Newsmonth #6 2021

The newspaper of the Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch (vol 41 #6) August 2021 PP 100000871 ISSN No: 0728-4845

STOP PRESS: OVER 100 REPS OPPOSE AIS STANCE, SEE PAGE 2

Y T I R O I R P E N I C C A V S E V I L R U O R O F G N I T H G I F

staff t r o p p u s d n a s r e r teach fo n ount. io t m a a in r c a c p a v is y y t it r fe a io r s p ff r a and st alling fo s c e c n e la e p b k r s o a h w e U r a IE e ls Th . Schoo d e g r e m e 9 -1 ID V since CO Mark Northam Secretary

Key points • Unions combine for a louder voice • Regional IEU members extremely disappointed when vaccinations cancelled • Queensland prioritises school staff for vaccination • Teachers blamed for not supporting NSW Government bus plan for Year 12s

Follow the Queensland lead The IEU calls on the NSW Government to follow Queensland’s lead and prioritise school and early learning staff for COVID-19 vaccinations.

“School staff and childcare workers will be added to Queensland’s 1B priority list for COVID-19 vaccinations,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a statement on 8 August.

“The Delta strain has taken a heavy toll on our schools and we need to provide the best possible protection for staff and students.

“The Queensland Chief Health Officer has approved that any individual working in an early learning, primary, secondary or special school is now in the high-risk priority group.”

Read the full statement here: statements.qld.gov.au/ statements/92891

The highly contagious Delta strain of COVID-19 means it is crucial that schools and early learning services be treated as essential workplaces. The NSW Government has prioritised the vaccination of school staff in Sydney’s eight hotspot local government areas, but not in the rest of the state.

IEU members outside Sydney were shocked to receive text messages on 1 August indicating they had been ‘bumped’ from the queue so vaccine supply could be redirected to Sydney.

NSW Government messaging was confusing. Many members feared a return to face-to-face teaching threatened their health. Why was the government treating schools so differently to other workplaces?

School staff unite Through media engagement and advocacy, the IEU campaigned throughout 2020 and 2021 to protect the health and welfare of school and early learning staff.

The IEU joined with the NSW Teachers Federation – uniting the voices of more than 100,000 teachers and support staff in over 3000 schools – to call for a delay in Year 12s returning to school in the Greater Sydney Area.

The statement said, in part: “We are reminded daily that workplaces and human interaction are the main contributors to increased transmissions in the community. Schools are workplaces and, as teachers, our business is human interaction.

The NSW Government has recently described NSW as being in a state of “national emergency”. The decision to return HSC students in the Greater Sydney Area to schools in mid-August is dangerous, unsafe, and unwise.

As teachers, we are determined to welcome students back to face-to-face learning as soon as possible, but this can only happen when it is safe to do so.”

Teachers were blamed for not providing supervision to help run the government’s ill-fated plan to bus Year 12s to the Homebush vaccination hub.

The NSW Government did not consult the union about this matter. Schools were advised of the plan, and it was stated that chaperones from the PCYC would be on the buses. Then it was quickly dumped. Too complex – and no consultation.

Union calls on Premier and Health Minister The IEU released to the media an open letter to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on 2 August, calling on her to rethink the return to school of Year 12s as vaccination rates were just too slow and the Delta variant was spreading so fast, turning schools into unsafe workplaces.

The IEU also joined forces with the Australian Education Union and the United Workers Union to send a letter to Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, calling for priority vaccine access for all teachers and early childhood educators. It states in part: “We note that recent outbreaks resulting in lockdowns have again revealed the critical role schools and early learning services play in supporting children and families.

We recognise that in all recent lockdowns (except the NT), early learning services were required to remain open as a frontline essential service and that schools in Greater Sydney have been required to return to online learning.

Continued on page 3

Thanks for sharing: What members are saying on social media In a special two-page feature, we present what matters most to IEU members and what’s on their minds.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta variant began in mid-June, leading to strict and lengthy lockdowns throughout Greater Sydney and regional NSW, members have inundated the IEU’s Facebook page with questions, comments, feedback, frustrations and support. Member feedback is an essential element of union democracy.

From our media releases calling time and time again for the NSW Government to prioritise all teachers and support staff in all education settings for vaccination to our open letter to the NSW Premier asking for a rethink of the rushed return of Year

12s to classrooms, you’ve had plenty to say – to the IEU and to each other.

When the union had a briefing with NSW Health, you shared your Work Health and Safety concerns with us to present to them. You were there when the IEU supported members on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald and you watched as IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Mark Northam stood up for you on the Channel 9 Evening News.

You appreciated a letter of support from the Maritime Union of Australia and a shout-out to teachers from well-known journalist and broadcaster Mike Carlton.

And you especially loved a letter from Peter Webster, Principal of St John XXIII Catholic Learning Community, to the NSW

Premier asking for all school staff to be classified frontline workers for vaccination.

One key concern recurs frequently: vaccination priority. We hear you, we support you, and we’ve been campaigning relentlessly since January for all education staff to be included in priority groups for vaccination. That this has fallen on the NSW Government’s deaf ears frustrates your union as much as it disappoints you. Rest assured, will not give up until vaccination is available to every member who wants it.

Often you agreed with union posts and sometimes you didn’t – but we welcome all feedback as long as it’s respectful. We commend our comments section to you.

See pages 10 and 11

Over 100 reps oppose AIS stance

(vol 41 #6) August 2021

Contents

News

1, 2, 3

Features 1, 10-11, 15

Reports 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18

Member stories 2, 5, 6,7

Member benefits 7, 13, 18, 19 Newsmonth is published eight times a year (two issues per term) by the Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch.

Executive Editor: Mark Northam, Secretary for and on behalf of the IEU Executive and members Managing Editor: Monica Crouch Journalist/Sub editor: Sue Osborne Graphic Design: Chris Ruddle Contributions and letters from members are welcome. These do not reflect endorsement if printed, and may be edited for size and style at the Editor's discretion. They should be forwarded to: Newsmonth 485-501 Wattle Street ULTIMO NSW 2007 GPO Box 116 SYDNEY NSW 2001 Tel: 8202 8900 Toll free: 1800 467 943 Email: ieu@ieu.asn.au www.ieu.asn.au

facebook.com/ieunswact twitter.com/#!/IEUNSWACT Instagram.com/ieunswact This publication was produced on the unceded lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

The IEUA NSW/ACT Branch acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional owners of the lands where we live, learn and work, and pay our respects to their Elders past and present.

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The union held a special meeting of IEU Reps in schools in the Greater Sydney Area that are represented by the Association of Independent Schools (AIS) on Thursday 12 August 2021.

The meeting considered a call by the AIS for principals of independent schools to have the autonomy to determine their own return-to-school arrangements within broad NSW Health parameters rather than follow more specific guidelines from the Department of Education.

The AIS attracted media attention on the morning of 12 August 2021, so we called our meeting in response for the same afternoon.

More than 100 IEU Reps attended the meeting, endorsing the following motion: 1. All schools should follow a consistent approach to the attendance of students and staff that does not vary depending on the school sector.

2. The safety of students and staff should be of utmost priority. In the context of the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus, key decisions about the health and safety of students and staff should not be left to individual principals. Other school sectors and other sectors of the economy are operating under strict guidelines and there is no reason independent schools should be exempt.

3. Teachers and other school staff must be prioritised for vaccinations before schools re-open to students.

Given Reps only had a few hours’ notice of the meeting, attendance was overwhelming. Reps also took the opportunity to exchange experiences about how their school is managing COVID. The union then released its position to the media based on this strong support from so many Reps across a wide range of independent schools. We are hopeful the NSW Government will take the views of school staff and their union into account in determining its policy on this issue.

Carol Matthews Deputy Secretary

Thursday 12 August 2021 s all Return to school: Let’

s play by the same rule

(the organisation of Independent Schools call by the Association autonomy to e schools to have the The IEU rejects today’s thes of ipals princ for ent schools) ms. representing independ ents returning to classroo stud for ents ngem arra ID determine their own COV esents over 32,000 (NSW/ACT Branch) repr cation Union of Australia independent schools. ding inclu The Independent Edu ols, scho nt staff in non-governme teachers and support school sectors, and elines that apply to all oach, ating under detailed guid develop their own appr “Schools are already oper schools being able to ent pend inde /ACT Branch ort NSW supp rs,” said IEUA mete the union does not para lth Hea of d Department even if it is within broa .

Secretary Mark Northam sions about the health nt of the virus, key deci ly contagious Delta varia to individual principals of independent “In the face of the high ld not be left shou staff and ents and safety of stud health experts.” schools – they are not other states. Just ent schools in NSW and COVID cases in independ their families. ct on staff, students and There have already been impa hic strop cata a have one case in a school can es in Greater Sydney of union representativ d an emergency meeting ting aims to endorse calle y toda has IEU The t development. The mee lates this ider cons to 4pm independent schools at : that the following positions e of students and staff oach to the attendanc follow a consistent appr ld shou ols scho 1. All or. sect ol s scho the sion on g th-related deci does not vary dependin utmost priority, and heal r sectors of the ents and staff must take school sectors and othe 2. The safety of stud idual principals. Other indiv to up is no reason left be there not should t guidelines and isten cons t, stric r unde economy are operating ld be exempt. re schools re-open independent schools shou d for vaccinations befo ol staff must be prioritise scho r othe 3. Teachers and to students. when making closely with the union NSW Government to work schools.

The IEU calls upon the rding non-government rega s sion deci al significant operation Contacts ch, 0427 667 061 , IEUA NSW/ACT Bran 902 Mark Northam, Secretary /ACT Branch, 0418 272 ty Secretary, IEUA NSW Carol Matthews, Depu ica@ieu.asn.au mon 751 645 0411 Media: Monica Crouch,

olic and and support staff in Cath 0 teachers, principals dary colleges. ch represents over 32,00 The IEUA NSW/ACT Bran schools, early childhood centres and post-secon independent , IEUA NSW/ACT am, Branch Secretary Authorised by Mark North

TRAVEL TIME

How Taree teachers gained ground “This requirement creates inequities of access and costs for both teachers and distant schools.”

When staff in a Catholic high school were faced with a four-hour round trip to undertake regular PD, their Chapter’s collective action with the IEU led to a positive outcome.

It can be hard enough finding time for your professional development (PD), but having to drive for more than two hours for it takes it to a whole new level.

The Catholic Diocese of Maitland/ Newcastle covers a broad geographic sweep taking in Dungog, Forster, Tuncurry, Muswellbrook and Taree. IEU members at St Clare’s Catholic High School in Taree found they were required to travel to Newcastle, two hours away, to attend PD and Secondary Key Learning Area Network (SKLAN) meetings. While members recognised the benefits of meeting in person, they were concerned about the distances and the requirement to attend every meeting.

During 2020, the pandemic meant teachers could join the SKLAN meetings from school via Zoom, leaving them available to students during the day. But come 2021, the meetings resumed in person, so Taree staff again had to travel two hours to Newcastle and two hours back – a poor use of their precious time.

There is also an equity issue here. Teachers from schools located in or near Newcastle did not have this imposition to travel. It also meant the Taree teachers would often be last to arrive, so they struggled to find parking, adding to the stress.

Moreover, driving home late after a full day’s work presents a work health and safety issue. While accommodation in Newcastle was available, St Clare’s had to bear the cost, draining the PD budget. Schools closer to Newcastle did not face this expense, and the Taree teachers were uncomfortable using their school’s limited budget in this way.

So the St Clare’s High School Taree IEU Chapter held a meeting and passed a motion asking to meet with the school’s administration and representatives from the Catholic Schools Office (CSO) to discuss these issues.

“This requirement [to attend in person] is not only inefficient, but raises significant WHS issues, forcing participants to spend four hours travelling to and from Newcastle and creates inequities of access and costs for both teachers and distant schools,” the motion said.

“The Chapter believes that the skills and knowledge acquired in 2020 allow teachers to meaningfully participate in SKLAN

meetings and PD electronically, online. The time and costs saved can be better used servicing the students in their care.”

Soon after, IEU members from St Clare’s, together with Organiser Carlo Rendina, met with CSO representatives to voice the Chapter’s concerns. As a result, the CSO agreed to: • Facilitate parking spaces for those travelling two hours or more.

• Make SKLAN meetings voluntary, and to provide at least one per year online.

• The CSO would cover accommodation costs, relieving pressure on the school’s budget.

• The CSO would facilitate some regional meetings to reduce travel time.

The CSO also invited suggestions about how to translate some of the face-to-face elements of the sessions to an online format without sacrificing quality.

