From the Chief Executive Officer THE REVEREND PETER LAURENCE OAM Dear Colleagues THE BENEFITS OF A SYSTEM In 2022 the Anglican Schools Commission will negotiate new enterprise agreements for all staff across the three states in which our schools are located. A most unusual ‘convergence of rivers’ when the following occurs: • • •
both the WA Teachers and Support Staff Agreements are negotiated, with a desired outcome of rolling them into one agreement for all; our Victorian Agreement (covering both teachers and support staff) was put on hold in 2021 due to the severe impact of COVID-19 in Victoria; and negotiations for a new ASC-specific Agreement covering Trinity Anglican College and any future schools in NSW.
Contents From the CEO 2 Wedjemup On Country Experience
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Cobram Anglican Grammar School
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Frederick Irwin Anglican School
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Swan Valley Anglican Community School
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Georgiana Molloy Anglican School
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Cathedral College Wangaratta
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John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School 14 St James’ Anglican School
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Peter Moyes Anglican Community School
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Esperance Anglican Community School
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ASC Language School
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Staff Spotlight 19 St Mark’s Anglican Community School
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Trinity Anglican College
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Anglican Identity 22 Cover Image: Peter Carnley Anglican Community School Early Learning Centre Nativity.
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Enterprise Agreements are governed under the Fair Work Act 2009. All Australian employees benefit from this national industrial regime, providing assurances to all. The ASC looks forward to productive negotiations with the respective independent education unions in WA, Victoria and NSW next year, leading to securing Agreements to benefit our staff, students, families and the system as a whole. One of the tangible benefits of working in a ‘system’ of schools is that all staff entitlements are fully transferable. This is because no matter which school it is in which you work, your employer remains the same – the ASC. As such, entitlements such as long service leave, personal leave and annual leave are ‘portable’, meaning that they move with you between any ASC school. For the ASC’s first couple of decades, there was minimal movement of staff between our schools. Today, with more than 2000 staff, the movement is significant. Not only do staff move between our WA schools, or between our three eastern states schools (all located within 90 minutes of one another), but on a number of occasions in recent years teachers and senior leadership have moved from west to east, or east to west. This is a real sign of the maturity of our system, providing career advancement or lifestyle change to those who choose to make their working home within the ASC family. We celebrate all that it means to be a system of schools within the independent sector and I look forward to appropriate opportunities to grow such benefits for all our staff. VACCINATIONS State Government Directions have been issued in all three states which require those working on school sites to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This came into effect recently for Victoria and NSW and will come into effect in WA at the beginning of next year. Governments have listed a limited number of reasons for medical exemptions. Getting vaccinated remains a matter of choice for all people. The ASC is required under the law of all three states to enforce Government Directions. Without providing evidence of a double-dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccination, or an approved medical exemption, staff will not be permitted onto an ASC school campus until further notice. The health, safety and well-being of our staff, students and their families remain our highest priority at all times, most especially during this global pandemic.
