Linda and her supporters in the public gallery. Ms Riley’s cloak was designed to honour Pearl Gibbs, one of the most important female Indigenous activists

Ms Riley said the power of the speech and of Ms Burney’s election to Parlia-

in the 20th century who championed Aboriginal civil rights.

While she has been blown away by the support and the interest, she said she was looking forward to a time when Indigenous welcomes were so commonplace they were no longer newsworthy. n From an article by Anna Henderson.

Reproduced by permission of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation – Library Sales © 2016 ABC

Lynette Riley is a Wiradjuri and Gamilaroi woman from Dubbo and Moree. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the University of Sydney, Sydney School of Education and Social Work. Lynette has more than 30 years working experience as a teacher and in Aboriginal education and administration within primary schools, high schools, TAFE, state office and universities. n

SAVE THE DATE: 29 MAY

AEU SA RECONCILIATION CONFERENCE FRIDAY, 29 MAY 2020 KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

Dr Lynette Riley – University of Sydney

“

We strive towards a more just, equitable nation by championing unity and mutual respect as we come together and connect with one another.

“

Reconciliation Australia

Australian Education Union | SA Branch For further info or to register8: www.aeusa.asn.au>events&courses or email: training@aeusa.asn.au

1 8 | AEU SA Journal – March 2020

Our AEU SA Reconciliation Conference represents critical work towards reconciliation and provides members with a chance to talk, walk, share and celebrate during National Reconciliation Week.

Keynote Speaker: DR LYNETTE RILEY, University of Sydney.

We need to explore how we engage as professionals, learning through a fusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures, stories and commitment to see our transformative and inclusive futures. As the union representing educators in South Australia we have a primary responsibility to practice the principles we say we stand for before we can expect the same of our members.

The AEU SA Reconciliation Conference will engage participants in an exploration of Aboriginal Kinship systems, how they govern relationships and the impact of colonisation. We will reflect on changes, starting with a single step, to recommit to reconciliation and consider mapping our own pathways of reconciliation.

Join us at this AEU SA Reconciliation Conference to take steps to champion all First Australian students. n

For further info or to register:

8: www.aeusa.asn.au>events & courses

U N ION TRAI N I NG 2020

Professional Development

Union Training

TRT Professional Learning Series

New Educators’ State Conference – “Building your career in public education”

Tuesday 24 March 4.30pm – 6.30pm WORKSHOP 1: Understanding the new Enterprise Agreement – working conditions.

Tuesday 16 June

4.30pm – 6.30pm WORKSHOP 2: Classroom Management Tips.

Tuesday 8 September 4.30pm – 6.30pm WORKSHOP 3: Understanding the impact of trauma.

Tuesday 24 November 4.30pm – 6.30pm WORKSHOP 4: Dealing with difficult people.

AIM: These sessions focus on issues faced by TRTs in the workplace and in their professional career.

OPEN TO: AEU TRT members.

COST: Workshop 1 – FREE. Workshops 2,3 & 4 – $11.

Merit Selection Retraining Monday 6 April

4.30pm – 6.30pm

Tuesday 21 April

10.30am – 12.30pm

*NOTE: If you were trained in 2015, you need to attend a retraining session before the end of January 2021, otherwise your training will be removed from the AEU system as it will no longer be valid. The AEU Policy is to only accredit training attended on our system and therefore we cannot recognise “sitting on a panel” as being equivalent to attending a training or retraining session.

OPEN TO: AEU Members who were Merit Selection panel trained in 2015.

COST: Free.

Classroom Management and Engagement Strategies [Presented by classroom teacher specialists!]

Wednesday 15 April, Thursday 16 April, Monday 6 July

4.30pm – 6.30pm

and Tuesday 7 July

9.15am – 1.00pm

AIM: A 4-day course to develop the knowledge and skills of classroom teachers in direct relation to classroom management and student engagement practices.

OPEN TO: AEU Members and Potential Members.

COST: AEU Members (discount) – $99.00.

Potential Members – $333.00 (Including GST).