The St Clare’s Chapter and the union are pleased to have achieved this result. The union is always here to help with concerns at your school – we’re only ever an email or phone call away.

Carlo Rendina Organiser Monica Crouch Journalist

Continued from page 1

VACCINE PRIORITY FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES

Teachers, educators and education support staff are feeling overwhelming stress and anxiety because of safety concerns and increased workloads to manage impacts of lockdowns and remote learning.

Millions of families and children rely on schools and early learning services each and every day. The fastest way to minimise the impact of any future COVID outbreaks on the community is to ensure that schools and early learning services can remain open with fully vaccinated staff.

Schools and early learning services provide a critical societal function, and ensuring the health and safety of the teachers, educators and support staff is vital to ensuring this work can continue. In addition, ensuring staff are fully vaccinated is also the most effective way to minimise the risk of infection amongst children, especially with new variants emerging.

We call on you to confirm higher priority of access of COVID-19 vaccinations to all teachers, educators and education support staff as frontline workers, following the current priorities of aged care, healthcare, disability care, border and quarantine and other vulnerable worker populations.

Schools and early childhood centres need to be safe for staff required to work on site. All staff should have access to vaccines and be protected from risk of harm as much as possible.

Before any schools in Greater Sydney and regional areas impacted by lockdown can be opened for face-to-face teaching, all teachers and support staff in both primary and

secondary schools, as well as early childhood settings, must be prioritised for vaccination.

Assessment and reporting for all students, not just those in Year 12, also needs to be part of the planning for the remainder of the year.

Teachers, principals and school staff are all doing their utmost. It is unfair for the NSW Government to make such high-impact decisions without consultation. We call on the government to consult with teachers and their unions about any return to the workplace.”

“The fastest way to minimise the impact of any future COVID outbreaks on the community is to ensure schools and early learning services can remain open with fully vaccinated staff.”

Solidarity with teachers and support staff The IEU has received public messages of support from the South Coast Labour Council and the Southern NSW Branch of the Maritime Union of Australia that bolstered IEU members, particularly those in the Illawarra region.

In a media release, the Labour Council stated: “The South Coast Labour Council, the peak body representing Illawarra and South Coast workers, has voiced strong concerns with NSW Government plans for a return of Year 12 students to school on 16 August. This announcement appears to have been made without any objective health evidence to suggest that the current Delta outbreak in NSW is under control. The announcement, if allowed to proceed, would result in more than 50,000 students and teachers across the Greater Sydney Area returning to school in less than two weeks.

Arthur Rorris, South Coast Labour Council Secretary said, “The first step is for the Premier and her health chief to sit down with the unions representing those workers and reach a consensus on these questions.”

The MUA (Southern NSW Branch) also offered support to IEU members: “On behalf of members, staff and officials of the MUA Southern NSW Branch, we send our sincere solidarity and unity to teachers and staff at schools across our region and beyond.

The NSW Government decision, regarding Year 12 students returning to school, not only exposes the students to a heightened risk, but also teachers and staff.

We also acknowledge the fine work being done through online learning platforms and in person at schools as they carry out their responsibilities and care for children of their own. Wonderful work by all.

Again, comrades, we thank you, we support you and we stand in solidarity with you all.”

Settlement close in independent schools Carol Matthews Deputy Secretary

The union has continued to negotiate with the Association of Independent Schools (AIS), as the representative of NSW and ACT independent schools to finalise the Multi-Enterprise Agreements (MEAs) applying to teachers and support staff in independent schools.

Progress has been delayed by the continuing impact of COVID, but the union is committed to finalise discussions as soon as possible.

AIS pay offer for 2022, 2023, 2024 As previously indicated, AIS representatives have increased the pay offer since the very low offer made in early June. The AIS has offered the following increases, “inclusive of superannuation”:

February 2022 February 2023 February 2024

AIS Offer 3.5% 2.5% 2.75%

Negotiations are continuing about this offer and the actual pay rise these increases would represent.

The union is disappointed with this pay offer, but we would like to see a resolution of the bargaining without undue delay.

We have also made clear to the AIS that we will advise members that all staff should receive an actual increase of at least 2% in 2022, in addition to the increase in 2021, even if this is not included in the MEA. We will advise Chapters to discuss this matter with their Principal, prior to the vote on the MEA. Matters that have been agreed will be set out below.

Proficient status Progression on attaining Proficient status (Standards Model Teachers and Hybrid Model Teachers MEAs): Our claim that progression to the next pay band on attaining Proficient status should occur immediately rather than only occurring in February and July each year, has been agreed by the AIS.

Emergency disaster leave The IEU claim for emergency disaster leave of two days per year has been agreed. The leave would be available if an employee was unable to attend work because of a declared natural disaster, such as bushfires, severe storms or flooding.

Notice of meetings and professional development Clause 16.4 in the Standards Model Teachers MEA (and the corresponding clause in the Hybrid Model Teachers MEA) will be amended to provide that schools must advise teachers of the required teacher attendance dates in the preceding year before the end of Term 3.

Reasonable notice must be provided of all other meetings, PD etc, with schools being required to give the maximum possible notice of such commitments and, where practicable, include such commitments in the annual school calendar.

Promotions positions: Payment of allowance to part-time teachers The AIS has sought to amend the Teacher MEAs to provide that payment of leadership allowances to part-time teachers holding such positions may be paid pro rata if the teacher is not carrying out the full leadership role. This matter is close to agreement.

Voting timeline The union understands the AIS is hoping to finalise the enterprise agreements for voting by employees prior to the end of this term or early next term.

Contact us Please do not hesitate to contact your IEU Organiser for further information or if you would like your Organiser to attend a Chapter meeting by Zoom on the MEAs or any other issue.

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Keeping workplaces safe Unions ACT against gendered violence Pam Smith

Assistant Secretary

The IEU has a long and strong commitment to fair, safe and inclusive workplaces. This includes support for legislation, policy and practice in relation to Work Health and Safety, the Fair Work Act and antidiscrimination laws at national, state and territory levels. Our union has welcomed recent initiatives to include workplace psychosocial risks in WHS laws.

With a focus on safety and respect at work, the IEU supported Unions ACT in undertaking a research project about gendered violence in workplaces. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the survey and data analysis went ahead, and the final report has been provided to participating unions, including the IEU. Recommendations from the report call upon the ACT Government to:

•

•

•

•

•

Consult with unions in developing amendments to the Work Health and Safety Act to improve regulations around gendered violence and psychosocial hazards through a positive duty to prevent gendered violence in the workplace.

Request WorkSafe ACT to consult with unions to develop a code of practice for countering gendered workplace violence which encourages workplaces to take a prevention-focused approach.

Provide funding for WorkSafe ACT to produce a Guidance Note and to run a campaign about gendered violence at work – this would educate workers on their rights and employers on their obligations, as well as improve access to support and reporting systems.

Continue to incorporate workplace gendered violence as a key area for action and investment under any Territory framework to address violence against women or to improve work health and safety outcomes.

Fund workplace rights training, including information

on workplace gendered violence in the secondary school curriculum, noting that many secondary students are already working in part time roles in retail and hospitality.

We appreciate the support of the IEU’s Canberra office and our members in the ACT in particular for this important initiative. “I really admire the women who ask the union for help in dealing with gendered violence issues through the employer complaints process,” IEU Organiser Berna Simpson said. “This way employers learn the impact that stalking, name calling, sexual innuendos, and or rude gestures has on workers.”

We will liaise with Unions ACT and other unions about implementing the report’s recommendations.

The IEU will also continue campaigning with the union movement for the Federal Government to implement fully the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work Report and to ratify the International Labor Organisation’s Convention 190 on ending workplace harassment and violence.

Present tense UTS College win It’s been a tough 18 months in the ELICOS sector, but your union has been fighting for members throughout. And when we get a win for members, we like to shout about it!

UTS College (formerly called Insearch) has been steadily shedding staff since the pandemic began, and recently the big pool of sessional (fixed-term) teachers were advised that there would likely be no work for them for several months at a minimum.

Many of these teachers had worked at the college for several years, such that some were eligible to receive payment for accrued long service leave, having been employed there for at least 10 years.

There were many teachers, however, with service between five and 10 years, and their long service leave entitlements were less clear cut. The Long Service Leave Act 1955 provides for a pro rata payment of long service leave for employees whose employment is ended following an action taken by the employer. A redundancy, for example, would trigger this provision, but a resignation would not.

UTS College argued that as these were fixed-term employees, their most recent contract ended the employment without the employer taking any action.

However, this argument was stymied by the JobKeeper program, which effectively renewed each of these contracts until that program ended in March. In the absence of any contract with an end date after this, the IEU argued that the college could not rely on the expiry of a sessional contract to say that the employment had ended.

After some back-and-forth between the IEU and the college, the college eventually conceded the argument and agreed to pay pro rata long service leave to those sessional employees with between five and 10 years of employment. This was a great outcome for those members, and a great reminder that IEU membership is valuable even in the most difficult of circumstances.

Navitas English extension Another employer with significant IEU membership is Navitas English, the company which runs many of the Federal Government’s English and work programs for migrants and the unemployed. Employees at Navitas English are employed under an enterprise agreement (EA) which hit its nominal expiry date on 30 June 2021.

Earlier this year, Navitas approached the IEU with a proposal to ‘roll over’ the existing EA, while we had discussions about expected changes to the government programs, and how these might be

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conducted in the future. In return for this pause, Navitas agreed to flow through a general pay increase equivalent to the Wages Price Index (which this year was 1.5%). More recently, the government extended the life of the existing contracts, and so Navitas offered to pay a WPI increase in 2022 as well, with a view to starting a new agreement in the middle of 2023.

There’s no doubt that the sector has suffered a huge hit from the pandemic, and given that neither migrants or refugees have been able to enter the country since early 2020, Navitas English has been hit as hard as anyone. The arrangement to extend the existing agreement (and concomitant pay increases) is therefore a great one for members in the current circumstances.

Westerm Sydney University The College agreement The IEU has been negotiating, alongside our sister unions, the National Teriary Education Union and the Community and Public Sector Union, with Western Sydney University The College since early 2020 for a new EA. These discussions were greatly impacted by the pandemic in 2020, but the parties have been meeting regularly since the middle of last year.

Overall, the negotiations have been conducted in good spirit, and for a time it appeared there was a genuine willingness of all parties to find common ground and forge a new agreement. However, as we've got to the business end in recent months, it is clear that the parties were some way apart on a few key issues.

Particularly contentious is the college’s insistence that salary increases be extremely limited, with increases no higher than 1.25% per annum coupled with small increases in superannuation. The college has refused to make any significant concessions on some of our other claims, such as job security and casual marking. This is despite the fact that the college has weathered the pandemic comparatively well, and is in a sound financial position.

Disappointingly, the college decided to move ahead to a ballot on a proposed agreement, despite the fact that all the unions involved campaigned for a ‘no’ vote.

In a great result, the proposed employer agreement was voted down overwhelmingly, with 78 percent of employees voting 'no'. The IEU will now seek to reconvene negotiations with the college to try to improve the offer and finalise an agreement with pay rises and improvements that reflect the hard work of staff at the college.

Kendall Warren Organiser

Running in the family “Just to be able to call yourself an Olympian is what we’re celebrating.”

Are you related to an Olympic athlete? IEU member Helen Davies is. She tells us about life with a rapidly rising star of track and field.

When Helen Davies, a teacher at St Pius X High School at Adamstown, asked her 10-year-old daughter, Rose, how she’d won her event at the first diocesan athletics carnival she’d attended, Rose’s answer was simple: “I just ran, Mum!” Fast forward 11 years to 2021, and distance runner Rose has just represented Australia in the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s 5000 metres.

Rose Davies attended three schools in the Hunter region: Holy Family Primary School at Merewether Beach; St Pius X High School at Adamstown for Years 7-10; and St Francis Xavier College at Hamilton for Years 11 and 12. Helen Davies has been a teacher at St Pius X for 19 years. Originally trained as a PE teacher, she left teaching to work in local government for 13 years, returning to teaching in 2002. “I think I’ve been in the union all that time,” Helen says.

When Rose is not running, she’s studying to become a teacher herself, having enrolled in a Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) at the University of Newcastle. It runs in the family.

Brilliant career In January this year, at Melbourne’s Zatopek 10 meet (named after Czech long-distance runner Emil Zatopek) Rose took out Australia’s 10,000 metre title in a time of just 31 minutes, 39.97 seconds. This stellar run rocketed her from Australia’s 50th best time ever to seventh. But it didn’t quite qualify her for the Olympics.

