Media release – Roger Jaensch, Minister for Education, Children and Youth, 9 May 2023
Teachers wage agreement finalised
The teachers wage agreement was finalised by the Tasmanian Industrial Commission this morning, providing a fair and affordable pay rise for Tasmania’s education workforce, as well as additional in-class support and improved support for early career teachers.
Minister for Education, Children and Youth, Roger Jaensch, thanked those who have been involved in the negotiations that have delivered this great outcome for our highly valued teaching and education workforce, all of whom are vitally important in improving educational outcomes for our students.
“The Rockliff Liberal Government is pleased to announce our hard-working education staff will benefit from the agreement which includes a 9.5 per cent pay increase over three years and a $1000 cost-of-living payment,” Minister Jaensch said.
“Eligible staff will also receive a lower-income payment of $500, as well as one-off lower income payments over three years for those same staff.”
The cost-of-living payment and lower-income payment will boost the base salaries of staff.
This agreement has been built on our shared objectives of:
- Improved support for early career teachers;
- Continuing to build on the Education Support Specialist career pathway for Teacher Assistants;
- Building on existing incentives for teachers in isolated schools;
- Increasing senior leadership in targeted areas of need; and
- Maximising the time to teach and positively impacting teacher workload as well as in-class support.
“The award will also include state service standards such as an increase in paid parental leave and family violence leave, the introduction of paid foster leave, surrogacy leave, Aboriginal cultural leave, disability leave and gender affirmation leave,” Minister Jaensch said.
“Through negotiations, the Government has committed to increase support to teachers so that they have more time to teach.
“These benefits will be felt throughout schools with an additional 170 full-time equivalent in-class support staff.”
This demonstrates the Rockliff Liberal Government’s strong commitment to build a workforce of talented people, capable of delivering outstanding outcomes for every learner.
Media release – Australian Education Union Tasmania, 9 May 2023
New Agreement levels the field for Tasmania’s teachers
Tasmanian educators are this week set to receive union-won pay increases and backpay, putting them on par with their national counterparts.
Australian Education Union Tasmania teacher members overwhelmingly voted in favour of a new Teachers Agreement, which has now been signed and registered, bringing an end to drawn-out educator negotiations with the Rockliff Government.
The 90% member ‘Yes’ vote means teachers, principals, education support specialists, and school psychologists will see pay increases between 4.1% – 5.8% in the first year, marking the highest single-year increase of any state.
AEU Tasmania President David Genford said a significant win in the new Agreement was the lifting of Tasmanian educators from the bottom of the national pay scale.
“Although the number one priority through these negotiations was more in-class support and workload reductions, the Agreement is a welcome win for Tasmanian educators, who for too long have been the lowest-paid teachers nationally.
“But it shouldn’t have taken teachers stopping work to achieve this recognition.
“The Rockliff Government could have showed its value for teachers two years ago when negotiations began, but instead it forced schools to close through stop-work action and teacher burnout to continue.”
The new Teachers Agreement sees First Year Teachers with five years of training earning $74,824 per year, with experienced classroom teachers earning $111,536 at the top of their pay scale. Assistant Principals will earn $130,935 while Principals can earn up to $184,234 under the new pay deal.
The endorsed Teachers Offer will also introduce a range of measures to improve working conditions for educators, including improved paid parental leave, in-class support for every base grade teacher, and workload protections for those teaching Years 11-12.
Despite the significant benefits, Mr Genford said more was needed to address the state’s education crisis, including proper investment to bridge the funding gap leaving every Tasmanian public school student missing out on $2,000 per year.
“It’s critical Tasmania’s public schools get funded to a minimum of 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard to give every child an equal chance at success,” he said.
“This includes fully funded loadings for students with disability, Indigenous students, low-SES backgrounds, remote students, and those requiring literacy support.
“This funding would provide more teachers, support staff, smaller class sizes, additional learning programs, high-quality classrooms, and improved facilities ultimately leading to higher levels of student achievement.”