AEU Reconciliation Conference – “In this together” [See Ad left] Friday 29 May

[See Ad on Page 2]

DAY 1: Friday 27 March

9.15am – 4.00pm

DAY 2: Saturday 28 March

9.15am – 2.00pm

Conference Dinner (Kings Head Hotel)

from 6.30pm

AIM: Develop the skills, knowledge and experience of teachers in their first three to five years regarding working in public education in SA and being an AEU SA Member.

OPEN TO: AEU Members in their first three to five years of teaching.

COST: Conference – Free.

Conference Dinner – $20 per person plus drinks.

SUPPORT: TRT support provided. Travel and accommodation support provided for country members.

AEU SA Preschool Conference “The critical work of preschool” [See Ad on Page 2] Thursday 23 April

Dinner: Wednesday 22 April [Unley Hotel]

9.15am – 3.30pm from 6.30pm

AIM: To bring together preschool members to share ideas, campaign strategies and embolden preschool professional voice OPEN TO: AEU Members working in preschool settings.

Directors, Teachers and ECWs are encouraged to attend.

COST: Conference – Free. Conference Dinner - $20 per person plus drinks.

SUPPORT: Travel and accommodation support provided for country members.

New Workplace Representatives Course

COURSE 1: Thursday 7 & Friday 8 May 9.15am – 3.30pm North / North West / Kangaroo Island Representatives COURSE 2: Thursday 4 & Friday 5 June South / South East Representatives

9.15am – 3.30pm

AIM: A 2-day course to develop the knowledge and skills of union representatives both in terms of industrial and practical information, consultation methods and processes.

OPEN TO: AEU Reps who have not attended an AEU 2-day union education course. (Strongly recommended for newly elected workplace reps/SBS).

COST: Free.

SUPPORT: TRT support provided. Travel and accommodation support provided for country members.

9.15am – 3.30pm

AIM: To celebrate National Reconciliation Week [27 May – 3 June, 2020] and for participants to increase their knowledge and recommit to reconciliation.

OPEN TO: AEU Members and Potential Members.

COST: EARLY BIRD RATE: Members – $99.00 Potential Members – $333.00 Full Rate: Members – $165. Potential Members – $407.00.

Info on any events and courses or to register go to:

8: www.aeusa.asn.au>events & courses or email Sam Lisle-Menzel at: 8: training@aeusa.asn.au

AEU SA Journal – March 2020 | 1 9

RU N I NG H E AD PRN E SCHOOL C A M PAIG N

B U S H F I R E E M E R G E NCY

Preschool Funding Now!

Fires leave their mark

The Coalition Government has only committed to providing the funding required for 15 hours per week of Universal Access to preschool until the end of this year.

Staff and families do not know how many hours will be offered by their local preschool in 2021 or when any final decisions on federal funding will be made. This makes planning impossible and is unacceptable.

Preschool teachers and support staff – Early Childhood Workers (ECWs) have higher levels of insecure employment than their colleagues in schools. One cause of this is the insecurity of the Universal Access funding.

As part of the national campaign, our members have been talking with families and signing postcards in their school and preschool communities.

Mandy Dempsey, Director at Port Augusta Children’s Centre and Sue Hill, ECW at Bains Road Preschool, will represent members and our Early Childhood Consultative Committee with President Lara Golding when they travel to Canberra in March.

They will meet up with representatives from AEU Branches across Australia to deliver the campaign postcards and meet with MPs to explain the importance for members and communities of ongoing Universal Access funding. n

, DEAR PM E PLEAS LY R FUND EAOOD CHILDHTION EDUCA

ACTION • Sign a postcard today.

• Follow and support this campaign through the Preschool Funding Now! Facebook page.

2 0 | AEU SA Journal – March 2020

AEU support for bushfire affected members Click here

1 AEU SA website banner

For some members, the summer break was no holiday, writes Lara Golding

W

e began 2020 with the devastating losses of life, natural environment, wildlife and property from bushfires. The aftereffects of these bushfires will continue to affect students, teachers, leaders, support staff and communities for some time into the future.

“We acknowledge the incredible efforts of our members to support their local communities now and into the future.”

We have heard firsthand from AEU members about their experiences and concerns following the bushfires in Kangaroo Island, Yorke Peninsula and the Adelaide Hills. Many of our members lost property or suffered damages from the fires.

traumatic fires.