Then in May, at Nijmegen in the Netherlands, Rose finished fourth in the 5000m, clocking a personal best of

Clockwise from main: Olympic athlete Rose Davies in action; staff at St Pius X High School cheer Rose Davies on; students at St Pius X cheer Rose Davies on; Rose Davies with her mother and IEU member, Helen Davies, as Rose departs for the Netherlands where she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

15:08.48 – beating the Olympic qualifying standard and paving her way to Tokyo. Her family’s joy for her was tinged with disappointment, as spectators could not attend this year’s Games owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rose’s national athletics career began when she was in just Year 6 at Holy Family. “She was selected for her first national representation in cross country, gaining a silver medal,” Helen says. “It was our first experience at an elite event. Rose was so focused on getting the NSW blue tracksuit, she thought of little else.”

Recognising her talent and enthusiasm, Rose’s parents sought out a coach. Then when Rose was 13 and attending St Pius X, she won her first national title for the 1500 metres.

“She competed throughout her four years at St Pius X, and we’ll always be grateful for the support she got from the school,” Helen says.

During Year 11 and 12 at St Francis Xavier, injuries and a focus on her studies impacted on Rose’s athletics. “She was getting college offers from the United States, but she wasn’t convinced it was the right path for her,” Helen says.

Finding funding Becoming an Olympic athlete requires substantial financial input, but in juggling her studies with training and travel, Rose no longer has time for paid work. For four years she worked at Newcastle Leagues Club, which rostered her shifts around her running schedule.

“But there came a point that Rose couldn’t maintain a training workload of running over 160km per week and still front up for eight-hours shifts on her feet,” Helen says.

With little government funding on offer for junior athletes,

it was up to Helen and Paul to support her. “Like a lot of parents in this position, it has required a big financial commitment to ensure Rose has had every opportunity we can manage,” Helen says.

For the past two years, commercial sponsorship from New Balance, which makes athletics shoes for women, has helped. “It’s particularly helpful with training gear and shoes – Rose goes through lots of shoes!” Helen says. “Now, as an Olympian, we hope she will attract more sponsorship as she will need to travel often to compete internationally.”

Every little bit counts, Helen says. “I would like to acknowledge the work of the IEU in that regard – any increase in salary assists us in supporting Rose,” she says. “I’m aware that the gains we’ve made in pay are off the back of the challenges pursued by the union.”

Then there’s that perennial issue teachers face, workload intensification. “The increasing demands of a teaching workload over the years certainly made it challenging to get Rose to the places she needed to be,” Helen says.

Olympic spirit Rose may not have made it to the finals in Tokyo, but that’s beside the point. “Just to be able to call yourself an Olympian is what we’re celebrating,” Helen says.

“We knew many people were cheering Rose on from their homes and we are incredibly grateful for and humbled by the support she has. I extend a big thank you to the staff at St Pius X. Their interest and efforts have helped make this exciting time even more special.”

Monica Crouch Journalist

IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Environment Events 2021

Save the Dates!

n ig s e d y b t n e r Diffe

Canberra - 6 August Byron Bay - 3 Se ptember Sydney - 10 Septem ber newsmonth - Vol 41 #6 2021

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Principals’ Sub Branch

Stepping up in tough times At this very challenging time for many principals and their school communities, the IEU acknowledges the leadership of principals in supporting their staff, students and families.

Unfortunately, the Delta variant of COVID-19 seems to spread easily among children and young people, as has been evident in the recent outbreaks in both NSW and other states, resulting in both direct and indirect impacts on schools.

Within this context, the IEU has valued the opportunity to meet via Zoom with the Principals’ Sub Branch on 7 August; as well as with Parramatta Diocese principals on 30 July; with Sydney Archdiocese principals on 10 August; and a meeting is planned for 20 August with Lismore Diocese principals.

The IEU is always pleased to engage with our principal members and we welcome opportunities at diocesan or sector levels.

Our union is continuing to advocate strongly for COVID vaccination priority and accessibility and for paid vaccination leave.

While the IEU welcomed the announcement of a priority vaccination hub for south-western Sydney, this has been insufficient and the IEU has continued to call for greater access for teachers and support staff as there are still too many examples of delays for staff who are keen to be vaccinated. (Expanded vaccine access has since been announced for school staff living in several Greater Sydney LGAs, but the IEU continues to advocate for priority and ease of access for all NSW/ACT school staff.)

Similarly, the IEU has supported the campaign by the union movement for paid vaccination leave in the National Employment Standards of up to one day per vaccination, as members tell us it is not always possible to obtain vaccination appointments outside

school hours and appointments can often change at short notice.

During the rapidly evolving COVID situation, the IEU has issued regular media releases, including an open letter to the Premier and a joint statement with the NSW Teachers Federation in response to significant concerns in the greater Sydney lockdown area about the proposal that Year 12 students would return to school on 16 August, supposedly being vaccinated by that time!

There are also regular COVID updates on the IEU's (ieu.asn.au) website and Facebook page (Facebook.com/ieunswact).

We thank Parramatta Diocese Principal Dr Peter Webster for his own open letter to the Premier and for contributing to IEU media release on COVID issues.

Australian Primary Principals’ Day was celebrated on 6 August and the IEU

thanks those primary principal members who agreed to be contacted for media comments. More than ever, the work of principals and their staff needs to be celebrated for their contribution to the learning of children and to the wellbeing of communities.

As principals will be aware, the important industrial work of the IEU also continues, including current negotiations for independent sector MEAs (which underpin the salaries and conditions of many principals in independent schools).

A log of claims will be developed for new Catholic systemic school EAs. The IEU looks forward to engaging with our principal members to protect and advance their industrial, professional and wellbeing interests.

Pam Smith Principals’ Organiser More Sub Branch reports, see pp 16-17

Newsmonth@ieu.asn.au Being a Principal

Australian Primary Principals Day Friday 6 August was Australian Primary Principals Day. Principals and school staff didn’t have a whole lot to celebrate on the day, so we’re taking a moment to acknowledge the IEU’s members who are principals, their dedication, and the contribution they make to school communities.

The IEU recently heard from the principal of a large primary school in the greater Sydney area. This principal expressed great concern for their staff and disappointment in the NSW Government’s lack of consultation with teachers about how to manage teaching and learning during the outbreak impacting NSW. We believe this principal's experience reflects many throughout NSW/ACT.

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ol in the greater Sydney area.

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Three-month exemption from union fees for casuals and support staff affected by lockdown

“There’s a huge amount of pressure trying to balance the competing needs of educational outcomes and the health and safety of so many people in your community.”

Finding a way through the pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the pivotal roles schools can play in providing a safe hub for staff, students and their families, journalist Sue Osborne writes.

Rosebank College in Sydney’s inner west is one such school. Principal Iris Nastasi, only six months into the job, and the school’s first ever female lay principal, has been thrown into the deep end, but she has coped admirably.

“I was working for systemic leadership last year, watching other principals having to cope with lockdowns, and I didn’t envy them,” Nastasi said.

“And now I find myself in exactly that situation.

There’s a huge amount of pressure trying to interpret what’s going on, what that means for your students, and balancing the competing needs of educational outcomes and the health and safety of so many people in your community,” she said.

“My biggest learning is that it’s the calibre of relationships that carry us through. Crisis brings us together. I think students learn in a place where relationships and community are strong. And having a sense of humour is important. Laugh, and you’ll probably be sustained.

“I have admiration for those people who lead in this very difficult space. Whether you agree with them or not, they’re making decisions for all of us.

“Everybody will rally around a message that offers some hope and optimism.”

Rosebank College has been offering support to its community that has proved inspirational to other schools.

The class of 2020 has stepped up to provide mentoring to this year’s Year 12 students, sharing their advice and tips on how to cope while studying for the HSC during a lockdown.

This second year of lockdowns is particularly tough for students who already went through it in Year 11, Nastasi said.“A Class of 2020 Alumni wrote to say that she was concerned about the current Year 12 moving into a

COVID schooling existence, and that she would like to offer support, particularly around mental health.

“A project called ‘From me to you – yes you can’, was born, starting with a series of videos made by last year’s Year 12 for this year’s Year 12. The magic of it is that only last year’s Year 12 can really understand how this year’s Year 12 feel.

“There’s a wisdom that comes from the fact that these students were there before, but there’s also an added bonus in that students really do listen to their peers much more than they will to adults.”

Other initiatives have included teachers getting involved with funny and sometimes poignant videos about their own lockdown experience to entertain the school community and keep up morale.

Nastasi has recruited a special talent, in the shape of her dog, Bailey, who has been joining her on videos for the community and raising morale instantly.

The college is also providing online workout videos to keep the community fit and active. And there’s a school Olympics program where people perform activities in their home.

“This is not by any means one person, this is everybody thinking, ‘how can I connect with my students, how can I connect with my community’?”

Nastasi said.

“Rosebank is only one of many, many schools that are doing things like this.

“Recently I saw a photograph from our St Benedict Day celebrations last year where all the students were together in the hall, dancing and making so much noise.

It reminded me how fantastic it is when everybody can come together and how little opportunity students have had to do that lately.

“This pandemic shows how great schools are and how dedicated teachers are – and this is what will get us over the line.”

As IEU members in NSW and the ACT navigate their way through another lockdown, the IEU is offering some casual teachers and support staff a threemonth exemption from union fees due to COVID-19.

This is in recognition of the impact the current lockdown is likely to have on casual employment. The exemption is available to financial members as follows: • members who have suffered a financial detriment as their place of work is not presently employing casuals, or who are prevented by lockdown from travelling to their regular place(s) of employment.

• new members must become financial to qualify to apply for the exemption.

• the cut-off date to apply for exemption will be 17 September 2021 (last day of Term 3).

If you wish to take up this offer, please email membership@ieu.asn.au, include your full name, membership number, address and phone number.

If you have already paid your 2021 membership fees, a three-month credit will be issued to be used against 2022. Please know this credit amount will remain on your record until used and no refunds will be issued on credit amounts. The IEU will adjust your fees to the correct membership category at the conclusion of the exemption period, unless you advise in writing to membership@ieu.asn.au, two weeks in advance of any amendments/extensions.

Survey gift draw This year the membership department has reinstated our new member survey. The quick survey – it takes less than five minutes – is designed to keep us informed about how and why members come to join the IEU. The aim is to assist us in best directing our resources and efforts into recruiting members into our union.

About 40 percent of our new members take the survey. All participants go in the draw to win a $100 gift card sponsored by Teachers Mutual Bank (TMB).

To date, and in order, the top three reasons given by survey participants for joining the union are: • advice and assistance in my workplace • improving pay and working conditions • a strong, collective professional voice.

Among the respondents, our new support staff members rank ‘improving pay and working conditions’ as their first reason.

The top response to the question ‘How did you hear about the IEU?’ highlights the importance of our reps: • The rep at my workplace told me about the IEU (140 responses).

The next highest response demonstrates that we have a collective responsibility to recruit to increase the influence of our union and that we should not leave all the work to our Reps: • Another worker told me about the IEU (127 responses).

Thanks to all our Reps and members who work to keep the union strong.

Our very best wishes to all our members during this difficult time. Thank you for your support and stay safe.

Membership Team: Jody Clifford and Syeda Sultana 8202 8900 (press 1) newsmonth - Vol 41 #6 2021

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From the huddle chat

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newsmonth - www.ieu.asn.au

Can my employer stand me down simply because they want to reduce costs? The short answer is no.

An employee can only be stood down under the Fair Work Act if all of the following conditions are met: • there must have been a stoppage of work • the employer cannot reasonably be held responsible for the stoppage; and • the employee cannot be usefully employed during the period of the stand down.

Nevertheless, with increased emails, the challenges of engaging students remotely, catering for diverse student learning needs, more marking, more feedback and more contact from parents, there was widespread exhaustion.

Teachers talked about having worked 16-hour days.

For many the switch to online Year 12 trial examinations means they now have the considerable task of exam writing to add to the load.

We know school staff are anxious about access to vaccinations, and we were appalled to hear that school staff members with long standing appointments had been bumped to prioritise student vaccination.

Naturally there were also queries around what sort of risk assessment would see 20 students from hotspot LGAs, after more than six weeks of lockdown, assigned to buses to travel en masse for their vaccinations.

The ‘on the buses’ project, however, seems to have joined the scrapheap of ill-thought-out plans.

Members expressed deep concern and regret for the lack of consideration of their Year 12 students and their families who have also had no consultation about what they want and need in the face of such uncertainty and chaos.

Sue McKay Organiser

Michael Wright Industrial Officer

How a huddle helps

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During the COVID-19 lockdowns, a small number of employers have attempted to stand down staff.

