Advocate March 2009

Advocate Journal of the National Tertiary Education Union

ISSN 1321–8476

Volume 16, Number 1, April 2009

Representing Employees in Higher Education, TAFE, Adult Education, RACGP, Research Institutes and Universit y Companies

CRUNCH TIME  NTEU lobbies Canberra ahead of the Budget  What’s in the Bradley Review?  Fair Work Act – what does it mean for you?  Bargaining for job security for contract research staff

Victoria burns Supporting a Dental School  Apology Anniversary  Iceland’s economic collapse  New NTEU staff

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Advocate JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL TERTIARY EDUCATION UNION

On the cover: NTEU National President, Carolyn Allport addresses an ‘Our Universities Matter’ forum in Canberra VOLUME 16, NUMBER 1, APRIL 2009

Photo: Jane Maze

REGULAR FEATURES

SPECIAL FEATURES

FROM THE OFFICERS

OUR UNIVERSITIES MATTER 2

After the Reviews

 8

Carolyn Allport, National President

3

Crunch time on bargaining and funding Grahame McCulloch, General Secretary

4

9

Ted Murphy, National Assistant Secretary

10

UPDATE Important Award conditions reinstated New national safety net Joan Hardy Scholarship Zimbabwean education crisis

 7

Obama boosts US research funding Vale John Mullarvey Honorary doctorate for ex-PM

Our universities matter

INVESTING IN PEOPLE & SOCIETY

11

Spill the beans on university mismanagement

24

12

13

 14 15

Name change for ITEPC Indigenous Forum 2008; Apology Anniversary EI Indigenous Seminar Howard Guille Indigenous scholarships

DENTAL EDUCATION

PM’s 2008 University Teacher of the Year; New SA office opens

VICTORIAN BUSHFIRES

Editor: Carolyn Allport Editorial Assistance: Anastasia Kotaidis

Feedback and advertising: advocate@nteu.org.au See p.32 for National Executive, National Office staff and Division contact details.

Industrial action reaps early benefits Bargaining for job security at La Trobe Making job security for contract research staff a priority in bargaining.

16

Crunch time for dental school in Australia Leonie Short identifies a number of employee issues which need to be addressed when establishing a new dental school.

YOUR UNION

Publisher: Grahame McCulloch Production: Paul Clifton

Collective bargaining 2009 – the race in on!

Agreements have already been reached at four universities.

26

27

Advocate is published by National Tertiary Education Union.

PO Box 1323, South Melbourne VIC 3205 ISSN 1321-8476 ABN 38 579 396 344 ph: 03 9254 1910 fax: 03 9254 1915 All text & images © NTEU 2009 unless otherwise stated

Gillard’s Fair Work Act What does the Rudd Government’s WorkChoices replacement have in store for NTEU members?

Washington an unwelcome detour on the journey from Rome to Zurich

NTEU environment policy update Profiles of new NTEU staff Contacting your Union

Delivery of National Petition

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

iPhone, uTube, weR1

INDIGENOUS NEWS

28

Regional universities and their communities

NTEU’s national petition has been delivered to the Federal Government

Lowering the Boom, by Ian Lowe

 29 30 32

Overcoming social disadvantage

Regional universities are an integral and significant part of the economic, social and cultural infrastructure of their communities.

News from the Net, by Pat Wright

25

Reflections on the Canberra lobbying trip If Australia is to secure its future, there must be investment in both physical and human infrastructure, including higher education.

 12 Regional Focus, by Jenny Austin

Sustaining quality teaching and research Australia’s future international competitiveness requires a highly skilled labour force, research and innovation capability and cultural dynamism.

COLUMNS 23

Workforce Development Fund Maintaining high quality undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research should be at the forefront of higher education policy.

PPPs and Education

5

6

NTEU meets Parliament to lobby for higher education’s future 30 NTEU members and staff spent three days talking to MPs about the key priorities for the Government’s Budget response to Bradley and Cutler.

18

Victorian bushfires The tragic affects upon our sector, and the generous responses.

 19

Obituary: Dr Richard Zann

INTERNATIONAL  20

Iceland’s economic chill A collapsing economy brings hardship to university staff in Iceland.

22

Skills training in Aceh Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA trains people in a range of vocational skills.

22

Snapshot: University of Chicago challenges hate group

FROM THE OFFICERS

CAROLYN ALLPORT, NATIONAL PRESIDENT

After the Reviews A

s the season of reviews on higher education and research comes to a close, the Government is beginning to explicate its policy agenda. In early March we have seen the first outcomes from both the Review of Higher Education (the Bradley Review) and the Review of Australia’s National Innovation System (the Cutler Review).

Julia Gillard (Minister for Education, Employment, Workplace Relations and Social Inclusion) along with her colleague Kim Carr (Minister for Industry, Innovation, Science and Research), have worked hard to put before Australians a strong agenda for reversing the parlous state of education and research outcomes relative to other OECD countries. Their agenda is passionate and progressive, but regrettably occurred at the same time as the international financial collapse.

Many of us working in universities and other tertiary institutions have waited for over a decade for the opportunity to work proactively to create wider opportunities for students to be able to access tertiary education, to lift participation in the workforce and to use education to improve society as well as productivity.

The agenda is bold. Government aims to have 40 per cent of all 25–34 year olds with a bachelors degree by 2025. This will require significant investment, but it is investment that will return strong public benefits across our society and economy.

Through these Reviews, Government identified critical problems.

Australia has low educational participation rates compared to other OECD countries, especially among those from disadvantaged backgrounds. In the next decade universities will face difficulties in retaining staff given that such a large proportion of academic and research staff are approaching retirement. How do we make an academic and research career attractive to the next generation? Finally, students remain concerned about large and at times overcrowded classes with less access to their lecturers.

Contentious issues One issue that attracted attention was the concept of vouchers. The Government responded by moderating the Bradley student demand model by providing student funding directly to the institution, rather than the student as recommended in Bradley.

Both Ministers have been clear that their policy approach is guided by four principles.

• The importance of opportunity for all.

• Academic freedom and autonomy.

• Research that advances knowledge and critical thinking.

• Access to university based on merit not ability to pay.

Apart from the vouchers, one of the other contentious issues concerned the HECS scheme. The debate started before the release of the Government’s response. Strong pressure for increasing HECS rates was played by a number of stakeholders, especially institutions, some of whom wanted the cap on HECS rates lifted altogether. The Government stood firm. This is good public policy, but it is likely to 2

come under pressure in the future without a more sustainable public funding base, one that will ensure that students can make the most of their university experience, without having to work long hours in paid work in order to pay for rent, food and housing costs.

The future of research Australian research is ranked highly internationally, 11th in the world for quality output and 9th for citations. However we are failing to compete in terms of investing in research for the future. It is true that allocations of infrastructure investment were important in last year’s Budget and were a much needed funding boost, but the challenge to lift our overall competitive performance will require significant additional spending.

For many years universities have cross-subsidised research activities from teaching monies in order to stay in the research race. Compared to many of our competitors, Australia funds research at a lower level, and this means less research is undertaken. Ahead of us over the next year will be a debate about research concentration.

While we have often heard about the plan for a ‘hubs and spokes’ approach to research (and this could be helpful), we have yet to see the outcomes of discussions on the ERA.

Lobbying our leaders It was in the context of these important reviews that NTEU recently took some 30 members on a three day lobbying trip to the Federal Parliament and talked to around 50 MPs and Senators.

Our four key priorities for lobbying were: • Increased public investment in teaching and research.

• Overcoming social disadvantage.

• Academic workforce development.

• The role of regional universities.

Teams of three to four NTEU members spoke to individual parliamentarians with our objective of asking them to raise these issues in caucus discussions. We spoke mainly to ALP, Greens and Independents, and some Liberals and Nationals.

In the main, we were primarily focused on ensuring that these parliamentarians would strongly support the initiatives that we had raised within their parties. In this way we hope that we can assist in strengthening the importance of our institutions and our engagement with Government and other political parties.

It is not often that politics is such fun and matters so much.

NTEU ADVOCATE

FROM THE OFFICERS

GRAHAME Mcculloch, general secretary

Crunch time on bargaining and funding L

abor went to the 2007 poll promising an education revolution and an end to John Howard’s punitive WorkChoices and HEWRRs industrial relations regime. With the Rudd Government nearly half way through its term, crunch time has arrived on collective bargaining and funding for Australia’s universities. In early March, NTEU moved decisively on these two key issues.

ANU are not AHEIA members, and that Ballarat and CDU placed their As is reported on page 14, a national conference of around 100 NTEU market competitiveness above the AHEIA ideological line. officers and staff met in mid February to revise and strengthen the At the time of writing, the Union had taken industrial action at VicUnion’s 2009–2011 bargaining strategy with a view to reaching new toria University (VU) following a post-Howard Collective Agreesuccessful industrial action ballot ments in a substantial number of The Howard regime saw rates at... poorly in late 2008, and the University universities by the end of April funded universities fall in relative terms, of Sydney Branch had initiated a 2009. After a slow start, the NTEU similar industrial action ballot. In strategy is bearing fruit. but the large increases achieved for 2009 both instances this pressure has There are now four universities restore much of their competitive position yielded immediate results with where comprehensive agreement VU management offering a poshas been reached – the University sible framework for settlement and the new Sydney Vice-Chancellor of Ballarat, Australian National University, University of Western Ausagreeing to a schedule of intensive negotiations during April. tralia and Charles Darwin University.