The resilience, commitment and determination of our members have been inspirational. Our members have joined the local firefighting responses or provided support to emergency personnel. Other members have been caring for families and animals that have been affected, driving buses, coordinating community responses or assisting neighbours and colleagues.

We have heard from some of our members how they were up late night after night as their school was set up for emergency accommodation, and others went from farm to farm for days on end to help put out spot fires. Having lost the summer holiday caring for their local communities, our members then returned to work at the start of the term to support their students following the

The impacts of the fires in some communities have been devastating.

At Parndarna campus of the KI College of Education, 30 students out of 170 lost everything while 95% of students lost something, from property to animals.

In the Adelaide Hills, bushfire came right up to the Lobethal Primary School fence and caused extensive damage to homes and property.

We acknowledge the incredible efforts of our members to support their local communities now and into the future.

AEU officers have been working with the Department to ensure adequate support is provided to those impacted by the bushfires. n We encourage you to contact us if you are not receiving the support you need at this difficult time. For details go to our website:

8: www.aeusa.asn.au

and click on the banner (see above).

NOMINATIONS FOR AEU COMMITTEES PRESIDENT’S VIEW

Australian Education Union | SA Branch Nominations are called to fill vacancies on the following AEU Committees

Legal Defence Appeals Committee:

The Legal Defence Appeals Committee determines appeals arising from the Union’s Legal Defence Rules. Four vacancies for a term ending March 2021. Nominees must be 2020 Branch Council Delegates who are not members of Branch Executive.

Administrative Officer Review Committees: Administrative Officer Review Committees consider applications for Administrative Officer vacancies and recommend preferred candidates for appointment. Four female and four male vacancies for a term ending March 2021. Nominees must be 2020 Branch Council Delegates.

STANDING COMMITTEES Reconciliation: The Reconciliation Standing Committee ensures through Branch Council, support of future Reconciliation work and RAPs. The Committee will seek cultural advice and guidance from the AEU Aboriginal Education Consultative Committee.One male vacancy for 2 years ending December 2021.

:

Finance The Committee is chaired by the Treasurer and prepares the AEU budget and reviews expenditure on a quarterly basis.

One female vacancy for 2 years ending December 2021.

Occupational Health, Safety & Welfare: The Committee monitors OHS&W issues and advises on matters relating to the working environment and health of members and students. Two male vacancies for 2 years ending December 2021.

CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEES Consultative Committees provide advice to Branch Executive on matters affecting their membership sector. All vacancies are for a one-year term of office ending

December 2020.

COU NCITRAINING L DAT E S FO R 2020 UNION

Branch Council Meetings Saturday, 4 April Saturday, 30 May Saturday, 22 August Saturday, 21 November

TAFE Divisional Council Meetings Friday, 27 March [TBC] Friday, 22 May [TBC] Friday, 14 August [TBC] Friday, 13 November [TBC]

Great work recognised The Port Augusta Children’s Centre, based at Carlton School, was chosen from nominations around Australia to receive the AEU Arthur Hamilton Award for outstanding contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education.

The award was presented at a ceremony held at the AEU Federal Office in Melbourne on 21 February this year, and will also be marked by a presentation the AEU SA Branch Council in April.

A full report on the work of the Centre will be in the May AEU Journal. n

Contract and TRT – Four vacancies. Employable, Contract and TRT members.

Special Education – Four vacancies. Teachers and School Services Officers involved in Special Education.

Leaders – Four vacancies. School leader members in all sectors of schooling.

Aboriginal Education – Four vacancies. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members from all membership sectors and classifications.

School Services Officers – Two vacancies. School Services Officers in DfE. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Intersex (LGBTI) – Four vacancies (one reserved for ATSI member). All membership sectors and classifications.

Early Childhood – Up to five vacancies, a majority of whom shall be Children’s Services Act employees. Members working in Early Childhood Education.

CLOSING DATE: Nominations for these Committee vacancies must reach the: Returning Officer, 163 Greenhill Road, Parkside SA 5063, no later than 5.00pm on Wednesday, 1 April 2020.