Often it is in the context of the employer’s income remaining unaffected – that is, they continue to receive large operating grants from the Federal Government and their fee base remains unaffected.

Of course, such an approach only alienates staff.

In the various cases that have been considered by courts and the Fair Work Commission, a stoppage of work does not mean a reduction in trade. The fact that some parents are not sending their children to a school or centre on some or all days is not a shutdown.

Where an employer decides to temporarily close a facility then this is generally a stoppage of work for which the employer is responsible and therefore the employer cannot stand employees down under the Act. Generally, where there is some work for the employee which will either immediately or at some point provide a benefit to the school or centre, the employee is usefully employed.

The work does not necessarily have to be their usual work. If your employer is contemplating standing you down, think of all the functions and roles you could undertake that would provide a useful outcome for your school/centre and its students/children. Think of possible roles in a remote learning context.

Of course there are some cases where employers may have a right to stand down employees – for example, where a Public Health Order requires that a school or centre (or part thereof) must cease all operations.

If your school or centre is proposing to stand you down you should contact your union organiser.

Members may wish to look at the money available under the government scheme to see how it compares with the loss in wages if they are partially or totally stood down. In some cases you may actually be better off in agreeing to be stood down. Note that members do not have to take accrued annual leave, long service leave or sick leave in order to access the government payments.

If you agree to a stand down, get confirmation from your employer in writing that the standdown will count as service for the purpose of annual leave or averaging.

You may also wish to ask the employer to continue their usual superannuation payments, as if you were not stood down.

Members cannot normally be directed to take annual leave because of COVID-19. In a preschool or school, leave is deemed to be taken at Christmas for almost all employees. In addition, under the Fair Work Act, annual leave must be taken by agreement.

Southern suburbs: Friday afternoons aren't always the best time to schedule a meeting. But not this time. Members were keen to take the time to talk to each other – and their union.

It’s unlikely that anyone in any workplace is eagerly looking to throw just one more Zoom into the end of another exasperating lockdown week, but on Friday 6 August, no less than 76 members from more than 10 systemic and independent secondary schools in the IEU's Southern Suburbs Sub Branch took up an invitation to join a Friday afternoon Zoom ‘huddle’.

A huddle isn’t strictly a meeting; it doesn’t follow an agenda and members are welcome to enjoy a beverage while they unite with others in their region to discuss, share, compare, advise, experience some solidarity and hopefully take something back to their individual workplaces.

School reps and members were interested to hear about operations and processes at other schools and many expressed similar frustrations. Duplication/ triplication of roll taking and other data collection in the Catholic systemic schools was a real bugbear.

It was refreshing to hear that ‘reset’ and ‘consolidation’ days had been scheduled by many school leadership teams, which helps to address workload management.

What to do if your employer wants to stand you down during lockdown

Baptism by Zoom for new IEU officers The first taste of the IEU has been unusual for new Organiser Anthony Telford and Industrial Officer Neal Bent.

Their inductions have been conducted via Zoom and they have yet to meet many of their colleagues in person.

Anthony has replaced long-time organiser Lyn Caton while she is seconded to the IEU’s federal office. Working in Canberra, Anthony has had more opportunity to liaise with colleagues in person, but he’s still spent a lot of time on Zoom getting to know the Sydney team.

A teacher with 27 years’ experience in both primary and secondary schools, most recently at St Francis Xavier in Florey, Anthony plans to use his experience to assist members get the best and fairest outcomes.

The former Maths teacher grew up in Broken Hill, where unionism is part of the culture, and he has always been a strong advocate for unionism and left-wing politics.

He said his experience 'putting out fires' as a Year 12 coordinator will also help IEU members.

He’s on a steep learning curve getting around the intricacies of enterprise agreements, policies and procedures, and dealing with nervous members concerned about COVID issues.

“Teachers are so important to the future of our country and society in general, it’s really important to protect their workplace rights and it is a special opportunity to be able to do that.”

Neal was a lawyer specialising in employment before starting at the IEU. He has also worked in a community legal centre in western Sydney. His father was an active member of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, and his grandfather took part in the biggest strike in India’s history, so Neal has a family background of activism.

Working in employment law, he saw the struggles people went through if they got into trouble at work without belonging to a union.

“I saw how these people were disadvantaged, and how the power of a collective could help them,” Neal said.

“Teachers are so important to the future of our country and society in general, it’s really important to protect their workplace rights and it is a special opportunity to be able to do that.”

Despite his background, Neal said his first few weeks at the IEU have brought a lot of new learning, which is “rewarding and interesting”.

“I have my first general protection case, and it’s very challenging, but a great experience at the same time.”

Neal has yet to visit his new workplace. Both men said their IEU colleagues had worked hard to guide them through the unusual circumstances of their inductions.

Sue Osborne Journalist

MUSTSHOULDCOULD

Time for a change? What you need to know if you’re planning to resign For any number of reasons, as the school year begins to wind down, Term 3 tends to be the time school staff start thinking about moving on. Maybe you are thinking of taking on a new career opportunity, winding back, or a sea or tree or city change.

As a school or preschool employee, if you are considering resigning from your current position, there are some things you need to be aware of before you say Adios!

Must First and foremost, you must find out what conditions apply to submitting your notice of resignation.

The first condition will be how many weeks’ notice is required. Notice periods can range from one week up to seven weeks. There are also different conditions depending on whether you are a teacher or a general employee.

For teachers: • a minimum of four term weeks’ notice is required if you are covered by a negotiated enterprise agreement • at least seven term weeks is required if your employment is covered by the Educational Service (Teachers) Award 2020.

Further conditions could apply depending on the agreement your

employment is covered by. For example: • The whole notice period will need to be within a term.

• For some, the last day of work should not fall in the last two weeks of a term.

• If you can’t give the full number of weeks’ notice, your employer can ask you to forfeit pay in lieu of notice.

Most resignations are submitted at the end of a school year. As many nongovernment schools have different finishing dates, teachers need to be clear as to when the last working day is before submitting their resignation.

For general employees: • The notice period can range from one to four weeks depending on how long you have worked with the employer.

• The notice does not have to be in term time.

General employees are, however, still subject to forfeiture of pay if the notice period is not met.

Should After you have submitted your resignation, you should seek clarification about whether the resignation will impact on your end of year leave entitlements.

For most school and preschool employees, your pay is based on the notion

of not working during pupil vacation periods.

This means that over summer, up to four weeks of your pay will be your annual leave entitlement. Whether you are paid a full four weeks will depend on how many term weeks you have worked during the year.

When resigning, payment during the following January may also depend on your school’s service date.

For most schools, the school service date is the first day of Term 1. This means that if you work a full four terms you will generally be entitled to be paid up to Australia Day the following year.

However, a small number of schools have a school service date of 1 January. In these schools, staff, especially teachers, are generally only paid up to 31 December.

A resignation before the end of Term 4 or any unpaid leave taken during the year will have an impact on the calculations of your end-of-year entitlements.

Once you've submitted your resignation, you should ask about: • when you will be paid to and details of any outstanding leave entitlements • getting a Statement of Service on school letterhead • processes for the return of school property, with particular focus on handing back school devices like laptops and management of personal data.

Whether you're moving to a new school or retiring, it's a great idea to notify the IEU by emailing: membership@ieu.asn.au Could If you are heading to a new school employer, we recommend you check out the employment conditions before you sign on the dotted line.

Not all agreements are the same. This applies to all employees – teachers and general employees alike.

Different agreements have different pay structures and requirements for progression to higher levels. Different schools have distinctly different expectations about workload. Members can access agreements for different schools through our website.

If you are considering a change for 2022, we recommend you contact your IEU organiser to discuss your plans and any questions related specifically to your personal circumstances.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Donna Widdison Organiser

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For starters Thank you for representing us IEU, and a special shout out to every teacher doing their very best. I include our principals and system leaders standing with us, prioritising the safety and wellbeing of our communities. Proud to be in this profession. We know what we do, we know the truth – and we vote, too.

Thanks for our solidarity with the NSW Teachers Federation. Thanks IEU for your advocacy.

It’s time for all unionists to stand together and support each other!

Thank you IEU for keeping the health and safety of school staff (and those they serve) on the radar during the ongoing pandemic.

Thanks for sharing

What members are saying on social media Across these two pages, we reproduce members’ comments from our Facebook page. We had enough to fill the entire issue, so we’ve had to be selective – it was difficult to choose. We’ve also deidentified contributors. We warmly invite you to join/like our Facebook page, be part of the conversation and have your voice heard. In each issue of Newsmonth, we’ll publish a selection of comments.

We post the IEU’s media releases on Facebook, but you can also read them in the news section of our website: ieu.asn.au Compiled by Monica Crouch

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Vaccinations We are classified as essential workers when they want us to be and teachers are still heading into schools but clearly not a high priority on the Pfizer list. It’s really disheartening.

We are expected to be in one room with 20 students for over an hour. The classroom environment would be much like a household which has been the number one transmission site of the Delta strain. On top of this, most year 12 students have casual jobs in supermarkets or fast food – so they are already in a higher risk group of being exposed to delta. Can/should/will I be expected to teach before my own vaccination? I booked the very day I was eligible (no complacency from me) yet I am still three weeks away from my appointment.

My Year 12s are getting vaccinated today but I cannot. Earliest AZ appointment available is September. Teachers are not the priority, the HSC exams are.

Why are students in certain areas being offered the vaccine when the potential to being exposed to the virus may be anywhere. What about teachers? What about vulnerable teachers and students not in the priority areas? And every time there is an exposure, teachers or students may be forced into quarantine and cannot attend school. Seriously, does this NSW government ever think of consequences of their decisions on the run?

If the year 12 students are getting vaccinated so they can continue f2f learning, then shouldn’t teachers of year 12 students get vaccinated as well? Seems to me that they should be in the vaccination program as well.

Upon ringing around [for vaccination] I was told teachers have no priority.

Younger teachers in primary schools being fast tracked for Pfizer since they are still onsite with some students yet they can’t get access to this vaccine.

Teachers should have been vaccinated ages ago, and must be vaccinated before students.

Under this arrangement staff are being asked to work in an unsafe environment. Even with Pfizer students won’t be fully immunised until their second shot, which wouldn’t be until near the end of term …Teachers shouldn’t be expected to front a classroom without the opportunity of a vaccination.

Any thought about the fact that many students and teachers in these 8 LGAs attend Independent, Catholic Systemic and Selective schools outside of these LGAs and vice versa. Is it not necessary to vaccinate all Year 12 students in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan area, their teachers, in fact all school support staff?

Why do regional areas lose vaccines? It’s going to take a month or more for the vaccine to work! Why not average students marks on projects? Give them an extra five points for their ATAR. Why not protect teachers? We haven’t been marked as frontline workers?!

I booked to get my Pfizer doses and a few days before my first appointment, it was cancelled due to the redirection of vaccinations to Year 12 students. I phoned and complained. Still haven’t received my priority booking code to reschedule.

It’s so unbelievable that this LNP government requires union action to get teachers prioritised during this delta pandemic. The fact they haven’t moved on this across all LGAs when they’ve actually been targeting and blaming these LGAs … is mind boggling and makes me feel their agenda is entirely politically driven. It also feels like a slap in the face from a state government that do nothing but tell us all to get vaccinated, don’t properly mobilise equitable resources to do so, targets and bully western suburbs LGAs, uses the police force and drones out west instead of prioritising vaccine action to all school staff across all LGAs. As a 39 yr old teacher in the Greater Sydney Area … I’m highly motivated to get Pfizer and told by at least eight local medical centres it’s at least 14 weeks because I’m not essential enough and they still have a backlog of healthcare workers to get through first.

Teachers definitely need to be prioritised for vaccinations. Not getting a first dose until October or November and returning to full classrooms beforehand could actually be putting our lives and our families lives at risk.

I know of many teachers who have been turned away from vaccination centres. Many teachers cannot book in until September.

Thanking us in a press conference is just lip service.

Every teacher should have the opportunity to be vaccinated before returning to an environment that cannot meet social distancing guidelines due to the combination of class and room sizes. If people genuinely have the opportunity and turn it down, that’s on them as are the consequences of any illness they or their contacts may be exposed to. Thanks for the support IEU!

Early childhood teachers Early childhood teachers are not in a lockdown, they are out there every day and deserve to have their shot immediately!

The Premier seems to have forgotten about the early childhood sector where teachers and educators have had no choice but to continue working face to face with children without the option to work from home.

Don’t worry, early childhood teachers work right through unvaccinated as children don't catch the disease. What a joke. No one cares about teachers’ health and safety – it's so upsetting!

