“This is a huge fillip for the teaching profession in our state and comes on top of a number of key measures the Minns Labor Government has taken to improve conditions for teachers,” Ms Saffin said.
“We want to allow teachers to get on with the job of teaching our children with the knowledge that we are backing them in.
“I congratulate NSW Education Minister Prue Car on her commitment to improving the pay and working conditions of our public school teachers, and to the Teachers Federation Council for endorsing this historic offer over the weekend.”
The four-year wages agreement will see the starting salary for a NSW teacher increase from $75,791 to $85,000 and the salary for top of the scale teachers increased from $113,042 to $122,100.
Wages over the following three years will continue to rise in line with broader public sector wages policy put in place by the Government.
Since coming to power in April the Labor Government has reversed the decline in teachers’ working conditions under the previous Liberal National Government, which saw teachers leaving the profession in droves.
Other key measures taken include:
* Offering permanent contracts to 16,000 temporary teachers and school-based support staff by the beginning of Term 4 2023 (a significant number of course local)
* Employing hundreds of extra support staff to lighten the red tape burden on teachers as part of the School Administration Improvement Program, which will be scaled up for implementation across all 2,200 public schools in 2024 with the aim of cutting 5 hours of administrative work per week.
* Halving the number of policies and processes that were due to roll out in public schools in Term 2 to only those that were essential.
* The introduction of a new student behaviour policy to support safe and positive learning environments for both teachers and students, which will be released to schools and teachers in Term 4 before coming into effect at the start of Term 1 2024.
“After a decade of neglect of public education and corrosion of the status of teachers, the Labor Government is recasting the role of teachers both in the classroom and the wider community,” Ms Saffin said.
“We want them back teaching for the benefit of our children and the future of our society and country.”
Monday 11 September 2023