A nomination form is available at: https://www.aeusa.asn.au/NominationForm and

AEU welcomes new TAFE Rep Congratulations to Susan Garwood, who has been elected unopposed to the TAFE position on Branch Executive for 2020-21. She introduces herself thus: “Throughout my career in education, my passion and focus has been the provision of educational opportunities, specifically for people who have, or are experiencing disadvantage. It has been my privilege to assist students to develop the skills and confidence to succeed in their chosen vocations.” n

from the AEU. Nominations may be accompanied by a supporting statement of not more than 200 words.

ELECTION PROCEDURE: Ballots for contested positions will be conducted at Branch Council on Saturday, 4 April 2020.

David Smith, Returning Officer

AEU SA Journal – March 2020 | 2 1

W AG E TH E F T

CO MM E NT

No allowance for wage ‘theft’

Attacks continue on AEU representation

Avid readers of the AEU Journal would know that the Department for Education (DfE) has previously been held to account by the AEU for the underpayment of employee wages.

For example, country teachers were underpaid the Country Incentives Zone allowance. Despite our advocacy in this area the problem continues.

Recent attacks by the Marshall Government on the AEU’s role in education and the teaching profession have some antecedents, recalls Andrew Gohl.

Teachers who teach special classes of students as per Clause 5.12 Teachers (DECS) Award are eligible to receive a Special Class allowance. These teachers might teach in special schools, units and classes, and Aboriginal and Anangu Schools.

The current rate of the allowance is $1342 per annum, but DfE has been only paying $1303 per annum.

The matter has been raised with the employer who has acknowledged the problem. n

ACTION

• All members are encouraged to check their earning advice and question payment rates.

• Sub-branch secretaries are encouraged to hold regular union meetings, where members can seek support if they are incorrectly paid.

ELECTION NOTICE The Australian Electoral Commission is conducting elections on behalf of the SA Branch for: • National TAFE Council Executive Member, • National TAFE Council Delegate, • Yalukit Yulendj (National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee) (TAFE Division) Member • National Early Childhood Committee (General Division) Member.

Nominations open 24 March 2020. See our website for the election notice and nomination form: www.aeusa.asn.au

>Your Union>Union Elections

2 2 | AEU SA Journal – March 2020

T

he first time I remember any public figure deriding educators was around 1994, when the then Minister for Education Rob Lucas claimed that the AEU had been forcing members to take industrial action. Editor Andrew Macfarlane commented in the Journal, “Been surprised by the teacher bashing in the media? (Rob Lucas) has been using a taxpayers’ money to pay people to lobby against his own employees.”

Lucas’ public disrespect emboldened many others to attack teachers and in my reckoning heralded the start of a negative public discourse directed at the teaching profession and perpetuated by the Murdoch press. Not much has changed. AEU members collectively laughed off his “Union Bosses” line during the recent enterprise bargaining dispute.

Over the last two years, the Liberal Marshall Government has maintained an ideological attack on union representation, on Personnel Advisory Committees (PACs), merit selection panels and the Teachers Registration Board. None of these attacks are a result of systemic failure, nor has the AEU behaved improperly or negligently.

PAC Representation In 1988, the AEU, then known as the South Australian Institute of Teachers (SAIT), reached agreement with the Labor Minister for Education Greg Crafter on a set of conditions formalised in the Curriculum Guarantee. Many of the conditions of the workforce in 2020 were established in this agreement.

It included the establishment of Curriculum Guarantee Implementation Committees, consisting of Principal or nominee, SAIT nominee as elected by

“Rob Lucas claimed that the AEU had been forcing members to take industrial action.” union members, and an Equal Opportunity nominee elected by staff. These were the forerunner of PACs. In recent enterprise bargaining negotiations the Government firstly tried to remove the requirement for schools to have PACs, then when that failed persisted with an attempt to remove the AEU representative on the PAC. Democratically elected by members, the AEU rep ensures transparency and openness and is a conduit to raise matters that relate to workload and the use of funding allocated to the school, on behalf of AEU members. Member action secured the continuation of the PAC against the Marshall Government attacks.

Merit Panels Education Minister Gardner sought to introduce legislation during 2019 to remove the AEU representative from merit selection panels. AEU members have for the best part of 30 years kept a watchful eye to ensure panels are conducted without nepotism, patronage or favouritism. The AEU has been active in joint delivery with DfE of panellist training, and railed against DfE attempts to water down this training.