Priority access for all educators including early childhood educators who can’t avoid close contact with a number of children and high numbers still attending. Today in the NSW press conference they mentioned again that childcare continues to be of concern yet teachers can’t get the vaccine. Where is our pop-up clinic with both vaccines available?

Us early childhood staff would really like to be a priority. We are still there – there’s no remote for us.

Year 12 exams Just cancel them. It’s no longer an even playing field. How can kids living in Western Sydney prepare and sit exams when other students in the state are living relatively normal lives? Or if they don’t have to sit exams and only get based on school assessments, it’s not fair on those who have to sit exams. Schools would have enough information about their students and what they have already produced to rank them.

I find it disappointing that an exam take priority over people’s lives. If many other places can cancel an exam, why can’t we? I am over politicians trying to guilt teachers –teachers’ lives matter as do their families.

Running exams means 3 hours supervising students in a confined space – one sick kid will mean the entire school shuts down again due to most being close contacts, particularly with Delta.

Ask NESA to change HSC assessments for this year from an exam to something else.

NESA can't do it? Why not? They've done it for individual students before under extreme circumstances. Isn't this an extreme circumstance?

Is the HSC more important that people's lives? What about students who will not get vaccinated? Do they still return to onsite learning?

Work health and safety Husband and I both teach Year 12 at different schools. We also have 3 kids across 3 different schools (including a Year 12). This means that 5 schools intersect in our household (from Glebe to Marrickville through Bayside and out to the Fairfield LGA). If one of us gets it, we will be a one family super-spreader event.

The anguish this outbreak is causing school staff, especially in Greater Sydney, is intense.

Staff are trying to balance the wellbeing of their students along with their own families.

How can staff be protected with no time to complete the full cycle of vaccinations? Sitting ducks!

Nothing is more important than teachers’ safety right now. Teachers need much more than vaccines to keep them safe. Good ventilation is going to take some time to implement.

If we don’t have a year 12 class, do we need to be at school or can the workload be shared between colleagues? How do we care for our own dependent children who cannot attend school, without compromising their health and safety? (Sole parent) How will we deal with parents demanding their child return to school when they refuse to have them vaccinated? Seeing lots of posts from parents saying they won’t let their child get vaccinated.

Rapid-antigen testing Will a health professional administer the tests? I’m not handling bodily fluids.

Where are these rapid antigen tests? Are they already here and ready to distribute? Where are the trained medical experts coming from to conduct these tests? If the test is inaccurate and COVID is spread at our school and back to families, who is going to be responsible?

What if someone refuses the antigen test or refuses to be vaccinated? How do students have sudden and immediate immunity after their first vaccination, when all health advice says otherwise. Who has all of their Yr12 teachers vaccinated and safe to be with the students? We have Yr11 Early Commencement HSC students, there is no mention of them.

I hope teachers aren't expected to carry out these tests! And, if not, where are the testers going to come from? Are they going to make sure all teachers are vaccinated? Have they thought this through at all?

Return to classrooms There was no mention at the press conference about how teachers are going to be kept safe. There was much concern about students and how parents having to manage online learning is so difficult, but no mention of teachers’ health and wellbeing. The directive is still “if you can work from home, you must”. Teachers can work from home. We are doing it successfully. The reality is once Year 12s return, there will be many more students than that returning to school. All the teachers will be at school, their own children will need to return to school, parents will start to send students in other years because if it’s safe for Year 12 then it’s safe for everyone. It is diabolical!

My students are concerned about trying to catch public transport to and from school.

Likewise, there are staff who will need to do this; currently timetables are running at offpeak – this would lead to crowding.

This comment by the Premier really riled me up: “‘I don't think anybody would begrudge us doing anything we can to get year 12 students safely back to schools." Yes we want students back but safely – not just for them but for teachers and the whole community!

How do Year 12 teachers on site stay safely distanced from each other using labs and classrooms that are necessarily shared with other Year 12 classes when we also require an area suitable for remote teaching of Years 7-10? The delay between arranging vaccination and maximum protection for the students makes a nonsense of the entire idea. It might have been an option had we been considered as essential workers from the 1a/1b phase of the rollout.

Looks like the pressure the IEU has been applying is paying off. Press conference this morning showed the Premier backtracking on the decision. Let’s hope a common sense and safe policy review is forthcoming.

Remote learning As a support staff member I am not enjoying remote learning, there can be issues with connectivity, network not working and I am still working onsite. I am finding it difficult wearing masks. We also seem to get the most challenging children coming to school during lockdown. We are asked to keep all doors and windows wide open and it has been very cold not only for us but also for the children. We are supervising children by ourselves. I understand it is very hard for teachers as there is a lot of prep work but support staff get very little recognition for their efforts.

The addition to workload by needing to provide both face to face classes and additionally online resources for students who are isolating, lockdown or in quarantine. Students and parents contacting teachers outside of school hours and demanding work be made available and accessible for them due to being unable to attend.

I’m a high school teacher and teaching more lessons, sticking to the normal timetable. It is full on and really draining. Everyone is doing their best: school admin, teachers and staff, but it is taking a toll.

I’m working longer and harder than if I was at school. I have never been so exhausted. Two toddlers at home with two teachers is hard.

facebook.com/ieunswact twitter.com/#!/IEUNSWACT Instagram.com/ieunswact newsmonth - Vol 41 #6 2021

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Professional Engagement update

We remind our pre-2004 members to finalise your 100 hours of PD during this calendar year if you are close to completion. See the IEU Zone (theieuzone.org.au) for on-demand PD options.

Make sure you have evaluated all your accredited PD and uploaded all the elective PD you have completed over the last four years – you just might have enough to reach 100 hours already.

Accreditation news NESA arrangements for teacher accreditation during lockdown, as of 26 July 2021: • No teacher will be disadvantaged due to COVID restrictions in greater Sydney.

• Teachers can continue to finalise their maintenance of accreditation and Proficient Teacher accreditation at this time.

• Teachers who are overdue or due in Term 3 2021, have an extension to the start of Term 4 2021 (5 October 2021). This includes due dates up to 17 September 2021.

• Teachers whose due date is after Term 3 2021 and who are concerned about completing Proficient Teacher accreditation or maintenance requirements can apply for an extension.

Early childhood teachers Early childhood teachers with a maintenance of accreditation due date of 17 July 2021 have until 17 January 2022 to finalise. There is no need to apply for this extension.

Temporary ceasing and suspension of accreditation Until further notice, NESA is delaying: • ceasing action for teachers who have not met Proficient Teacher accreditation, and • suspension action for teachers who have not maintained their accreditation.

• NESA will communicate with overdue teachers when these actions restart.

Working With Children Check In response to the Covid lockdowns, the Office of the

Children’s Guardian has announced the following: • The Children’s Guardian has extended all Working With Children Check clearances that were due to expire from 19 July to 26 September for a further three months.

• The three-month period applies from the date of the person’s current expiry date.

• Teachers who are granted an extension will be advised by email and the system will be automatically updated.

• Employers should update their records to indicate the change in their employee’s expiry date.

NESA communication reminder NESA uses the contact details provided by teachers on their eTams account to make contact about a variety of matters, including a teacher’s accreditation status. It is important for members to respond to emails they receive from NESA, to avoid serious issues, such as suspension or revocation of a teacher’s accreditation.

If you haven’t checked your contact details on eTams in a while, it would be worth confirming that they are up to date. If you receive communication from NESA and require assistance, please call your organiser, or write to accreditation@ieu.asn.au Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) Collaboration between the Federal Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) and the IEUA NSW/ACT Branch has continued over the last four weeks, with several meetings taking place to explore options for clarification of evidence and audit guidelines.

The IEU’s NCCD Working Group was also involved, at DESE’s request, in providing examples of the types of evidence collection documents currently in use in schools, to inform our discussions. Further meetings are scheduled throughout August.

Meeting with the Productivity Commission In May 2021, the NSW Government released the Productivity Commission White Paper 2021 Rebooting the Economy. The White Paper devotes a section to Best Practice Teaching to Lift School Results.

Stakeholders consulted included representatives of the Department of Education, the Association of Independent Schools and Sydney Catholic Schools. Feedback was not sought from the education unions, or from teacher focus groups. The IEU subsequently requested a meeting with the Productivity Commissioner.

A concerning recommendation included the proposal that teachers undergo mandatory classroom performance evaluation at least twice each year. This suggests that the issue of a perceived decline in academic results will be resolved by closer scrutiny of teachers.

The union strongly represented the injustice of ignoring teacher feedback on the flaws in the education system and failing to address the inadequate support for unfunded students with special needs whilst holding teachers responsible for deficits beyond their control.

The Productivity Commission has invited union officers to further discussions, particularly related to the churn of evidence-based initiatives, and the current practices in schools that already provide a mechanism for teacher feedback and professional development.

Quality Initial Teacher Education Review The IEUA Federal Education Committee has submitted a response to this review: see page 13 (opposite).

Experienced Teacher applications Applications in 2021 have been given an extension.

Email accreditation@ieu.asn.au if you have any concerns regarding your application.

Note from a member "I just wanted to say thank you for the Accreditation Handbooks you sent. Although I am in the final stages of accreditation, they are a big help. The IEU has been very helpful to me for a few different situations, and I just want to say that I am grateful and will be telling all my teacher friends what a difference you all make."

NSW Working With Children Check deadline extended A NSW Working With Children Check clearance is valid for five years. The NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG) report that there are more than 40,000 clearances in NSW that are due to expire in the next two months.

This includes teachers (and medical staff) who require a clearance and may be restricted in their capacity to go to a Service NSW centre to finalise their renewal application.

As a result the (OCG) have advised that Working With Children Checks due to expire between 19 July 2021 and 26 September 2021 have been extended for three months. The

three-month period applies from the date of the person’s current expiry date.

People who are granted an extension will be advised by email and the system will be automatically updated.

Union members holding a NSW Working With Children Check clearance are reminded to ensure that all contact details are up to date with the OCG. This includes email contact details, which the OCG frequently uses as its method of communication.

Russell Schokman Policy Advisor

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IEU Assistant Secretary Pam Smith presents Margaret Morgan, the Principal of St Francis Xavier School, Ashbury, with her 40-year membership certificate.

Initial Teacher Education Review

THE IEU HAS ITS SAY

“Establishing an industrial framework to ensure appropriate mentoring for all preservice and beginning teachers is the next necessary step.”

If Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge wants to get to the bottom of the recruitment and retention issues the teaching profession faces, he need look no further than the litany of submissions provided over the past three decades, writes IEU Professional Officer Pat Devery.

The IEUA NSW/ACT Branch has recently contributed to yet another review of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) conducted by the Federal Government.

As IEUA Federal Secretary Chris Watt wrote at the time the review was established, “The history of reviews into school education in Australia is not one of credit. There have been many, many reviews in the last three decades, volumes of recommendations, repeated reviews of similar subject matter, and a track-record indicating little evidence of implementation of major and significant recommendations.”

In addressing how to go about attracting high-performing and highly motivated school leavers to enter teacher education and choose teaching as a career, the IEUA asserted that any programs and/or policies aimed at attracting and retaining a high-quality teaching workforce must also address public perceptions of teaching as a career and, indeed, the increasingly challenging nature of the job itself.

Lack of career pathways The union’s submission pointed to several factors driving a negative perception of the teaching profession: lack of career pathways; excessive workloads; relatively low remuneration; and government and media rhetoric implying those currently working in teaching are deficient in skills and knowledge. Is it any wonder our best and brightest are discouraged from pursuing a career in teaching?

The review posed the question, what more can ITE providers and employers do to ensure students get the

practical experience they need before they start their teaching careers?

The union has consistently maintained that quality initial teacher education cannot be supported in schools where staff are considerably time poor and struggling with inadequate resources. Addressing the professional and industrial areas of concern teachers face is central to ensuring the delivery of a quality ITE practicum component.

Quality pracs needed Of primary concern is the need to provide supervising teachers and mentors with the time release and resources to support preservice teachers adequately. The current industrial arrangement which pays supervising teachers about $30/day barely scrapes the surface.

Any experienced teacher will also concede that, while graduate teachers are expected to arrive at their first teaching job ‘classroom ready’, there is always a large element of honing one’s skills on the job. This is true of all professions – doctors, lawyers, engineers, journalists – regardless of their initial tertiary training.

Provide a mentor Affording beginning teachers the opportunity to work with an experienced mentor provides a much more effective induction into a teaching career and is likely to produce long-term benefits.

Unfortunately, as teaching has become more and more challenging, with constant reforms and accountabilities and the resultant expansion of duties and administrative tasks expected of teachers, this informal support for beginning teachers from experienced mentors has proved difficult to sustain.