These Agreements have a short duration expiring at the end of 2009 and deliver our key objectives – the restoration of employment conditions stripped by WorkChoices/HEWRRs (restrictions on the use of fixed term contract employment, comprehensive union-based NTEU National President Carolyn Allport led a three day Parliamenprotections for allegations of unsatisfactory performance/miscontary lobbying delegation of senior Branch and Division officers to duct, tight provisions on redundancy and managing change issues), Canberra in mid March to promote NTEU’s Federal Budget Submisimproved employment conditions for casual and fixed term contract sion which makes the case for an injection of around $5.5 billion in staff, Indigenous employment, restoration of the Union’s representaadditional university funding (see pp. 8–12). tive role and rights, job security provisions and competitive pay rises.

More than fifteen years of neglect (from both the Howard GovThe salary increases at Ballarat (10.5 per cent) and Charles Darwin ernment and the latter period of the Keating Government) needs to (13.0 per cent) are particularly notable. The Howard regime saw rates be remedied, and the Union has proposed around $800 million for at these comparatively poorly funded universities fall in relative terms, the full funding of research, $2.8 billion to increase and index base but the large increases achieved for 2009 now restore much of their funding, $1.7 billion for initiatives for underrepresented students and competitive position. At the same time, the increases at ANU (4.5 per $100 million for a new Workforce Development Fund. cent plus accelerated incremental rises of up to 3 per cent) and UWA This latter initiative involves the creation of 1800 new permanent (6 per cent) demonstrate that the comparatively better funded Group jobs as an initial response to the emerging shortage of academic of Eight institutions are able to make competitive salary increases labour. Up to 1200 of these jobs would be Training and Development notwithstanding the impact of the global financial crisis on their balplacements for new PhD graduates without teaching experience ance sheets and investment income and at least 600 would be Secure revenue streams.

Employment placements for The Australian Higher Education casual staff with teaching experiNTEU’s Federal Budget Submission...

Industrial Association (AHEIA) is ence who have recently completed makes the case for an injection of around mounting coordinated opposition or are about to complete a PhD. $5.5 billion in additional university to the Union’s key claims and most The Union team met and interfunding. of its members have been followacted with 40 politicians and ing its advice to retain the inferior worked closely with Universities employment conditions imposed Australia President and Monash by the Howard regime. Unfortunately, this means it may be less easy Vice-Chancellor, Richard Larkins and Ballarat Vice-Chancellor, David to achieve good negotiated outcomes at other universities withBattersby. This important united front on key policy issues was very out recourse to industrial pressure. It is no accident that UWA and welcome. Perhaps AHEIA should reflect on this.

Budget ball in the Government’s court

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

3

FROM THE OFFICERS

ted murphy, national assistant secretary

PPPs and Education P

ublic Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been justified by Australian governments on the grounds that the risks associated with the projects are transferred to the private sector and that they offer value for money. They have been used in the education sector for the construction of state schools and at least one TAFE campus. A few have been initiated by universities, particularly for English language colleges.

The origins of PPPs lie in neo-liberal views on the inefficiency of the public sector and the level of government debt. In some cases governments imposed restrictive parameters for borrowings on themselves; in others federal governments limited state government borrowings.

International credit rating agencies also played a role, threatening governments with a lower credit rating and higher interest rates if they increased debt.

PPPs were facilitated by international accounting standards which treated government payments to cover the construction and operating costs and profit margin of a private infrastructure company as not equivalent to debt, even when such payments occur over the 25 year period which would be normal for the repayment of government borrowings. The irony of the present situation is that it is the nature and extent of the debt of the supposedly efficient commercial private sector which is a significant contributor to the current global economic crisis. Moreover, the international ratings agencies have a credibility crisis due to their favourable assessment of private sector schemes that have created toxic assets.

A common argument against PPPs is that they are more expensive than public debt due to the higher cost of borrowing by private companies and the fact that the companies do not finance infrastructure unless their profit objectives are likely to be met. Another argument is that the value for money objective can be achieved by governments conducting a competitive tender for the construction of new infrastructure.

It is also argued that a private infrastructure company having responsibility for a public education building and an interest in profit opportunities from maintenance, cleaning, repairs, security, etc. may lead to conflicts over expectations and standards with the education authorities and staff. Such conflicts also arise when building services are outsourced, but the difference under a PPP is that the outsourcing is for a very long period. Teacher unions have also raised the risk of a ‘compact design’ approach under a PPP, e.g. narrow corridors, smaller than needed classrooms, or classrooms with no capacity for enlargement or sub-division to accommodate different class sizes.

The Economic Crisis and PPPs The global crisis provides a political opportunity to shift back to government borrowings. However, three reservations apply to this assessment. First, not all PPPs involve a contract to a private company to build, own, operate and transfer infrastructure back to the public sector in 25 years. One UK school PPP involved no government payments to the private company for construction and operation because 4

the value of the school land was so high that a new school building was constructed in return for land to build an apartment block. It is tempting to view this as an isolated case but it is conceivable that it could be replicated on a larger scale, e.g. a major housing estate developer offering to contribute land or to the construction costs of a new outer suburban campus in return for the associated increase in the sale value of the surrounding houses.

Second, the PPP model is changing. The traditional PPP is no longer viable because now it is more difficult for private companies to borrow for construction and operation of a major project and to securitise the resulting debt. Consequently, some governments that justified PPPs on the grounds of the transfer of risk to the private sector propose a new PPP model to prop up the private infrastructure companies.

In the UK, PPPs are called Private Financing Initiatives (PFIs). The 27 January edition of The Guardian quotes the head of the government body, Partnerships for Schools, as follows: We are looking at ways to share the risk between public and private sectors. The original notion of PFI was to transfer the risk to the private sector – that carries with it a price. What we’re seeing is that transfer of risk to the private sector is not the best value for money for the public purse. Sharing the risk is beneficial in some cases. It means there is more access to finance and the schemes aren’t being delayed.

The shared risk approach has also emerged in Australia, with one state government proposing that government debt supply 60-70 per cent of the finance for projects, the rest to be raised by the private sector.

Third, government debt for other purposes is rising due to bail– outs of financial institutions and economic stimulus packages. This will be cited as a new constraint on government borrowings to fully fund public infrastructure.

Nevertheless, there is still scope for progress on this matter. The shared risk approach means it is more difficult for governments, as the predominate source of finance, to evade their responsibility for public infrastructure. Mooted changes to international accounting standards may limit the scope for a government to exclude PPPs from its balance sheet. Politically it should also be possible to advocate for full government debt and financial responsibility for public education, hospitals and public transport infrastructure, as distinct from infrastructure such as ports that are predominantly used by commercial interests, and for which fees can be levied on commercial terms.

As for universities that use PPPs to outsource responsibility for English language colleges to commercial tertiary education providers, they are effectively authorising the provider to increase student fees, if not also to reduce the salaries and conditions of the staff of the colleges.

NTEU ADVOCATE

UPDATE NATIONAL

NATIONAL

Rudd Government reinstates important Award conditions lost under WorkChoices

New national safety net

F

P

Awards set the minimum standards for employees who are not covered by Collective Agreements. For most NTEU members, who are covered by Agreements, they are nonetheless still important as they set a ‘safety net’. This means that overall, the conditions in an Agreement cannot be worse than those set out in the Award.

The AIRC has now made two Awards for higher education – one for academic staff and one for general staff – which will commence operation on 1 January 2010. The making of the Awards follows hearings at which the university employers sought to slash the safety net, in particular by com-

pletely de-regulating the use of fixed-term and casual employment, and removing general staff entitlements to convert to more secure employment.

Fortunately, following strong submissions

by NTEU and other unions, the Awards made by the AIRC have completely re-instated the protections for staff which were previously included in the HECE Award.

NTEU is now seeking to protect award conditions in the next phase of ‘modernisation’ which will cover our members in TAFE, Student Unions, Language Centres, Research Institutes and Adult Education. A New awards c www.airc.gov.au

NATIONAL

Joan Hardy Scholarship

J

udith Anderson, a PhD student at Charles Sturt University has been awarded the Joan Hardy Scholarship for 2009.

The Scholarship was established by NTEU in recognition of the contribution made by the late Joan Hardy to NTEU and its predecessor unions for over 30 years.

Judith received the scholarship for her thesis ‘A qualitative review of the change process which occurs in small rural health services during mergers’ (in rural NSW). It examines the process which results in the development of this new multi-purpose model of health care in small rural communities by providing a voice to community members, staff and managers working in these facilities, enabling them to describe current practices and roles within the process. A

art of the Government’s new Fair Work Act (see article, p.13) is to create a new ‘safety net’ of legislated conditions and Awards which will provide the base below which collectively bargained conditions cannot fall.

This national safety net consists of the following items:

National Employment Standards These will be set out in law and will apply to all employees and cannot be ‘traded away’, even by Collective Agreements. These conditions are: • A 38-hour week plus ‘reasonable’ additional hours.

• Unpaid parental leave.

• Leave – annual, sick and personal, and community service (e.g. jury service).

• Notice and redundancy pay.

• Public holidays.

• Information upon employment.

• Flexible work for parents (right to request).

Modern Awards Modern awards will cover a range of basic conditions, plus conditions specific to a particular industry.

For example, in higher education the Award will restrict the use of fixed term contracts. Modern Awards will also set minimum salaries. A

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ollowing its election, the Rudd Government has set about un-making the previous Government’s WorkChoices laws. In doing so, it has directed the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) to make new ‘modern’ Awards for each industry.