Just why the Minister wanted to remove AEU members from merit continued over page 3

selection panels is unknown, though one can only surmise he no longer holds a commitment to transparent processes.

Thankfully, strong lobbying by AEU members and the support of the Tammy Franks (Greens), Labor and the SA Best crossbenchers Bonaros and Pangallo we have retained our AEU representative on merit selection panels.

Teachers Registration Board The Teacher Registration Board (TRB) was born directly out of the political lobbying undertaken by union members.

During the 1960s, SAIT was actively seeking to establish a teacher registration body as part of a policy of teacher participation in determining professional qualifications and conditions.

It was not till 1971 that the Labor State Government picked on recommendations from the Karmel Report based

on SAIT’s submission proposing a registration board including teachers, administrators, academics, private school heads, and teachers’ college principals to exert similar control as other professional bodies have regard to standards and registration for the profession.

The Marshall Liberal Government has taken a swing at the Teacher Registration and Standards Act 2004 and has just tabled a Bill in parliament which reduces the number of teachers on the Board and removes our AEU nominees.

If this Bill is passed, the AEU and Independent Education Union membership of the board will be replaced by three teachers selected directly by the Minster. The AEU’s TRB nominees are democratically endorsed by members and represent the biggest professional body of teachers in the state. No ration-

TRB

Legislative Review

ACTION • Members are urged to collect signatures on letters to the crossbenchers urging them to block attempts to remove your representation from the TRB. • The letters can be downloaded from our website: 8:www.aeusa.asn.au >Campaigns>Defend the TRB ale is given by the Minister for this change. It’s another ideological attack on the profession and AEU members. n

The Australian Electoral Commission is conducting a postal ballot for the Branch Executive Officer (Children’s Services) position. The ballot of eligible members will open on 25 March and close at 10:00am on 17 April 2020.

Candidate statements are provided below.5

DAVID COULTER

for AEU Branch Executive

I have been an early childhood teacher since 1980. Currently I am the director at Darlington Children’s Centre. I have worked in a range of communities including Pt Pirie, Pt Augusta, Southern Adelaide, Nth Adelaide and the CBD. I have planned and delivered early childhood programs for preschool, mobile toy libraries, playgroups and integrated Centres including long day care.

I have always been a member of the union that supports and represents educators. As a member I have actively supported the objective and campaigns of the AEU including to ensure that early childhood educators have improved levels of permanency; that all educators workload is not excessive and appropriately resourced; that funding for our Centres, particularly Universal Access is guaranteed to be ongoing and in promoting the importance of early childhood education.

I’ve had the privilege to support and represent early childhood members in a range of forums such as Branch Executive, consultative committees; meetings with the DfE; actively participate in enterprise bargaining and I am currently an AEU nominee on the Teachers Registration Board.

MANDY DEMPSEY

for AEU Branch Executive

Hi, my name is Mandy. I am a proud Kokatha woman and proud early years educator and advocate. I am an early childhood teacher and have had experience across the sector as a teacher, child care worker, EY coordinator and director. I have worked in south, west and north metro areas as well as regional and remote locations.

I am currently the Director (B3 leader) Port Augusta Children’s Centre based at Carlton Aboriginal School. I have worked in children’s centres, school based preschools, school classrooms, large and small standalone preschools. I have worked in sites across the wide range of socio-economic statuses and with families from a range of cultures.

I have been a member on early childhood consultative committee for 3 years and branch council representative or proxy over the last 5 years, and an AEU member since 2006. My experience will enable me to share knowledge and understanding of most aspects of early years education across South Australia and I would like the opportunity to be the children’s services representative on Branch Executive.

AEU SA Journal – March 2020 | 2 3

We’ve made a promise.

To be a champion for our teachers - the way they’re champions for our kids.

So that even on days that feel a little tougher than usual, you can be sure someone’s there to care for your health and wellbeing.

Lisa, THF member

We’re for teachers – that’s our promise.

To find out more about what we can do for you, head to teachershealth.com.au/promise

Eligibility criteria and conditions apply. Teachers Federation Health Ltd ABN 86 097 030 414 trading as Teachers Health. A Registered Private Health Insurer. THF-AEU/SA-03/20