Establishing an industrial framework to ensure appropriate mentoring for all pre-service and beginning teachers is the next necessary step.

The Federal Government’s Teach for Australia model

wraps its Associates (interns) in a comprehensive support structure that affords beginning teachers a workload of 0.8 FTE (full-time equivalent) for two years, while providing four hours per week release for mentors in the first year and two hours per week in the second.

Allocate resources If the Minister is genuine in his desire to see ITE students and beginning teachers successfully inducted into the profession, he must consider allocating resources to allow this, beginning with providing mentors with substantial release time to guide pre-service teachers through their practicums.

Further, once a student has successfully negotiated their ITE and landed a paid teaching job, they should then be allocated a maximum of 0.8FTE until they achieve their accreditation at Proficient teacher status.

As with the Teach for Australia model, not-yet Proficient teachers should be allocated a mentor for up to four hours per week in their initial year and two hours per week in their second year to ensure a positive and productive induction process that will set the beginning teacher up for a long and successful career.

Embedding this structural support into industrial instruments will go a long way towards ensuring beginning teachers start off on the right foot in an increasingly challenging professional environment.

There is no quick fix for the issues in ITE. It requires a holistic response to find sustainable solutions. Addressing initial teacher education is only part of the answer.

Meaningful investment in incentives for graduates to move to rural and regional areas and/or development of rural and regional training facilities is urgently required.

The Minister must also consider how we might rehabilitate the public image of teaching and reposition this noble profession, once again, as a career of choice for our best and brightest students.

Your financial wellness Recently, Teachers Mutual Bank supported Your Financial Wellness (YFW) – a landmark research project to measure financial wellness in Australia.

Conducted by the Centre for Social Impact at the University of NSW, more than 3000 respondents from across Australia answered questions relating to their financial situation, financial aspirations and financial literacy.

The research found that almost one in two Australians experience some kind of financial stress, half sometimes worry about meeting normal monthly expenses, one in five often can’t afford to eat out or go to the movies, and almost a third reported high or overwhelming financial stress.

The research also found that: • Financial stress decreases with age, with stress declining significantly from 50+.

• Home ownership is a strong indicator for financial wellness.

• A third of respondents express some concern at meeting regular debt repayments.

• Financial wellness scores improve markedly once respondents report 1-2 months’ savings.

While no single variable appears to determine financial wellness, factors such as age, gender, employment, income, level of savings and home ownership can play a key role.

The top financial goals were: boost retirement savings, saving for a holiday, repaying a mortgage, paying off credit cards, buying a car and buying a home.

While owning your own home was found to be the single most important factor in increasing financial wellness, the research showed that financial literacy is also important. Financial literacy is

defined as the relationship an individual has with their financial circumstances and what they do about them.

Successive governments have tried to improve financial literacy, however the YFW report shows that basic financial literacy remains an issue for many Australians.

Both YFW and Teachers Mutual Bank see a connection between financial institutions and their customers, believing financial wellness is the responsibility of caring financial institutions who go beyond just offering products to help their customers achieve financial wellness.

You can download the report here: www.tmbank.com.au/join/your-financialwellness After such an unprecedented year, it’s understandable that we all may need to re-evaluate our relationship with money.

By becoming a member, you can enjoy free access to the YFW program, which gives you the tools and resources you need to take control of your financial future.

Find out how you can join the bank for teachers here: www.tmbank.com.au/join

The Bank for Teachers Teachers Mutual Bank is committed to ensuring teachers’ hard-earned money is working harder than ever, helping them develop better financial literacy and take an active role in managing their financial future. newsmonth - Vol 41 #6 2021

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New early childhood councillors welcomed

Nominations for Early Childhood Services (ECS) Council closed on Thursday 15 July.

The IEU’s ECS team would like to say thank you to ECS Councillors who will not be returning to their positions on the Council: Lyn Connors, Ariane Simon, Julia Cameron and Suzanne Snowball. Each of these members have made invaluable contributions to the work of the union over the years and they will certainly be missed.

Going forwards, the IEU congratulates returning ECS Councillor Amy Martin. We extend a warm welcome to our two new Sydney Metropolitan Councillors, Michelle Thompson and Natalie Leeson and new South Coast Councillor, Jane Courtney. The Hunter/Central Coast position is vacant as we did not receive any nominations for either of these branches. An election will be held in Term 4 to determine the three country positions.

Of course, Gabrielle Connell remains our ECS Vice President until 2022.

Impact of lockdowns The IEU received several inquiries from early childhood members regarding working during to the COVID-19 pandemic, being classified as vulnerable due to serious health conditions and yet unable to physically distance with young children.

The onerous testing requirements in some areas, the need to supervise their own school-age children engaged in remote learning at home and the attendance of children with parents who are either working from home or not working were all concerns.

In addition, long day care centres saw a sudden drop in attendance with a corresponding decrease in income once the Federal Government announced that services would not need to charge the gap fee for children if they do not attend early childhood education and care (ECEC) during the lockdown.

The NSW Government has not asked families to keep their children at home, except in the intensely affected south-west and western Sydney local government areas.

While this seems to be at odds with directions that people should stay at home to minimise movement and the risk of transmission, parents who continue to send their children to preschool are not failing to comply with the legal requirements.

That said, no children or employees with any COVID symptoms should be allowed on the premises and you may require a negative COVID test for those who have been away sick with relevant symptoms before they can return to the centre (providing this is consistent with centre policies).

“The IEU’s position is that a reduction in attendance does not enable employers to stand down or reduce the hours of employees according to the requirements of the Fair Work Act.” Licensed early childhood services are required to have a risk minimisation plan for children with compromised immunity or complex health care needs. It would be in the best interests of employees for the centre to review their risk management plan for children and develop one for employees in this situation.

Work from home options As early childhood services remain open during the lockdown, employees can be required to attend work but it’s worth looking at whether some work can be done at home. If attendance is lower than usual maybe not all staff need to be on the premises to maintain staff: child ratios.

I suggest directors develop a plan to support employees to work from home. This would include current attendance patterns and the number of staff required on the premises to maintain ratios.

The plan should include the tasks that could be performed at home, a list of employees deemed

Goodstart agreement gets up The Goodstart Early Learning Enterprise Agreement was approved by the Fair Work Commission on 5 August 2021.

Pay increases Goodstart introduced a new pay scale and teachers will receive pay increases backdated to the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2021. The starting rate has increased to reflect the rates that are paid to graduates employed by the NSW Department of Education.

Increases payable in 2022 and 2023 will be calculated according to the minimum wage percentage increase.

Allowances The annual Director’s Allowance will increase to $6365 for 0-39 places, $7912 for 40-59 places and $9577 for 60 or more places.

Educational leaders progress one additional pay point on the salary scale.

If the educational leader is on the highest 14

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pay point for their classification, they will be paid an allowance of $1.40 per hour.

Other improvements From 1 March 2002 employees will be entitled to four weeks paid parental leave, increasing to six weeks paid leave after 1 March 2024.

Reduced hours Some services have notified employees that they are seeking to reduce their hours of work due to a substantial drop in attendance. The IEU’s position is that a reduction in attendance does not enable employers to stand down or reduce the hours of employees according to the requirements of the Fair Work Act. Contact the union immediately if your employer indicates they intend to stand down employees or reduce their hours of work.

Lisa James Organiser

Three-year trained teachers Pay Point

Hourly rate backdated to first full pay period on or after 1 July 2021

Annual rate backdated to first full pay period on or after 1 July 2021

1 (3YT entry) 2 (3YT step 2) 4 (3YT step 3) 5 (3YT step 4)* 6 (3YT steps 5,6) 7 (3YT steps 7,8) 8 (3YT step 9) 9 (3YT step 10) 10 (3YT steps 11, 12)

$33.46 $35.02 $38.33 $40.21 $42.10 $43.95 $45.74 $47.54 $49.57

$66,346 $69,439 $76,002 $79,730 $83,478 $87,146 $90,695 $94,264 $98,289

Four-year trained teachers Pay Point

Increased non-contact time Up to two days’ personal leave may be used as wellbeing leave The IEU congratulates members for the significant improvements to wages and working conditions that were achieved through their ongoing engagement with the negotiation process.

If you work in a preschool or early learning centre that is not covered by an enterprise agreement, contact IEU organiser Lisa James (lisa@ieu.asn.au) to discuss how the union can assist.

vulnerable due to health conditions and those who have children at home learning remotely.

Work that could be performed at home includes sending updates to children on projects/investigations they had already commenced at the centre; writing up formative/summative assessments and long-term goals for children; or updating learning cycle templates.

Educational leaders could be researching and developing training for the other staff at the centre in addition to reviewing the centre’s program and individual documentation of children’s learning and development; some staff could hold short Zoom sessions to support children’s learning including activities that can be done using objects commonly found at home.

The director could be organising rosters considering the needs of different employees from home etc. If some tasks can be performed at home, vulnerable employees should be prioritised for these tasks and those with caring responsibilities should be considered after vulnerable employees.

Teachers can apply to take their accrued annual leave.

However, taking leave is by agreement between the employer and the employee so there is no guarantee that your employer will approve your leave. They need to balance requests from all employees while meeting the staffing requirements specified in the National Regulations.

Hourly rate backdated to first full pay period on or after 1 July 2021

Annual rate backdated to first full pay period on or after 1 July 2021

3 (4YT entry) $36.45 $72,275 4 (4YT step 2) $38.33 $76,002 5 (4YT step 3)* $40.21 $79,730 6 (4YT step 4) $42.10 $83,478 7 (4YT step 5) $43.95 $87,146 8 (4YT step 6) $45.74 $90,695 9 (4YT step 7) $47.54 $94,264 10 (4YT step 8) $49.57 $98,289 11 (4YT step 9) $51.52 $102,156 * Progression beyond pay point 5 requires NESA accreditation at Proficient

Clockwise from above: Parramatta Eels won the 1981 NRL Premiership; Australian of the Year was economist Sir John Crawford; Salman Rushdie won the Booker Prize for Midnight's Children

1981 In a semi-regular column, we delve into our Newsmonth archives to uncover what stood out in the union, the teaching profession and the education sector, as well as politics and culture. Here we wind the clock back 40 years to 1981.

In 1981, the IEU was known as the Independent Teachers Association (ITA), boasting a total membership of 5603 (of these, 225 are still working members; and a further 706 have joined the IEU’s retired members’ branch; we acknowledge their tremendous commitment to their union and their profession over this time). In November 1981, annual fees were $90, and the Daily Telegraph ran a story describing the ITA as the “fastest growing union in Australia”.

The ITA published the very first edition of Newsmonth in 1981, replacing its regular Newsletter. Now, 40 years later, you hold issue 5 of Newsmonth’s 41st year in your hands (unless you’re reading it online, which wasn’t possible in 1981).

In 1981 the ITA appointed its inaugural General Secretary, Michael Raper, who was hired as its first organiser in 1977.

This position is now elected by the membership.

On behalf of members, Raper wrote to and received letters (yes, letters – not emails) from Australia’s then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser; the NSW Premier Neville Wran; and NSW Education Minister Paul Landa. The new NSW Education Minister, Ron Mulock, who took the role in October 1981, addressed the ITA’s first annual conference in November 1981.

The ITA’s president was Patricia Calabro, who was then working at Smithfield Child Care Centre. Peter Ofner, from St Augustine’s College Brookvale, was elected president in the 1981 executive elections.

A new teachers union was established in the ACT – the Independent Schools Staff Association (ISSA). (ISSA would amalgamate with the IEU in 2003).

The bigger picture On the home front, Australian of the Year was economist Sir John Crawford; the Parramatta Eels took out the NRL Premiership; and in the Countdown Australian Music Awards, Best Album went to Mondo Rock for Chemistry and Best Single to Mental as Anything for "If you leave me, can I come too?"

On the world stage, it was the International Year of Disabled Persons. Chariots of Fire was awarded Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 1981, and Salman Rushdie won the Booker Prize for Midnight’s Children.

The Times Person of the Year was Polish President Lech Walesa, a unionist and Poland’s first democratically elected President since 1926. Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, but in 1981 it went to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for its effective and continuous work on refugees.

Industrial landscape A work value case in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission in 1981 saw teachers’ salaries increase by 5.7% on 1 December 1980, 3.7% on 9 January 1981 and 3.6% on 7 May 1981 – a total of 13% in less than six months. Subsequent work value cases in 1991 yielded 9% to 13% increases and in 2003-04, 12% to 19.5%.

(There has not been a work value case since 2004 because in 2011, the NSW Liberal Government, under Premier Barry O’Farrell, stripped the NSW Industrial Relations Commission of its autonomy: it no longer has the power to award pay rises above the NSW Government’s salary cap, which is currently set at 2.5%.)