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APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

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UPDATE 4 INTERNATIONAL

Zimbabwean teachers hope end to education crisis is near

H

opes were raised when Zimbabwe’s new Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, promised that all civil servants, including teachers, would be paid in foreign currency by the end of February, reports Education International (EI).

At an inaugural celebration in Harare, Tsvangirai said: ‘As Prime Minister, I make this commitment that as from the end of this month our professionals in the civil service, every health worker, teacher, soldier and policeman will receive their pay in foreign currency until we are able to stabilize the economy.

These hard currency salaries enable people to go to work, feed families and to survive.’

Further to this statement it is reported that the PM encouraged teachers and other government employees to report for duty.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions expressed optimism: ‘We are delighted that civil servants are now included in this category. Originally it was required that civil servants be paid allowances in food vouchers. A food voucher does not pay for school fees, health care, rentals and transport fares,’ ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo emphasised at a press conference on 12 February.

The same day, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA) issued a statement which posed important questions for teachers.

‘Clearly the statement shows commitment to resolve the crisis in education. However, the statement will need to be followed up with implementation modalities that will address questions like how much will be paid? How will the money be paid? What are the timelines for the salaries?’

These questions point to the fact that since September 2008, teachers have been unable to perform their duties. Earlier, teachers were intimidated by officials and school administrators invoking legal provisions to force them back to work by 9 February.

‘Teachers should not fear the piece of legislation that does not bring food to the table,’ said ZIMTA President Tendai Chikowore. ‘If names are demanded for people who are failing to go to work, let us all submit our names without fear and if we are to be fired, let us all be fired, for we have not been surviving on these salaries. We are as good as fired.’

‘In case we are misunderstood, let us be clear,’ Chikowore added. ‘Teachers and ZIMTA, their union, are ready to go back to work, but not on promises that are not backed by prac6

tical action and interventions. A process of engagement with the incoming Administration must be on priority so as to address the education crisis urgently.’

The Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), expressed concern at the continued deterioration of education standards, noting that June and November 2008 O and A level, Grade 7 examinations results have not yet been released.

‘The poor are the worst affected as their children cannot afford to sit for other external examinations. The threat by the Education Permanent Secretary that temporary teachers will be engaged if striking teachers do not return to work does not solve the problem in any way but, instead, worsens it,’ said Raymond Majongwe, General Secretary of the PTUZ. ‘We demand that government take a holistic approach to solving problems in the education sector and avert further flight of remaining skills.’

Generally, trade unions have also asked the new government to ‘bury authoritarian rule and replace it with a democratic governance system.’ The ZCTU called upon the political parties to forge a sustained alliance that leads to political tolerance. ‘The current government must be transitional in form and content, leading to a new constitution, followed by free, fair and credible elections supervised by the United Nations,’ says the ZCTU statement. A EI Urgent action appeals c www.ei-ie.org/en/urgentactionappeal/

Donations can be sent to Education International’s solidarity account: Account #: 310-100 6170-75 B (IBAN: BE05 3101 0061 7075) SWIFT/BIC: BB RUBE BB 100 ING Banque, 1, rue du Trône, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgique Below: A teacher holds her Z$31 trillion (US$3) January salary in protest at a meeting in Harare, 24 January 2009.

Photo: Bold Hungwe

NTEU ADVOCATE

UPDATE 4 INTERNATIONAL

John Mullarvey Photo: Tim Kelley

Obama provides significant boost to US research

O

n 17 February 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009. The total value of the Obama stimulus package is worth $US780 billion, around 5% of US GDP. While $US288 billion of the total package was dedicated to tax relief, $US357 billion was allocated to federal social and spending programs. This includes over $US21 billion in increased public expenditure on research.

The Obama administration clearly recognises the importance of public investment in research as a critical component of the recovery and reinvestment in the long-term health of the US economy. It also explicitly recognises that such expenditure provides a short-term economic stimulus.

NTEU is advocating for increased public investment in research as part of the Our Universities Matter campaign and has lobbied the Government for full funding of research in the 2009-10 Federal Budget.

We hope that the Rudd Labor Government has a similar attitude to President Obama, and acknowledges the importance of

research funding for both the nation’s longterm benefit, as well as part of the short-term stimulus to economic activity.

The details of research funding included in Obama’s Stimulus Package are: • $US10 billion for health research and construction of National Institutes of Health facilities.

• $US2.5 billion for energy efficiency research.

• $US8.9 billion for scientific research comprised of: • $US3 billion to National Science Foundation.

• $US2 billion to Department of Energy.

N

TEU wishes to pay tribute to John Mullarvey, former chief executive officer of the former Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee (AVCC), who died in February after a battle with cancer.

Mr Mullarvey spent 18 years with the AVCC. He became Chief Executive Officer in February 2001, a role he filled until the transformation of the AVCC into Universities Australia in May 2007.

Grahame McCulloch, NTEU General Secretary, who knew Mr Mullarvey for over 20 years, said he will be remembered as a ‘tough and strong-willed negotiator’. A

• $US1.3 billion for university research facilities.

• $US1 billion to NASA. • $US830 million to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

• $US580 million to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. A

QUEENSLAND

Dr John’s service to tertiary education

I

n February 2009, Bond University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Robert Stable awarded former Prime Minister John Howard an honorary doctorate for his ‘service to Australia’ and ‘his support of a diversified higher education sector.’

Mr Howard’s, and his Government’s, support was revealed early in its first term when, in August 1996, then Education Minister Amanda Vanstone described the Government’s decision to cut university operating grants by 5% over four years (saving the Government some $640 million) as being ‘more like a nick than a cut’.

Students attending our universities were the next to benefit from Mr Howard’s ‘largesse’. Major reforms to the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) in 1997 resulted in HECS fees to study medicine or law more than doubling. The decision to allow universities to increase HECS rates by 25% from 2005 has seen the average student contribution to the cost of their education doubling, from about 20% in 1996 to almost 40% in 2007. As a result of Mr Howard’s ‘service’ to tertiary education, students studying at an Australian public university now pay amongst the highest fees in the world, and have accumulated over $14 billion in unpaid HECS debts.

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

University staff have also been the ‘beneficiaries’ of the Howard years, with staff now having the opportunity to see many more students, as student-staff ratios have risen by more than 30% since 1996.

Staff will always be grateful to Mr Howard for directly intervening in their collective bargaining negotiations with universities by introducing the Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements (HEWRRs) which, amongst other things, sought to reduce their employment conditions and representation rights and threatened institutional autonomy and academic freedom.

We look forward to the next Bond University graduation ceremony, when we anticipate that George W Bush will be awarded an honorary doctorate for his services to English literature. A c wwww.bond.edu.au/news/2009/200902-john-howard-doctorate.html

7

OUR UNIVERSITIES MATTER

Our universities matter

INVESTING IN PEOPLE & SOCIETY

NTEU meets Parliament

to lobby for higher ed’s future Photo: Dirk HR Spennemann, www.flickr.com/photos/heritagefutures

A

fter spending three days in Parliament House in Canberra, it’s easy to see why some people perceive politicians as detached from the reality in which the rest of us live. It is a massive, seductive, all-consuming complex full of politicians, their staffers, security, support staff, lobbyists, media, more security, visitors and gaggles of school kids, up and down the seemingly endless corridors of offices and committee rooms.

And then there’s the style and splendour of the House and Senate chambers, King’s Hall and the amazing art collection. Only Aussies Café, tucked away on the ground floor, brings some semblance of the outside reality into the place.

This is where 30 NTEU members and staff spent an exhausting three days in early March, talking to MPs about what we think the key priorities should be in the Rudd Government’s Budget response to the Bradley and Cutler Reviews of higher education and research.

8

NTEU priorities NTEU has proposed four key priority areas: 1. Increased public investment in teaching and research.

2. Overcoming social disadvantage.

3. Academic workforce development.

4. The role of regional universities.

The briefing papers used as the focus of discussions with MPs are presented on pages 9–12 of this issue of Advocate.

Over 50 meetings were held with mainly ALP members, including Ministers and Par-

liamentary Secretaries. We also met with some Greens and Independents.

We received a generally positive response from everyone we spoke to, with several commitments to raise our priorities in the ALP Caucus discussions on the Bradley and Cutler Reviews.

More than just lobbying It was an action-packed three days. As well as the meetings, we held a media conference promoting the Workforce Development NTEU ADVOCATE

OUR UNIVERSITIES MATTER

Design features of the WDF

Workforce Development Fund M

aintaining high quality undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research should be at the forefront of the Government’s higher education policy response.

The future quality of Australia’s universities depends on the strength of the academic workforce. Substantial numbers of current university staff are approaching retirement age, and universities will need a steady supply of newly qualified teaching and research academics over the next decade.

At the same time there has been significant growth in the reliance on casual academic employment – currently 52% of undergraduate teaching is done by casual academic staff, affecting both the quality of education services, and the degree of job

security and career development opportunities for the casual academic workforce.

Fund with Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) President, Nigel Palmer.

University of Ballarat Vice-Chancellor, Professor David Battersby chaired a seminar on the priorities for regional universities, with ALP MP Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia) and New England Independent Tony Windsor.

‘Our Universities Matter – the Challenges for Higher Education’ was the theme of a public forum at ANU. Universities Australia (UA) Chair and Monash University Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins outlined UA’s priorities for Bradley and Cutler.

Alicia Payne, Senior Research Officer from the University of Canberra’s National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) reported on research into the costs of education for students and the inadequacy of income support.

ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) Director Roslyn Dundas brought a perspective from outside the university sector on the important role education plays in overcoming social disadvantage.

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

Workforce Development Fund NTEU proposes that the Government establish a new Workforce Development Fund (WDF) as part of the 2009-10 Budget. The fund’s overriding objective is to maintain the quality of teaching and research and to make academia a more attractive career choice.

Each placement would attract a $50,000 per annum subsidy (for a maximum of three years), estimated to be half of the minimum annual salary and on-costs of a person with a PhD and appointed at Academic Level A/B. The subsidy would provide universities with an incentive to make new appointments, and give new appointees scope to develop their teaching and/or research profiles.

Total placements for any university would be a function of their share of total employment (full-time, fractional, and casual). To recognise the over-reliance on casual academic employment and that it differs significantly between universities, the minimum number of new SEP appointments at any university should be at least 10% of its current casual employment.

WDF Taskforce The detailed structure of the WDF should be developed by a taskforce comprising representatives of the Minister’s office and/ or Department, NTEU, Universities Australia, the Group of Eight, the Australian Technology Network and Innovative Research Universities Australia.

The taskforce would be expected to develop eligibility, monitoring and reporting requirements. A

Download a PDF of this briefing paper c www.nteu.org.au/campaigns/ouruniversitiesmatter/resources/factsheets

Outcomes Feedback from NTEU participants has been very positive (see pp. 10–11), with many acquiring lobbying skills and experience for the first time. We hope to use this experience as impetus for more regular dialogue with MPs through Divisions and Branches.

We are confident that we have strengthened our relationship with the Rudd Government and that our priorities will positively influence the Government’s response. We achieved excellent media attention during

the three days, with television, radio and newspaper coverage, in particular on the Workforce Development proposal. This meant that our message was being aired in the public arena as well as with MPs. Audio and video files can be found at www.nteu. org.au/ouruniversitiesmatter/galleries.

Thanks A special thanks goes to NT ALP Senator Trish Crossin (an NTEU Life Member), who sponsored our visit, gave us her expert lobbying tips, accepted our National Petition at a reception for delegates, and whose staff cheerfully provided us with invaluable advice and administrative support. A Paul Kniest, National Policy & Research Coordinator and Michael Evans, National Organiser 9

Photo: Suzanne Tucker

OUR UNIVERSITIES MATTER

Sustaining quality teaching and research in our universities

The level of student contributions to the cost of their university education is already high by international standards. The best way to ensure Australia has internationally competitive and sustainable universities is to increase the level of public investment, and maintain this by introducing a revised indexation system which more accurately reflects cost increases in the sector.

Currently the public competitive research grants to our universities fail to cover the full cost of undertaking research. If Australia is to maintain its international standing we need to significantly increase the level of public funding for university teaching and research. A Download a PDF of this briefing paper c www.nteu.org.au/campaigns/ ouruniversitiesmatter/resources/factsheets Student: staff ratio (all students) Australian universities 1996-2006

P

ublic investment in Australian universities has steadily fallen since the early 1990s, in real terms and as a percentage of GDP. Australia’s future international competitiveness requires a highly skilled labour force, research and innovation capability and cultural dynamism. This is especially so given the current global economic downturn.

Our universities can make a major contribution to these objectives but only if the falling public investment trend is reversed.

Universities are a direct investment in Australia’s people and society, and are central to Australia’s cultural, social and economic development.

Reflections on the lobbying trip Ariadne Vromen, University of Sydney This was a worthwhile experience for me as an active member of the NTEU. Through this hands-on lobbying work I learnt more about how the NTEU works at the policymaking level through lobbying, in addition to its industrial and local organising functions. We worked in small groups visiting individual MPs and spoke to four specific issues. I mainly spoke with the MPs about academic workforce development focussing on the high levels of casualisation within

Bradley and Cutler Reviews The Bradley Review of Higher Education and the Cutler Review of Innovation identify the need for increased public investment to maintain high quality teaching, learning and research.

universities and how to make an academic career attractive to a new generation of PhD graduates. Hearteningly the MPs were very concerned about this issue and impressed by NTEU’s detailed and costed proposal for 1800 new subsidised Level B positions across all universities.

Susan Bandias, Charles Darwin University From an NT Division perspective the trip to Canberra was very worthwhile. The issues we presented to federal politicians were extremely relevant to the sustainability of higher education in the NT. Workforce development, the role of regional universities, social participation and inclusion and the need to increase indexation levels are

Our universities matter

INVESTING IN PEOPLE & SOCIETY

10

22 21

20.2

19 18 17 16

20.8 20.6 20.3 20.5

19.3

20 17.2

17.9

18.3 18.5

15.6

15 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Source: Universities Australia (2008)

The student : staff ratio is the indicator that most highlights the impact that declining levels of public investment have had on Australian universities. This has increased from 15.6 students per staff member to over 20 since 1996, an increase of more than 30% over the period.

vital to ensuring that HE sector in the NT can continue to meet the needs of their current and potential students.

Kelvin Michael, University of Tasmania The opportunity to approach a number of politicians and talk about our sector was invaluable – the responses were all encouraging and I felt that it had been a good investment of our time. After participating in this event, I will be more confident in lobbying other people. I think we all learned some useful ways of getting our point of view across. The best part was seeing my NTEU colleagues dressed up in suits. I expect that National Executive meetings will be far more sartorial in the future.

Our universities matter

INVESTING IN PEOPLE & SOCIETY

NTEU ADVOCATE

OUR UNIVERSITIES MATTER

Bradley recommendations

Photo: Paul Clifton

The Bradley Review of Australian Higher Education recognises this problem within the context of expanding Australia’s economic investment in its human resources. The Review recommends improving the overall participation rates in higher education (40% of 25-39 year olds by 2020), and emphasises expanding the involvement of low SES and Indigenous students.

Overcoming social disadvantage N

TEU is committed to ensuring that higher education is both affordable and equitable for all Australians. The Australian economy depends on universities producing highly skilled graduates that are able to meet changing labour market needs. If Australia is to secure its future in the context of the current global downturn, there must be investment in both physical and human infrastructure, including higher education.

However, the cost of attending university and insufficient student income support are significant disincentives. These pressures are particularly onerous on Indigenous students and students with low ‘socio-economic status’ (SES). Research shows these students to be significantly under-represented at Australian universities.

The goal of increasing the participation and success of students from disadvantaged

Rachel Bahl, ACU The lobbying trip provided a development opportunity for activists like me who were inexperienced with lobbying. We were able to gain some insight into the workings of Parliament.

Although I was only able to participate for some of the three days, I found it to be a valuable and enlightening experience.

We were provided with fantastic materials and support from the national office staff.

We had a visually captivating kit to leave with MPs and the National Office had also worked on securing as many appointments as possible with MPs.

Our universities matter

INVESTING IN PEOPLE & SOCIETY

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

NTEU is also concerned that students from disadvantaged backgrounds, with traditionally low participation rates in higher education, are also often discouraged from attending university simply because no-one in their family has ever done so. It is important such students are not dissuaded from pursuing higher education options before they even complete school or recognise their capabilities.

NTEU proposed a plan at the 2020 Summit Conference in which Indigenous students are mentored and supported in a dedicated pathway program commencing in Year 9. The program continues through their remaining school years, leading to a scholarship-supported, HECS-free place at a higher education institution.

The Union will continue to promote this plan in support of expanding Indigenous participation in higher education. A

backgrounds is based on a commitment to social inclusion and social justice principles, but also has significant social and economic benefits for society as a whole.

Participation in higher education plays a fundamental role in improving the long-term employment, health and economic opportunities of the individual as well as the broader community, and is integral to safeguarding Australia’s future.

Download a PDF of this briefing paper c www.nteu.org.au/campaigns/ouruniversitiesmatter/resources/factsheets

Len Palmer, Charles Sturt University It was a well-organised and well resourced exercise – especially in terms of the carefully crafted material given to the politicians we visited. I enjoyed the process and learned a good deal about the practices of parliamentary life and the lobbying role. I would like to do more and gain expertise, and can see that the use of ‘working staff’ in universities in lobbying has a strong appeal, especially for back-benchers. Many of us from NTEU are not union ‘heavies’ but lecturers and researchers and administrators actually suffering the conditions of university underfunding, casualisation etc.

Indigenous Pathway Program

Our first day opened with a training session with three speakers including Senator Trish Crossin. Amongst other things, Senator Crossin described the sort of material she likes left with her by lobbyists. I was very pleased to note that our kits for MPs satisfied her criteria.

It felt good to move the ‘Our Universities Matter’ campaign from what had been for me ‘posters and ideology’, into practical work with the aim of realising some of the Union’s funding and policy goals.

We wait to see what concrete outcomes arise from our efforts in the current economic climate, but we can be confident that we have all served our cause very well in this lobbying initiative. A

Our universities matter

INVESTING IN PEOPLE & SOCIETY 11

OUR UNIVERSITIES MATTER

Universities and regional economies

Photo: Giles Martin

Regional universities are in many cases the largest single employer within a region.

Research on the impact of regional universities indicates that there are significant multiplier effects from the direct income, expenditure and employment generated by a regional university.

Every dollar of income or every job directly attributable to a regional university is estimated to generate between two and three additional dollars of income or employment. These numbers exclude the impact of a number of metropolitan universities that also have a significant presence in regions, such as La Trobe University and Edith Cowan University.

