Released 25/08/2023
The ACT Public Sector Education Directorate (Teaching Staff) Enterprise Agreement 2023-2026 has been approved by the Fair Work Commission, commencing on 21 August 2023.
This milestone means we can now realise the Agreement’s $201 million investment in our ACT public school teachers and leaders. Pay increases and back pay of salary and allowances will begin reaching the pockets of staff from 14 September 2023.
This Agreement recognises the invaluable work our teachers and school leaders do every day. It delivers nation-leading pay for public school teachers, including increased pay and paid professional learning time for casual teachers, and a pathway to better workloads.
New educators will benefit from reduced face-to-face teaching hours, providing more time for mentoring and development. Public school teachers and leaders now have three additional staff development days, so they can begin every term with a dedicated day for planning and collaboration. This Agreement also guarantees release time for teachers for curriculum planning, lesson preparation, assessment and reporting.
This week’s commencement of the Agreement means we can begin bringing these and other workload reduction measures to life. A Sustainable Workload Management Committee has been established to work with the Australian Education Union – ACT Branch and the ACT Education Directorate across the life of the Agreement to identify and implement further workload measures that will make a real day-to-day difference.
The ACT Government wants our public school teachers and leaders to spend their time on what they do best – teaching and leading. We are committed to working in partnership with the Australian Education Union – ACT Branch to ensure the best possible learning outcomes for Canberra’s children and young people.
AEU ACT Branch President, Angela Burroughs in welcoming the new agreement said: “The improved pay and conditions are necessary to address the ongoing teacher shortage. We urgently need to recruit additional teachers and retain existing staff. With the salary part of the equation settled, the AEUACT is focused on working constructively with government to deliver on real workload reduction.”
Anyone interested in becoming an ACT public school teacher can head to https://www.education.act.gov.au/working-with-us/teach-in-canberra for more information.
- Statement ends -
Yvette Berry, MLA | Media Releases