ITA membership came with a specific advantage in 1981.

Members had a legal right to insist on absolute “preference of employment over any other applicant, regardless of degrees of competence or qualifications. Likewise

in retrenchment situations”. When applying for a role, members were encouraged to “tell the employer you are an ITA member as required by the Award”. If you had any problems, you were invited to contact your ITA officer.

In 1981, sick leave was not cumulative in NSW. This meant a teacher could work for 15 years without taking a single sickie, then suffer a heart attack and still only have 22 days at full pay followed by 22 days at half pay. Accumulation of sick leave was on the ITA’s Log of Claims for the new Award.

Another claim was restricting kindergarten class sizes to 20 students.

Pay rates The top rate of pay for a four-year trained early childhood teacher was $19,516 and for a director it was $20,309.

Top rate of pay for a four-year trained non-government school teacher was $21,467, while the top rate for a one-year trained teacher (this category no longer exists) was $13,654.

Education and beyond The Report from the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly upon the School Certificate (known as the McGowan Report) recommended that “the School Certificate should be abolished and replaced by a credential of greater value”. (Thirty years later, the Year 10 class of 2011 was the last to receive the School Certificate.)

The report equivocated over the abolition of corporal punishment in schools. (Corporal punishment was finally abolished in NSW government schools in 1990.)

The ITA’s July Council meeting passed a resolution against cuts to the ABC (a perennial issue). The ITA made a contribution to the broadcaster and registered as a ‘Friend of the ABC’.

Dave Towson Organiser Monica Crouch Journalist newsmonth - Vol 41 #6 2021

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Sub Branch Reports Sub Branch meetings are an opportunity for Chapter Reps from individual schools throughout each region to come together, hear updates from union organisers and provide feedback about what’s happening in their workplaces. The IEU has 19 geographical sub branches across NSW and the ACT, plus our Principals’ Sub Branch.

Sub Branches meet four times a year, usually in the first three or four weeks of each term. All Chapter Reps and any members who’d like to become more active in their union are warmly invited to attend their Sub Branch meeting. Contact your rep or your organiser if you’d like more information.

Northern Suburbs Sub Branch A small but engaged meeting of Northern Suburbs Reps met online on 26 July to discuss the range of general business items common to all sub branch meetings, as well as sharing concerns relevant to the sub branch and individual schools.

AIS Reps were eager to hear of developments in the current negotiations with AIS as they draw to a conclusion.

The refusal of the employer to accept the support staff element of the union’s claim was noted with disappointment, especially as many support staff continue to go above and beyond the call of duty during the pandemic.

Catholic systemic school Reps look forward to working with their chapters in the coming months to develop a log of claims for the next round of negotiations due to commence in the back half of this year.

It was noted that workload issues and the perennial concern of increasing class sizes without appropriate consultation continue to present issues in some Catholic systemic schools.

How to conduct HSC trials and the upcoming practical HSC marking process was high on the agenda for all secondary school Reps. It was noted that principals already have the authority to make appropriate alterations changes the

assessment program for HSC courses and that there is no obligation to hold HSC trial exams as they are really only just another assessment task.

Reps were very interested to see the recruitment and retention data regarding new member joins. Of particular note was the fact that, overwhelmingly, the reason new members gave for motivating them to join the union was simply because someone had spoken to them and asked them if they would like to become a member. This is both encouraging for the good work already being carried out by Reps and a good reminder to all chapter members that they have an important role to play in promoting union membership.

A small number of Northern Suburbs Reps had joined the online ‘Rep Huddle’ the previous week which was a union support network initiative designed to give Reps the opportunity to share concerns and suggestions as to how best we might negotiate these challenging times. The trial meeting was well received, and it is envisaged these Rep Huddles will recommence once the sub branch round of meetings has concluded.

Lansdowne Sub Branch The Lansdowne Sub Branch covers much of the south-western Sydney local government areas that are in strict lockdown during the outbreak of the Delta strain of COVID-19 that began in June.

Members in this area are keenly feeling the stress and pressure: in our meeting with the Patrician Brothers College Fairfield Chapter, 62 members attended online, along with the NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Mark Northam and Assistant Secretary Pam Smith.

Questions raised by members mirrored the wide-ranging topics emerging from the broader Lansdowne Sub Branch.

Most notably, and rightly so, was the NSW Government’s premature and ill-thoughtout decision to return Year 12s to school for the Trial examinations.

Concerns about the practicalities of such a decision and the knock-on effect on primary schools from deploying supervising teachers dominated discussions. There were also strong concerns around online learning fatigue and the outright debacle of vaccine access.

It was not surprising therefore that the Sub Branch agenda was dominated not by

the union’s main body of work – wages and industrial enterprise negotiations – but the discussions around health and safety of school staff and employers’ obligations to uphold them.

It was heartening to hear how some school leaders stepped up and prioritised their staff while others made some unreasonable demands, forgetting that better learning outcomes are not achieved through excessive Zoom sessions but through quality engagement with students, pacing of tasks, and school staff working safely to avoid burnout.

As ever, the commitment of teachers and support staff shone through what was clearly a difficult and, at times, emotional meeting. Reps passionately explained how members and colleagues are managing without an end in sight to these difficult circumstances, and for whom working from home is not as easy as many – usually nonpractitioners – would like us to believe.

The Delta strain is made worse by the strain felt by our members. But at least the idea of returning Year 12s to school for their Trial Examinations has been abandoned.

Lubna Haddad Organiser

Mark Anderson Northern Suburbs Sub Branch President

North West Sub Branch Fourteen Reps attended the North West Sub Branch meeting on 30 July via Zoom including three new Reps who were made welcome by stand-in Chair Denise McHugh.

New England Girls School is the only school in the North West that has not awarded a pay increase to its staff this year. In November 2020, the NEGS Chapter called on its employer for an interim pay rise while negotiations with the AIS for a new MEA continue. Despite numerous communications from the union, there was no response from the school. Meanwhile other independent schools in the area (eg Carinya Christian School, Calrossy, The Armidale School, PLC and Minimbah) all decided to recognise the sterling work of their staff through the pandemic. The sub branch heard that the staff subsequently organised a petition and the school finally advised its staff that an interim pay rise would not be forthcoming this year.

There was also discussion from Catholic systemic school Reps about the issue of taking small blocks of sick leave. It seemed that past practice allowed for members to take a half hour or a last period off for an appointment which usually are difficult to schedule outside of school hours. While there is no industrial entitlement to do this, there appeared to be a recognition that staff went over and beyond the usual

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expectations and put in many hours outside of usual school times and, as a result, staff did not have to put in leave applications for such one-off short absences. Members are unclear as to why this has changed. Furthermore, members are confused about how much leave they need to take for short blocks of absence, for example, what is a half day leave? What does one hour of leave represent in terms of a day?

Reps will speak with the principals and if further clarification is required, the IEU will contact the Armidale CSO. The difficulty in employing casuals remains an issue of much concern among most of the schools in the North West along with issues of work intensification.

The IEU Women and Equity Committee is planning a Zoom forum entitled ‘A Focus on Social Justice and Equity’ for 5pm on Friday 3 September.

The guest speaker will be Armidale Deputy Mayor Debra O’Brien. We'll put details on our website (ieu.asn.au).

Our final Sub Branch meeting for 2021 is scheduled for a 5.30pm start on Friday 12 November at the Tamworth Hotel.

Hopefully this can go ahead in person, if not we'll be on Zoom.

David Towson Organiser

Trades Hall

History resources

The Sydney Trades Hall website is a great source of history on the labour movement in NSW. The Sydney Trades Hall building itself is a physical reminder of the history and tradition of the trade union movement in NSW, as well as a chronicler of the social and socioeconomic history of the city.

Construction began in 1888, just 100 years after the arrival of the first European settlers, with the laying of the foundation stone by Lord Carrington.

However, another 28 years were to pass before the building was completed and stage five of the construction process officially signed off.

The building is full of history, and its union banners are a visual source of pride. A physical visit may not be possible at the moment, but you can explore the website for insights into union history.

Trades Hall Press is a regular publication of the NSW Labor Council and provides news and history on the labour movement. For instance, in the current newsletter, you can find out about Betty Spears, one of the founders of early childhood education.

Spears developed one of Sydney’s first childcare centres, the Betty Spears Child Care Centre, in Tempe.

Sue Osborne Journalist

North Coast and Mid-North Coast Sub Branch The Association of Independent Schools (AID) Hybrid model Multi-Enterprise Agreement (MEA), which covers the majority of independent schools in our region, expired in January 2021.

The AIS has left individual schools to offer their own pay increases to staff in independent schools. Employers in these schools remain resolute in not offering 2021 pay increases above 2% even though independent school chapters have lobbied school principals and moved motions seeking improved pay increases in line with public sector, Catholic systemic and Christian schools. Members are disappointed with the poor responses they are receiving from principals in relation to this matter given the increased workload they have had to deal with due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Early childhood centres in the region are seeking IEU assistance in developing and renewing enterprise agreements. Lismore IEU Industrial officer Carolyn Moore has been busy drafting and assisting early childhood members with the enterprise agreement process.

Lismore IEU Organisers continue to meet regularly with Lismore Catholic School Office HR representatives to discuss issues affecting members in Catholic schools across the diocese.

Recently, permanent support staff teacher aides across several schools within the diocese have been affected through restructures with redundancies taking place. These redundancies have occurred due to loss of NCCD funding and new models of student support being adopted by schools.

At our Term 3 sub branch meeting, a motion was ratified to address an edict in the diocese’s new Promotions Position Procedures Policy which states that only full-time teachers on 1.0 FTE can apply for promotion positions. It was the sub branch's view that this clause indirectly discriminated against women accessing flexible work arrangements and parttime teachers unable to gain full-time employment. Further, the sub branch called on the diocese to ensure interview panels provided gender balance.

Lismore CSO HR staff advised the IEU that a new payroll system, Compass, was to be implemented in September and that consultation and due notice would be provided to all employees. We have recently been advised that this new payroll system has been delayed and will not commence until later this year.

Steve Bergan, Carolyn Moore, Richard Ryan Organisers

Penrith and Blue Mountains Sub Branch I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this report is written, the Darug and Gundungurra Peoples, and pay my respect to their elders.

The sub branch meeting held via zoom on 28 July was well attended, welcoming 18 chapter representatives and officers. Zoom meetings remove the tyranny of distance, helping more reps and organisers to attend.

Schools represented at the meeting were: • Penola Catholic College, Emu Plains • St Joseph’s Primary, Schofields • CathWest Innovation College, McCarthy Campus, Emu Plains • St Monica’s, Richmond • Wollemi College, Werrington • St Finbar’s Primary, Glenbrook • Good Shepherd Primary, Plumpton • Norwest Christian College, Riverstone • Xavier College, Llandilo • St Mary MacKillop, South Penrith • Trinity Catholic School, Kemps Creek • Mamre Anglican, Kemps Creek Chapter reps shared issues arising from delivering education online from

dispersed locations in a pandemic.

Consistent with all sub branch meetings, we heard updates on the upcoming Catholic Systemic Enterprise Agreement, Catholic Independent Schools, the AIS Multi-Enterprise Agreement, NESA and Covid-19, the postponement of the IEU’s 2021 Support Staff and Early Childhood Conferences and the ECS Council elections.

The Western Sydney Women’s Forum on 4 November is going ahead at this stage, and sub branch President Liz Heggart is hosting at Penola Catholic College Emu Plains.

The meeting acknowledged Janet Marie’s recent loss and Regina Bryan’s retirement. Officers also acknowledged and saluted the reps present and all chapter members – all are frontline workers who are working long hours in difficult circumstances. We are in awe of your ability and commitment in adapting to educating remotely and keeping your schools running.

Thank you to Liz Heggart for chairing the meeting and Secretary Margaret O’Donnell for her minutes.

School staff face tests and trials too Chris Wilkinson President

As we head into the seventh week of lockdown and home-based learning, I would like to acknowledge the tremendous work teachers and support staff are doing to keep their students engaged and learning. We all agree we are experiencing difficult times but, as they say, the job must be done – so we are heads down getting the job done.

Teachers are working extra hours to devise ways to keep students interested, delivering lessons and marking, helping students with technology issues; helping those who cannot attend classes; and contacting parents if students missed a lesson.

People tend to forget that many teachers have children of their own who are also being home schooled, so teachers are juggling helping them as well as conducting classes.