Regional universities in their communities O

ur regional universities matter, because: • The opportunities they provide for students traditionally under-represented in our universities to access and participate in higher education.

• The contribution they make to regional economic activity through direct and indirect employment, and through participatory education and research undertaken with local industries and communities.

• They are an integral and significant part of the economic, social and cultural infrastructure of many of our regional communities.

Access and opportunities for disadvantaged students Regional universities play a critical role in implementing the Government’s ‘Social Inclusion’ agenda. Regional universities have higher enrolment levels of students from Indigenous and low socio-economic back-

grounds, and (not surprisingly) students from regional and remote Australia.

In 2007, Indigenous students accounted for 2.2% of all students studying at regional universities, compared to only 1% for other universities. Students from low socio-economic backgrounds accounted for 23.1% of all regional students, compared to 12.1% of the non-regional student population.

Research Regional universities are important drivers of their region’s economic and social development. They typically place a high priority on regionally focused and collaborative research, and provide local businesses, government and community groups with access to professional, technical and consulting services.

Knowledge exchange occurs through mechanisms such as business ‘incubators’, science and technology parks, staff and student secondments and placements, and exchanges between the local university and business or community groups. A Download a PDF of this briefing paper c www.nteu.org.au/campaigns/ ouruniversitiesmatter/resources/factsheets

Delivery of NTEU National Petition NTEU’s ‘Our Universities Matter’ National Petition was formally presented to the Government during a reception in the office of Senator Trish Crossin (ALP, NT) during the Union’s lobbying trip in March.A L-R: Senator Trish Crossin, Senator Gavin Marshall (ALP, Victoria), NTEU National President Dr Carolyn Allport, NTEU NSW Division Secretary Genevieve Kelly. Photo: Michael Evans

12

NTEU ADVOCATE

Gillard’s

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Fair Work Act What will it mean for NTEU members?

Photo: Jackie Des Jarlais

L

ate last year, the Federal Government introduced its Fair Work Bill, which it said was to end once and for all the previous Government’s unpopular WorkChoices legislation. Following a Report from a Senate Committee in February, the Government has been negotiating with the Greens and Independents in an attempt to get majority support in the Senate.

The Government has been under great pressure from the most conservative employers who are seeking to remove many important protections in the legislation.

An end to AWAs A centrepiece of Labor’s policy at the 2007 election was the abolition of individual Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs), which were used by employers to reduce conditions of employment and to undermine the capacity of employees to bargain collectively.

The Government has already abolished AWAs, but unfortunately it has replaced them with a new form of individual Agreement called an Individual Transitional Employment Agreement (ITEA), though these will be phased out after 2010.

Bargaining The most relevant changes for most NTEU members which will occur as a result of the new Fair Work Act will be the changed rules for bargaining.

One of the most significant changes will be the abolition of the ‘prohibited content rules’, which banned unions and employers from reaching agreement about a range of matters which in any other country are considered normal bargaining subjects – trade union training, the right of a union to be APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

involved in settling disputes, the negotiation of the next agreement, the terms on which work may be contracted-out.

These restrictions have been largely removed by Labor, but unfortunately it has retained the narrow concept of ‘matters pertaining to the employment relationship’, which restricts the capacity of unions to bargain about matters such as environmental protection.

Labor has also kept nearly all of WorkChoices restrictions on industrial action, with their cumbersome secret ballot procedures.

On the positive side, the new agency which will replace the Australian Industrial Relations Commission – Fair Work Australia – will have the power to make orders requiring parties to bargain in good faith, especially where it believes that a majority of employees want a Collective Agreement.

Unions will also have an automatic right to be at the bargaining table wherever they have a member.

Unfair dismissal rights The unfair dismissal provisions apply to all employees (including casuals and fixed term

employees) with two exceptions. The first exception is employees earning more than $100,000 who are not covered by an Award or Agreement, and the second is employees serving a qualifying period of 6 months (or 12 months in the case of employees working in a small business with less than 15 employees). The high income threshold exception is unlikely to apply to NTEU members as the overwhelming majority are covered by a Collective Agreement or Award.

The Act’s new unfair dismissal provisions represent a significant restoring of rights, particularly for casual employees, lost under WorkChoices. Employers will no longer be able to avoid an unfair dismissal claim by arguing the dismissal was for ‘operational reasons’ (as was the case under WorkChoices), but a genuine redundancy (meaning the employer no longer requires the work of the employee to be performed by anyone) will be considered to be a fair dismissal. A *At the time of printing, the Fair Work Bill was being introduced into the Senate. This report is based on the Bill at that time.

Robyn May and Ken McAlpine, National Industrial Officers 13

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Collective Bargaining 2009 – the race is on!

Australian National University

A

t NTEU’s National Elected Officers and Staff Conference, held on 13-14 February, delegates from each university and industrial and organising staff from around the country discussed the Union’s strategy for collective bargaining in 2009. Two days of spirited debate led to a core resolution setting out the parameters for bargaining in 2009-2011.

Those parameters include: • New 2009-2011 Agreements for every university.

• Acceleration of negotiations to reach new Agreements by April 2009.

• Preparations for industrial action where an Agreement is not reached.

• Revision of the three-year wage claim from 27% to 20% in light of the global economic crisis.

Since the decisions made at the Conference, Round 5 collective bargaining has developed a significant head of steam. Agreements have now been reached at four institutions; the main features of those Agreements are set out on this page.

University of Ballarat • • • • • • • • •

10.5% pay increase (Agreement to expire end 2009).

25% loading for casuals.

All casual marking separately paid.

Four Early Career Development Fellowships earmarked for long-term casuals.

17% superannuation for TAFE general staff (some currently on 9%).

Re-establishment of restrictions on fixed term contract employment.

Restoration of comprehensive procedures for unsatisfactory performance, misconduct and redundancy.

Increase to 15 the number Indigenous employees by end 2009.

Quantitative limits on workload for academic staff.

• 4.5% pay increase plus further increases to be negotiated (Agreement to expire June 2009).

• 25% loading for casuals, improved facilities and assistance to obtain ongoing employment.

• An increase in minimum pay entry point for casuals with a PhD. • Introduction of ‘Continuing (Contingent Funded) Employment’ for contract research staff, including similar entitlements to permanent staff and right to continue in the position.

• Re-establishment of restrictions on fixed term contract employment.

• Restoration of comprehensive procedures for unsatisfactory performance, misconduct and redundancy.

• Improved parental leave and other leave provisions.

University of Western Australia • 6% pay increase (Agreement to expire end 2009).

• No net job losses for the life of the Agreement.

• Ongoing contingent funded employment for research contract staff with similar entitlements to permanent staff.

• Re-establishment of restrictions on fixed term contract employment.

• Re-establishment of Union nominees on disciplinary and other committees.

• Regulation of workloads.

• An increase in minimum pay entry point for casuals with a PhD and improvement in access to facilities.

• Targets for Indigenous employment.

• Re-establishment of Union role in communications with staff.

Charles Darwin University • 13% pay increase (Agreement to expire end 2009).

• An increase in the casual loading to 25%.

• Re-establishment of restrictions on fixed term contract employment.

• An Indigenous employment target of 5%.

• Restoration of the integrity of the procedures for discipline and termination.

• Restoration of effective dispute resolution procedures.

• Re-instatement of the role of the Union.

Photo: Paul Clifton

14

NTEU ADVOCATE

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Bargaining for job security at La Trobe W

ith the Bradley Review finding that precarious employment drives postgraduate students away from research careers in Australian universities, the time is right for action. La Trobe NTEU Branch has taken this opportunity to make job security for contract research staff a priority in collective bargaining. A strong case has been made for a round of conversions to ongoing employment and the idea is gaining support around the University.

The University employs 240 researchers on fixed-term contracts. The common excuse for denying these people secure employment is that, as the grants which fund their work are limited in length, so must be their tenure. However, with more than a third of contract researchers at La Trobe having over four years continuous service – and some as much as 20 – there is clearly scope for greater permanency.

If year-in, year-out these people are making a contribution to La Trobe’s research effort and reputation, why should they labour under the inferior conditions and uncertainty of contract work?

Industrial action reaps early results

T

he Union’s industrial action campaign has had early results: in recent weeks, ongoing action planned at Victoria University (VU) has been called off due to progress made in bargaining. The Union is hopeful that an Agreement at VU will soon be added to the list of finalised Agreements.

At the University of Sydney, an application for a protected action ballot has been approved, and action is being planned, which has led to management proposing scheduling of intensive ‘lock down’ negotiations to try to reach a quick Agreement.

These excellent early outcomes promise an exciting start to negotiations for new Agreements at other Australian universities, and bode well for the pay and conditions of Australian university staff. Watch this space! A

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

What’s the problem?

The campaign at La Trobe University is being driven by bargaining team members Associate Professor Rhonda Small and Dr Sean Slavin who work as contract researchers. As they consulted with members working in research units and facilities, details of the problems caused by precarious employment emerged, including: • Employees with years of continuous service being refused home loans by banks because their current contract only lasts 12 months.

• Loss of entitlements through breaks in service, particularly for childbirth.

• Arbitrary assignment of staff as academic or general sometimes based on cost alone.

• Lack of clarity about the basis for classification or promotion, with promotion often seen as a liability as staff become more expensive to employ.

• Lack of opportunity for self-directed research.

At an NTEU meeting of contract research staff last September anger at their secondclass treatment bubbled over.

‘Not only do I have to do the research, but there are all the other jobs for the university, which I’m not reimbursed for,’ remarked one senior research fellow.