Teachers of Year 12 students have been tested over the past few weeks as the news from the Premier changed daily, especially about whether the Trial HSC would go ahead. First, yes, all Year 12 students would return to face-toface teaching on 16 August; then no, they will continue with home-based learning. Then in Week 5 we were told it would be up to individual schools or systems as to how the exam would be administered. So teachers had to rewrite exam papers to accommodate students doing the exam over Zoom.

Teachers are flexible and just got on with the job so that students would not be disadvantaged – they'd still have the opportunity to sit a written exam in a modified way.

My appreciation and thanks go out to the principals who have had the job of keeping up with changes and managing home-based learning so that no student is disadvantaged as well as keeping schools open to cater for students who need to come to school as normal.

To our amazing support staff who have been invaluable as always – assisting in lessons, breakout rooms and one-on-one help for students; the ladies and or gentlemen working in the front office, answering calls, photocopying etc; the science and TAS assistants; the groundspeople and library staff – thank you. You make the life of a teacher so much easier with your continued support and assistance.

It is amazing to think that people in government who are making the decisions on when students will return to face-to-face teaching, the lack of vaccinations for teachers and the problems that this issue brings just do not understand the work teachers and support staff are doing. Why don't they ask the people who know?

Yes we all look forward to the term break and I totally agree that we will all deserve it.

Get your vaccination, stay at home and stay safe and well. Keep up the good work and keep smiling.

VACCINATION

PRIORITY For Teachers and Support Staff www.ieu.asn.au

Ann-Maree McEwan Organiser

Riverina Sub Branch The Riverina Sub Branch includes schools in Albury, Wagga Wagga, Leeton, Griffith and even as far as Moama.

The Riverina Sub Branch met in Griffith on 23 July after a successful Reps training day.

Attendance was down due to the ‘Albury Bubble’ which prevented our dedicated school reps from participating.

Anthony Telford, the new IEU organiser for the Riverina was warmly welcomed by members.

Issues raised by the school reps included: • the introduction of the new finance system has impacted adversely on teachers and support staff

• the restructuring of promotion positions in schools following a review by the Catholic Education Diocese of Wagga Wagga • the COVID Tutor System salaries and role descriptions.

• remote learning and expectations for those staff working from home and onsite, and • Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) and the increased workload for learning support assistants.

Jackie Groom Organiser newsmonth - Vol 41 #6 2021

17

Deep breath – if you dare

Bernadette Baker

Vice President Catholic Systemic Schools

COVID-19 is the discussion point at the fore for schools, staff and students.

How do we proceed in this current environment? How do we juggle the health orders, society expectations, teachers, parents, and be safe at work?

The IEU has been actively engaged in this space for many months to promote teachers and support staff to be vaccinated as essential workers.

Teachers are on the frontline across all sectors of the community – because it is the community who is coming into my school and workplace.

Despite home-based learning, all schools have some students on site, whether in a red zone or not. Across the various sectors and LGAs, schools and teachers are again working to provide excellent educational support for their students and families.

It is understandable that during this time we look at the conflicting advice, strong opinions of media, colleagues, politicians, and wonder how it will pan out. Over the last 18 months, teachers have been a stable force for the community in the turbulence of COVID-19 regulations.

It has become more and more obvious that workload has not eased. In fact, in many cases it has increased and become more demanding and complex. It is important that we do not allow ourselves to keep taking on more without asking “What do I not do?”

Allow yourself reflection time to critically assess the important over the urgent, and how best to address it. Talk to your rep or organiser if you need to clarify issues or concerns. Remember the IEU is being very active to ensure teachers and support staff have a voice. Check out our Facebook page to keep up to date (see pages 10-11).

Change: The new normal COVID-19 impacts in many ways.

The Support Staff Conference, which was slated for this August, has been rescheduled for Friday 13 May 2022.

The Theme of the Conference ‘Change, The New Normal’ is ever relevant.

Events for support staff continue online, however. Hopefully, some of you were able to attend the IEUA National BOLD Webinar for School Support Staff issues on 9 August.

Please do not hesitate to contact your organiser or the IEU office for any queries or concerns. The union is there for you in these challenging times.

Recruit any support staff who are not IEU members in your workplace. It is easy! Go online and follow the prompts. The more support staff members we have, the louder our voice becomes and the more benefits we can gain.

Keep safe and stay strong!

Carolyn Collins Vice President Support Staff

Bernadette Baker Vice President Systemic

Cars We Used To Drive Author: Don Loffler Publisher: Wakefield Press

In Cars We Used To Drive, Don Loffler, well known Holden author, reveals his lifelong interest in all makes of cars on Australian roads in the years 1946 to 1966. Don Loffler has assembled a remarkable collection of 280 colour slides and black and white photographs of owners and their cars, from Austin to Zeta.

Makes like Morris, Vanguard, Wolseley, Oldsmobile and Hudson, which have long since disappeared from the new car scene, but were once household names, feature.

The images record the social history of an era very different from today, when people were content to sit on travelling rugs by the roadside to enjoy a picnic lunch brought from home, perhaps with the addition of sausages and chops cooked over a small open fire.

Caravan holidays were also popular at a time when motels were not yet in vogue.

Older readers can be assured of a great nostalgia trip into times they remember, while younger people will gain an insight into what it was like living in those times.

The establishment boys: The other side of Kerry Packer’s cricket revolution Author: Barry Nicholls Publisher: Wakefield Press

Almost 40 years ago, there were two national Australian cricket teams existing in seemingly parallel universes: the glamorous, ‘rock-star’ players of World Series Cricket run by media mogul Kerry Packer; and the traditional Australian Test team made up of young, poorly paid men who represented their country in the establishment international Test arena.

Incredibly, four decades later we know more than ever about the characters and plot twists of the WSC saga, thanks to a commercial media-driven fascination with magnate Kerry Packer and the household name cricket heroes of the day. But the story of the players who stuck solid to the Australian Cricket Board is largely forgotten or simply unknown.

Myths and Legends

Author: Alli Brydon Illustrator: Julia Iredale Publisher: Lonely Planet Books Bold reader – open your mystical map and get ready to travel through time with 21 dazzling stories of daring and deceit, reward and punishment. Meet gods, goddesses and demigods, serpents, coyotes, talking fish and clever spiders, and cavort with sea nymphs, mystical women, terrifying beasts and volcano people – as you discover different tales of how the world began.

These powerful, fascinating myths and legends will transport you to every corner of the globe. You’ll journey from ancient to modern times, from hot climates to freezing temperatures, from mountaintops to seafloors.

The stories in this book link you to past generations; these tales have been passed down through a long line of oral traditions. The souls of ancestors, the lives of heroes and the fates of mortals are waiting to be discovered.

Email entries to giveaways@ieu.asn.au with the title of the book you would like to receive in the subject line. Write your name, membership number and postal address in the body of your email. All entries must be received by 20 September 2021.

18

newsmonth - www.ieu.asn.au

Super shines through hard times

IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Executive

Secretary Mark Northam Eora Nation Deputy Secretary Carol Matthews Eora Nation Assistant Secretary Liam Griffiths Eora Nation Assistant Secretary Pam Smith Dharug Nation President Christine Wilkinson St Joseph's Girls High School East Gosford Kuring-gai Nation Deputy President Tina Ruello Catherine McAuley Westmead Dharug Nation Vice President Non Systemic Bruce Paine Kinross Wolaroi School Orange Wiradjuri Nation Vice President Systemic Bernadette Baker St Mary’s Cathedral College Sydney Eora Nation Vice President ECS Gabrielle Connell NESA Accreditation Officer Wiradjuri Nation Vice President Support Staff Carolyn Collins St Michael’s Primary School Nowra Yuin Nation Vice President ACT Angela McDonald St Thomas Aquinas Primary School Charnwood Ngunnawal Nation

The frequently used platitudes associated with superannuation have certainly shown grains of truth as we look at last financial year’s investment performance. Expressions such as, ‘It’s time in the market, not timing the market’, ‘Super is a longterm investment’, ‘Past results are no guarantee of future returns’ certainly ring true.

After a major market plunge in February and March 2020, super funds have made a strong recovery, with rating agency Chant West declaring super funds have returned their strongest financial year result in 24 years.

So if you were invested in some growth assets you will most likely notice a large increase in your overall super balance.

In general, growth assets enjoyed a strong return with both Aussie and international shares topping the list. Cash and bonds returned small positives and investors who switched to these asset classes would have missed the tsunami upswing. And members who withdrew around this time would have also missed the big returns sourced from growth assets.

NGS Super’s Investment Performance Summary speaks for itself, but it is worth noting that the default option, Diversified

(My Super) returned 17.34% to 30 June 2021. Other outstanding performers were International Shares (28.94%), Shares Plus (27.01%) and Australian Shares (26.17%).

You can see a detailed investment performance summary to 30 June 2021 on the NGS website www.ngssuper.com.au/ investments/investment-performance.

It is safe to say that over long periods of time, Australia’s leading super funds, including industry funds, have protected members from unnecessary risk and grown their wealth for a prosperous and dignified retirement. In spite of various attacks by successive governments, the dream put in place by Paul Keating and his advisers remains robust, healthy and strong.

NGS Super extends its best wishes to you during this difficult period of the COVID pandemic. Stay safe, stay home and please follow the advice of our medical experts.

And a huge THANK YOU to all the medical professionals fighting to keep us safe.

Bernard O’Connor NGS Super

(Important information: The information in this article is general information only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making a financial decision, please assess the appropriateness of the information to your individual circumstances, read the Product Disclosure Statement for any product you may be thinking of acquiring and consider seeking personal advice. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Any opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS Super.)

Financial Officers Denise McHugh NESA Liaison Officer Kamilaroi Nation Peter Moore De La Salle College Cronulla Tharawal Nation General Executive Members John O’Neill Carroll College Broulee Yuin Nation Anna Luedi Marist Catholic College North Shore Eora Nation Suzanne Penson Mackillop College Port Macquarie Biripi Nation Helen Templeton Presbyterian Ladies College Armidale Nganyaywana Nation Phoebe Craddock-Lovett Marist Catholic College North Shore Eora Nation Simon Goss Holy Spirit Primary School Lavington Wiradjuri Nation Libby Lockwood St Joseph’s Primary School West Tamworth Kamilaroi Nation Kylie Booth-Martinez Assumption Catholic Primary School and St Stanislaus' College, Bathurst Wiradjuri Nation Glenn Lowe St Joseph's Catholic High School Albion Park Dharawal Nation

with Professional Development and Reps Training

www.ieu.asn.au Our locations

Sydney 485-501 Wattle Street, Ultimo NSW 2007 8202 8900 Parramatta Level 2, 18-20 Ross Street, Parramatta NSW 2150 8202 8900 Newcastle 8-14 Telford Street, Newcastle East NSW 2302 4926 9400 Unit 4 Lismore Professional Centre 103-105 Molesworth Street, Lismore NSW 2480 6623 4700 ACT Unit 8, 40 Brisbane Avenue, Barton ACT 2600 6120 1500 newsmonth - Vol 41 #6 2021

19

ENVIRONMENT GRANTS

Apply for your workplace

IEU members are invited to apply on behalf of their schools, colleges or Early Childhood Centres for one of three grants of $3000 each, sponsored by the union, to help with their environmental projects.

The IEU has a proud history of funding and supporting education projects that bring sustainability projects to life.

There is no definitive list of possible activities, but typical projects include habitat conservation, biodiversity and tree-planting, outdoor learning areas, vegetables in kitchen gardens, organic produce, water and energy saving, waste, recycling and composting projects, and aboriginal cultural projects.

The eligibility criteria include long-term viability of the project, a linkto a broader environmental education strategy, and effective management of the project.

Key dates Applications open: Monday 12 July 2021 Applications close: Friday 17 September 2021 There is an expectation that successful recipients will provide a brief video presentation at completion of the project outlining how their project has proceeded and what the benefits to their school has been.

Winners will be announced Tuesday 5 October 2021, with a formal presentation proposed for the AGM. For more information please contact richard@ieu.asn.au

NGS Super’s Diversified (MySuper) default option delivered a strong 17.34%* return for the 2020/21 financial year.

DELIVERING FOR OUR MEMBERS To

create a brighter future ...

At NGS, our core purpose is to provide the best possible retirement outcome for our members. We can’t predict the future, but we do our best to create a brighter one.

And because we’re a profit-for-members fund, you can be assured that we’re working in your best interests.

Visit our website ngssuper.com.au/ performance for more information on our options and returns. * Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

CREATING BRIGHTER FUTURES

Issued by NGS Super Pty Limited ABN 46 003 491 487 AFSL No 233 154 the trustee of NGS Super ABN 73 549 180 515

4778 (0821)

ngssuper.com.au 1300 133 177