‘Then I have to find my own salary. Fellowships are few and far between, which leaves me having to cobble together a living from different sources. There’s no time to think strategically about my career – I go for the money I think I can get,’ he added.

What is to be done?

The Union proposes: • The University invite applications for a single round of conversions to ongoing employment where the staff member has been successful in attracting, and is likely to continue to attract, research funding.

• If such funding is not forthcoming, the staff member be supported with bridging funding for a period or redeployed to other projects.

• Research staff be eligible to apply for OSP leave in the same way as teaching staff, to write up completed projects, develop new proposals and seek further funding.

• Breaks in service due to lapse of funds and maternity leave be removed.

The bridging fund concept is designed to cover periods when continuing research staff may not have grant funds available to cover their salaries. The University would establish a central fund to cover such contingencies. Bridging periods may usefully be spent applying for further grants, writing articles or taking study leave.

Recognising that research is a team pursuit, the Union maintains that the conversion round should be open to employees on all classifications including general staff.

Making the case Late last year, the University convened a forum of research heads and senior management to hear more about our claim.

Vice-Chancellor, Paul Johnson opened proceedings and spoke eloquently about the need for greater job security for researchers.

He described the much better conditions for research staff who work in the UK. Our bargaining team members presented a paper to the forum with details about the real costs to the University of insecure employment.

The Branch continues to raise awareness of the claim among research staff and recently launched a short online video (available at www.nteu.org.au/latrobe).

The dangers of precarious employment among researchers are widely acknowledged. With a well thought-out proposal, the NTEU La Trobe Branch is hopeful of making real progress in this area during the current bargaining round. A La Trobe NTEU Branch 15

DENTAL EDUCATION

Crunch time for dental school in Australia Leonie M Short, Senior Lecturer, School of Dentistry and Oral Health, Griffith University

Photo: Steve Doria, www.flickr.com/photos/ickypic

16

W

hen Griffith University in Queensland opened its doors to dental students in February 2004, it was the first new dental school in Australia for 57 years. Most people were sceptical that it would work. As history will record, five years later, the first dentists graduated from a fully accredited program on the Gold Coast on 19 December 2008.

When the School of Dentistry and Oral Health started in October 2003, the task of recruiting experienced dental academics was a difficult one. There is a worldwide shortage of dental academics where the requirements of PhDs, research grants and publications for staff are not matched with salaries anywhere near what they can garner as specialists or general dentists in the private sector. Consequently, the academics for Griffith University have been recruited from South Africa, Thailand, India, Germany, the United Kingdom and other dental schools around Australia.

What exacerbated the recruitment process was the commencement of other new Dental Schools in Australia, namely La Trobe University (first intake in 2006), Charles Sturt University (first intake in 2009) and James Cook University (first intake in 2009), and the University of Newcastle (Dental Hygiene only).

Nobody could have foreseen such a massive growth in this discipline. However, infrastructure grants from the Victoria Government assisted La Trobe ($40m) whilst the Federal Government assisted Charles Sturt ($65m) and James Cook ($70m). It is hoped that the emergence of dental schools in regional and rural areas will encourNTEU ADVOCATE

DENTAL EDUCATION age more graduates to stay in these areas to practice in order to address the shortage and maldistribution of oral health professionals across Australia.

The growth in the numbers of academic and general staff being employed in dental schools offers opportunities for NTEU to establish a firm base with comparable workloads and conditions for its members. From my experience in Griffith University, I have identified a number of issues which need to be addressed when establishing a new dental school.

Learning and teaching Academics new to the tertiary environment or new to teaching in Australia require support and assistance in learning and teaching practices in Australia. This can be achieved in-house but academics need the time to attend orientation programs (Holyfield and Berry, 2008) and short courses in teaching, student assessment, intellectual property, copyright, course administration and curriculum development. This should preferably be completed before academics start teaching and convening courses.

Mentoring Recently appointed academic staff members need mentoring1 by more experienced academics in terms of teaching and learning practices, university committees and processes, clinical procedures and protocols, intramural clinical practice, the patient management system and links with the District Health Service and Hospital.

The more the academics know, the faster it will be for them to navigate their way around the large and complex systems of health and education in Australia.

Resettlement Recently appointed academic staff members and their families from an overseas country should be offered support on their settlement to a foreign country. Advice and assistance in getting a driver’s license, opening a bank account, buying a house and selecting a school for their children are important decisions for anyone who has immigrated to Australia to start a new life.

The easier and quicker these tasks are completed, or decisions are made, then the easier it will be for new staff to concentrate fully on their academic appointments. Training for all faculty members in cultural competence or diversity awareness should be provided in order to improve harmony among all people1.

Professional issues Recently appointed academic staff members need mentoring1 into the dental profession by more experienced academics in terms of registration, professional indemnity insurance, professional associations, continuing professional development, Medicare, private health insurance and introductions to professional colleagues at the local and national levels.

Being accepted and respected by your peers is crucial for any professional and important for the legitimacy and credibility of the dental school.

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

Workloads Workloads have traditionally been higher in dental schools in Australia when compared with other schools. Owing to requirements of safe and competent clinical performance of students, semesters can be 20 weeks in duration (not the standard 13 weeks) and clinical sessions can be rostered in the evenings and on Saturdays. Workloads of 25 hours contact per week for 18–20 weeks per semester are expected, compared with 8 hours in other schools.

Medical schools do have similar long semesters of 20 weeks per semester, however the load is eased considerably as the majority of the clinical experience is outsourced to District Hospitals and General Medical Practitioner practices. Moreover, medical curricula with a problem-based learning educational philosophy are able to employ a large number of the facilitators who are not medically qualified to supplement the ranks of academic staff.

Reasonable workloads are necessary in order to allocate time for academics to undertake post-graduate study, take study leave, conduct research, write for publication, and meet ‘recency of practice’ and continuing professional development (CPD) requirements for registration.

Clinical loadings Under the Higher Education Academic Salaries Award 2002, clinical loadings are provided for medically and dentally registered full-time academics. However, the loading is $20,000 for academics who are medically registered but only $10,000 for academics who are dentally registered. Furthermore, only University of Adelaide pays the loading to registered dentists, dental therapists and dental hygienists – all other universities only pay registered dentists the clinical loading.

The amount and availability of clinical loadings is a significant inducement for recruitment and retention of dental academics in Australia. It was for this very reason that NTEU and management of the University of Adelaide reached agreement to increase the clinical loading for dental academics to that of the clinical loading for medical academics in December 2003.

School viability The time and effort taken to mentor and assist new academic staff in dental schools should not be underestimated. Moreover, without a successful recruitment and retention strategy, the viability of dental schools in Australia will be tenuous.

Academic and general staff members in dental schools should also be encouraged to be active members of the NTEU. This strategy is proving to be very successful at Griffith University and could be emulated at La Trobe, Charles Sturt, Newcastle and James Cook. In order to meet their specific needs, a couple of specific issues need to be taken into account when negotiating for the Academic Staff Union Collective Agreement 2009–2011.

The first of these is equitable workloads and the second is equitable clinical loadings. The successful negotiation of these two issues could mean crunch time for dental schools in Australia. A 1. Holyfield, L J & Berry, C W (2008) ‘Designing an Orientation Program for New Faculty’, Journal of Dental Education, 72, 1531-1543

17

special feature

Members affected by savage Victorian bushfires T

he bushfires of 7 February touched tens of thousands of Victorians, including many NTEU members. Over 200 people lost their lives, hundreds were injured, and thousands lost their homes, businesses and workplaces.

Several NTEU members were affected, their homes and property burned. Tragically, one NTEU member, Dr Richard Zann, and his family were amongst those who died. We are also aware that a number of university and TAFE staff were also affected, as were several students.

Like all Victorians, university and TAFE staff and NTEU members opened their hearts and extended a helping hand to those affected.

Colleagues, neighbours, friends and strangers touched by the fires received help, aid and accommodation from across the higher education sector.

entitled to special leave arrangements. NTEU can also provide advice on support services available from the university or government.

NTEU members experiencing financial hardship may be eligible for a waiver for their membership dues. Please contact the Victorian Division for more information.

NTEU encourages its members to continue to dig deep. Donations can be made through the Red Cross (www.redcross.org.au).

Maurice Blackburn legal firm, an NTEU membership benefits partner, has offered to provide free legal advice to union members affected by the bushfires who are experiencing difficulties with under-insurance, and rights to benefits. Please call John Berrill, Principal of the Maurice Blackburn Insurance & Superannuation Department on (03) 9605 2742.

As the Victorian Royal Commission into the bushfires gets underway, it is timely to consider the role that research can play in helping prevent future devastating fires.

Research into sustainable development, climate change mitigation and more effective scientific burn-offs are just some of the areas that universities can help with. A

Fire starting near the town of Churchill.

The generosity, friendship and compassion of those working in the higher education sector was plain to see in the days after 7 February.

NTEU Branch offices and the Division office received calls from concerned staff asking about their colleagues, or wanting to know how they could help.

On 11 February, NTEU National Executive resolved to donate $10,000 to the Red Cross Bush Fire Appeal. This donation is in addition to donations made by individual NTEU branches.

The Victorian Division advises that members affected by the bushfires should contact their local branch, or the Division office to discuss how the Union can assist. Members who are CFA volunteers may be 18

Above and next page: After-affects of the bushfire at the property of John Arkinstall, NTEU member at Monash University. All photos courtesy of John Arkinstall.

NTEU ADVOCATE

special feature

In memory of Dr Richard Zann 27 November 1944 – 7 February 2009

R

ichard Zann, who perished tragically with his wife Eileen and daughter Eva in the recent Kinglake fires, was a highly respected teacher and ornithologist with an international reputation for his work on bird behaviour.

Richard joined the Department of Zoology at La Trobe University in 1972, following an Honours degree in Zoology from the University of New England and PhD at the University of Queensland under the mentorship of Jiro Kikkawa.

His thesis studies probed aspects of the evolution of behaviour and vocalisation in grassfinches, setting his perspective to a combination of penetrating field studies and patient and disciplined laboratory investigation that were to characterise his career, and to mould the attitudes of his graduate and honours students over the ensuing 36 years.

Richard became a leading authority on the Zebra Finch, one of the most popular birds in aviculture and which had paralleled canaries and the budgerigar in being domesticated and producing numerous colour variants. It had also become very popular for experimental studies on behaviour. However, rather little was known about this key species in the wild, and Richard initiated long-term field studies to settle theoretical questions about ‘how the Zebra Finch worked’ in its natural environment, as vital background to making sense of laboratory studies published in many parts of the world. Additionally, he was able to pose further probing questions for investigation. Richard was particularly interested in the development of song, and his early finding that young males learned much of their song from their father during a critical period of development had far-reaching implications in the wider arena of kin recognition and learning.

His string of research papers in the leading journals in his discipline led to his magnum opus, a 335 page monograph on the Zebra Finch published by Oxford University Press, and integrating

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

his own work firmly into the massive corpus of earlier literature – rightly, it has become a classic. In recent years, he had extended his research interests into the sound repertoire of another amazing Australian bird, the lyre bird.

When the then Professor of Zoolology, Ian Thornton, initiated a series of expeditions to investigate the biota and colonisation patterns of the Krakatau archipelago in the early 1980s, Richard was a ‘natural’ to lead investigations on the birds, and later coordinated the vertebrate data from this important research exercise in biogeography very effectively. His citation for the award of the D.L. Serventy Medal of Birds Australia for 1998 included tribute to his significant contributions toward knowledge of Zebra Finches and Krakatau.

However, Richard was not simply a cloistered researcher. He was a dedicated family-man devoted to his wife Eileen and children Christopher and Eva. Generations of undergraduate students have followed his lectures and laboratory classes, and his high rankings from student surveys reveal the respect and liking that a good teacher can foster. He had an unusually perceptive appreciation of statistics and was THE first person to whom many graduate students took their problems in experimental design and analysis – his patient advice, sometimes involving considerable time and effort, was always given willingly and improved the quality of research well beyond his immediate spheres of interest. A Professor Timothy New, Department of Zoology, La Trobe University

19

INTERNATIONAL

cold comfort The effect of the global economic crisis on higher education in Iceland

Ingjaldur Hannibalsson, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Iceland, Reykjavik

A

t the beginning of the Twentieth Century, Iceland was one of the poorest countries in the world. The GDP per capita is estimated to have been 50 per cent of that of Denmark. The living standard was generally worse than in many African countries today.

In 1901, almost 70 per cent of the labour force were employed in agriculture and fisheries. By 2007, only 7.6 per cent (of a labour force of 305,000) worked in agriculture and fisheries, 19.4 per cent in manufacturing and construction, and 73 per cent in services both public and private.

By 2007, the GNI per capita had risen to US$33,960 (adjusted by purchasing power parity), while a comparable figure for the US was US$45,850 and for Denmark US$36,300. But in 2008, the Icelandic economy collapsed.

In one hundred years, Iceland had been transformed from a poor rural country to a modern city state with a services-based economy.

Snowman in front of the University of Iceland. Photo: Skyler Shepard,www.flickr.com/photos/awskylershepard 20

NTEU ADVOCATE

INTERNATIONAL

Impact on university staff Economic crisis By 2007, the assets and liabilities of Iceland’s financial system were more than fifteen times the GDP of Iceland. During 2008, the Icelandic currency got weaker and finally in early October 2008 the Icelandic economy collapsed.

The value of the currency (ISK) plummeted. The three major banks, two of which had been created by privatising state-owned banks a few years earlier, were re-nationalised. During the months that have passed, the Treasury of Iceland has become very indebted after having been almost debt-free. The International Monetary Fund, with the assistance of several European Central banks, has come to the rescue and guaranteed the Icelandic Treasury loans to rebuild the economy.

The Government’s income has plummeted, unemployment is growing and many firms and families are approaching bankruptcy.

Higher education has suffered from the crisis as have all sectors of society in Iceland. Early in October 2008, the proposed Budget for 2009 was presented in Parliament. The total funding of higher education in 2009 was to increase by 20.6 per cent over the 2008 Budget.

The estimated inflation between 2008 and 2009 is 15 per cent which means that the institutions of higher education expected a 5 per cent real increase in their budgets for 2009.

When the State Budget was approved by Parliament in December, the proposed funding for higher education institutions had been cut by 5 per cent. In real terms these institutions will have approximately the same funding as in 2008, although the number of students was expected to increase by 5 per cent in 2009.

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

In the case of the University of Iceland, the budget for 2009 is 10 per cent lower than what was proposed in October 2008. The University Council decided to increase the teaching load of the oldest full professors to the same level as that of the younger ones, to reduce overtime payments to staff, to postpone upgrading of computers and other equipment, to reduce financial support to academic staff on sabbatical leave abroad and to reduce substantially foreign travel.

At the same time it was decided to accept applications from students who wanted to start their studies in January.

The University received 1,600 applications and of those admitted, 1,300 registered for the spring (January) semester. As a result, the number of students is already 15 per cent higher than in 2008.

The number of applications for the autumn (September) semester of 2009 is expected to be higher than ever before. In March 2009 unemployment has exceeded 8 per cent with more than 14,000 out of work. Those graduating with undergraduate degrees in the spring are expected to apply for graduate programmes as few of them will be able to get jobs upon graduation.

Already some people with master’s degrees have returned to the University to study for a second master’s degree. Traditionally the University of Iceland has not offered a summer programme and most students have worked during the summer. This year getting a summer job will be very difficult and the University is being pressured to offer a summer programme in order to help students become eligible for student loans during the summer.

So far staff and students at the University of Iceland are coping well with the difficulties, but worse is still to come. It is expected that Budget cuts in 2010 will be greater than those in 2009 and without doubt they will hit higher education hard. A 21

INTERNATIONAL

Skills training in Aceh U

nion Aid Abroad–APHEDA has been working in Aceh since the 2004 earthquake and tsunami. Over the last three years, a huge amount has been achieved by our project partners in the region, particularly in the area of vocational skills training and incomegeneration.

Projects have included building a vocational training centre for women affected by the tsunami and the conflict in Aceh, training hundreds of people in a wide range of vocational skills, and developing sustainable income-generating collectives.

In the last year, the Aceh team has been busy working with our local partners to implement projects funded by Progetto Sviluppo (the Italian labour movement’s development organisation) along the west coast of Aceh. The women and men who participate in the training activities learn skills such as bread making, organic fertiliser production, how to make traditional Acehnese wedding decorations, tailoring and embroidery, sewing machine maintenance and repair and motorbike repair.

They also learn about training methodology so that they can pass these skills on to other people in their communities. Participants learn about community development and small business management with the aim of developing more sustainable project activities.

In the second half of 2008, Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA continued to work at the vocational training centre in Meulaboh, West Aceh, built with assistance from Volkshilfe, the Austrian trade union movement’s overseas aid arm.

Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA’s local partner, An-Nisa, manages the training centre and runs the training courses. An-Nisa runs a number of activities to make the centre sustainable in the long term, such as catering training, establishing a catering business as a source of income for the training centre, setting up a showroom for promoting the products produced by women assisted by the project, and developing a market garden on the grounds of the training centre. A Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA c www.apheda.org.au 22

A program participant inspecting the group’s organic fertiliser

SNAPSHOT

When the infamous Westboro Baptist Church brought their freak show to the University of Chicago in February, staff joined the student body in a myriad of counter-protests and celebrations of pride and diversity. Their voice was heard loud and clear with the slogan ‘Many identities, one community.’

As the church members passed the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity house, male students unfurled a sign reading ‘Straight Huggin: No tolerance for intolerance’ and danced in their underwear to Diana Ross’s disco anthem I’m Coming Out. During the celebration, students raised over $500 for the Broadway Youth Center, which provides health services for the LGBTQ community and also collected signatures on a petition supporting the overturning of California’s proposition outlawing gay marriage.

Photo: Avi Schwab, www.flickr.com/photos/froboy

NTEU ADVOCATE

regional focus

JENNY AUSTIN

Spill the beans on university mismanagement I

’d like to think that by the time this column goes to print, the management of universities around Australia will have demonstrated they are prepared to seriously negotiate Collective Agreements with their staff representatives.

Present indications are that they will, however, continue to stonewall on better working conditions for staff in some ill-advised attempt to continue the 20th Century workplace conditions of the Howard-era, even though an entire nation has moved on.

So it’s time we got tough with the university administration in Australia and it’s time we convinced the Rudd Government, who we largely elected, to pull them into line.

To do that, we need to engage the community much more effectively in our struggle, and that would involve exposing the elephant in the room – the decreasing quality of education being delivered to domestic and international students at greater cost than ever before.

Frankly, the general public won’t ever be interested in our working conditions until they understand the connection between the internal management of universities and the product (for education is now considered a product) that they’re paying for.

Expose their incompetency…

You’re aware of incidents at your universities which demonstrate the incompetency of management, so get out there and start telling your neighbours and friends what’s really going on.

Attempts by university management to limit representation of staff by their union, for example, demonstrates old-style university management clinging to outmoded agendas. How confident can the general public be in education administered by obsolete management?

Another example is management’s determination to continue with unlimited casualisation of the workforce with its lack of job security and virtually no prospect of career advancement or professional development for the majority of staff. This wasteful attitude to a valuable human resource was most clearly demonstrated recently by the University of Canberra, with its plan to outsource 50 administrative jobs to India, but there are many other examples.

Despite the dedication of teaching, research and general staff, they too are human, and can only take on so much extra (often unpaid) work before their enthusiasm and interest in students wanes or they buckle under the pressure.

And despite the rhetoric, there’s virtually no succession planning for the departure of an ageing workforce which has already begun.

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

At the last round of bargaining, under the threat of the Howard Government withholding funding, university management succeeded in taking rights from our Collective Agreement and putting them into individual management policies and, thereafter, ignoring them.

When challenged on this at the current bargaining table, university management has agreed in almost all cases that the policies are not working as they should but they still resist putting them back into our Collective Agreements, arguing against what they uniformly term as ‘too much prescriptive detail’.

…and challenge their credibility Those admissions by management that they are not managing well, but don’t want to improve, need to be brought to the public’s and the Government’s collective attention, along with numerous other examples of their lack of credibility.

For example, most universities now claim to be pursuing a policy of sustainability, or some level of improved environmental management including the reduction of their carbon footprint. Yet the management of most universities expect both academic and general staff to continue notching up hundreds, in some cases thousands, of miles of travel between campuses.

Also, the demand that continuing academics attend campus five days a week while boasting at the same time about new technologies to provide greater opportunities for distance education would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.

Despite those claims about 21st Century delivery, most university management workload models tend to favour the old-fashioned lecture format despite all the research recommending much more interactive and student-led models.

All we’ve really heard from management is ‘what works for us’ but it’s time we stopped silently endorsing their credibility to attract more senior, ‘high-quality’ staff, and subsequently more students, when they clearly don’t value the contribution of the staff they already have. A Jenny Austin is a Publications Officer and media tutor at SCU, Lismore, NSW

23

UNIVERSITIES newsOUR from the net MATTER PAT WRIGHT

iPhone, uTube, weR1 O

ver the years of the digital revolution there has been an increasing emphasis on the communications capabilities of the Information and Communications Technologies, or ICTs. Sure, IT is still the new steel in industry, but Comms – and multi-modal Comms, as in social networking sites – is the new world for industry, including universities and unions.

their students. Internationally, there are more than two million active Text was transmitted electronically one-way through wires with users of Google Apps currently. morse code. Voice calls were transmitted two-way through wires Another facility which is increasingly used by universities is Google with the telephone. Text was exchanged and stored asynchronously Groups. This allows a convenor, such as a lecturer, to set up an online through telex and email. Voice calls were stored asynchronously discussion forum and invite others, such as students, to subscribe to at each end of a communication on answering machines. Text was the forum and use its email distribution system, comment on other enhanced with images and transmitted through fax machines. With postings, and upload files. Many web services offer similar facilities. digitisation of all of these communications, text, voice and images, The best for university purposes is probably EdNA – Education Netboth still and moving, can be transmitted and stored, and thus made work Australia (www.groups.edna.edu.au), where discussions, polls available, synchronously or asynchronously, to everyone on the and multiple-choice quizzes can Internet – the ultimate In-Group. be conducted. Of course, most The iPhone, now with 3G capaAustralian universities have their bilities in Australia, symbolises ...there is an argument for verified sites own web learning services based this technological convergence. to be issued along with, or instead of, on BlackBoard or WebCT, but stuIt is both a mobile telephone, a degree parchments on graduation. dents can have more autonomy on personal digital assistant, an mp3 outside facilities. recorder and player and a handThe most popular facility for stuheld computer with internet capadent expression, of course, is YouTube, the video file-sharing facility, bilities all in one device. True, many other smart-phones do all this, in conjunction with one of the Social Networking sites such as Facetoo – some even do some of them better – but none have quite the Book or MySpace, These services allow users to establish their own same cachet as a status symbol – hence the price. homepages, upload images, soundfiles and videoclips to them, and The ways in which one can use an iPhone go way beyond the invite others to become ‘friends’ and exchange communications. Vidmobile telephone and computer because of the more than 15,000 eoclips are easily recorded with a webcam and uploaded to YouTube applications, many of them free, which can be loaded onto the for linking to the personal webpage. Such Social Networking permits device. Such functions as a spirit level, pedometer, weightwatcher, multi-modal communication synchronously or asynchronously. weather forecaster and newsfeeder provide ‘extensions of man’, as Some enlightened Australian universities are making available Marshall McLuhan once said. The most frequently-used applications, social networking sites, at least for their graduates, who are able to however, would be email, calendar and contacts, as Microsoft Outlook construct an online curriculum vitae and resume for job search purterms them, and the iPhone (and most other smart-phones) can synposes. Employment agencies and employers can thus search the ‘net chronise them with your desktop PC. in their recruitment drives, rather than wasting weeks on advertising Thus, anyone with such a smart-phone can keep in touch with and calling for applications. Indeed, there is an argument for verified friends, colleagues and workmates on the move 24/7. Of course, sites to be issued along with, or instead of, degree parchments on one can be reached by anyone as well as reach anyone whenever the graduation. Much the same could be said for secondary school cerdevice is in one’s possession and switched on, but the discretion lies tificates, to assist young people in their search for employment. with the possessor.

The latest social networking site of likely interest to NTEU members Similar capabilities can be provided without needing to purchase is UnionBook (www.unionbook.org), set up by Eric Lee of LabourStart a 3G smart-phone through using Google Apps (or Applications). fame. This site is advertising-free and is specifically designed for trade Google can provide webmail, calendar, contacts, and even instant unionists. It provides facilities for Groups and Blogs, and space for messaging to ordinary mobiles through Google Apps online. In this your own homepage. Such a social networking site promotes interway, students, for example, can access the applications from any national solidarity – On the ‘net, we are One. A internet-connected computer without needing to purchase a dediPat Wright is Director of the Centre for Labour Research at the University of Adelaide. cated device. This approach is becoming known as cloud computemail: pat.wright@adelaide.edu.au ing because the applications are ‘up in the clouds’ rather than on the desktop. Several Australian universities are providing Google Apps for 24

NTEU ADVOCATE

lowering the boom

IAN LOWE

OUR UNIVERSITIES MATTER

Washington an unwelcome detour on the journey from Rome to Zurich D

uring the Howard years, we had a Prime Minister who showed little sign of having read anything more philosophical than Liberal Party focus group analysis. So it is a pleasant shock to find in Kevin Rudd a PM who has written a thoughtful article for The Monthly about the state of the world. I think he is only about half right in his analysis of the current crisis, but that is also a significant advance on his predecessor.

and food security. So our response must involve, as US President Most observers now see that the extreme pre-Keynesian economObama realises, structural changes to slow down global warming ics espoused by Reagan and Thatcher has failed in economic terms. and prepare for reduced availability of oil. Even the International The global financial crisis has exposed once and for all the folly of Energy Agency, until recently predicting increasing use of coal, oil governments leaving the economy to Adam Smith’s invisible hand. and nuclear power, is now saying that the future demands ‘nothing That much is easy. Associating Howard and Costello with flat-Earth short of an energy revolution’. economics is superficially appealing, especially given their industrial Rather than cash hand-outs to encourage consumption or greater relations record and their refusal to accept climate science. subsidies to big polluters, we must invest in clean renewable energy But they also sprayed money around like drunken sailors in their supply and improving the efficiency of using energy. We should redesperate attempt to be re-elected, making the overall assessment of build our economy around the future growth industries, rather than their economic record slightly more complicated. Rudd’s comments propping up energy-intensive production of low-value commodion their economic management probably owe more to electoral polities. So we need to invest heavily tics than serious analysis. in the education of our workforce While the ‘Washington consenand the sorts of research that will sus’ is exposed for its economic The [Club of Rome’s ‘Limits to Growth’] allow us to play a constructive role shortcomings, it had a more serious report showed that trends of growth in the low-carbon economy of the consequence. That ideology prein human population, resource use, future. vented for thirty years a concerted The recent statements by the reaction to the warnings in the Club agricultural production, industrial output Science Minister, Senator Kim Carr, of Rome’s Limits to Growth: continuand pollution would see us reach limits by are hopeful. But there is no sign ing 1970s growth trends would prothe middle of the 21st Century. that the Government will make the duce the drastic situation we now sorts of investments in research, face. innovation and workforce skills That report was belittled at the needed to make us a modern knowledge economy. With tens of biltime by politicians and economists, most of whom clearly never read lions of public money to throw around, we should be directing the the document but relied on simplistic media accounts. The report funds to position us for the 21st Century. showed that trends of growth in human population, resource use, The extreme failure is the proposed response to climate change. agricultural production, industrial output and pollution would see us The proposal before the Senate would reward the carbon-intensive reach limits by the middle of the 21st Century. The most likely result, industries who have done little since the 1997 Kyoto conference to it concluded, would be a decline in natural and social systems in the accept the new reality; if they had spent as much time and energy early decades of this century. Recent CSIRO analysis has compared cleaning up their industries as they spent lobbying Canberra for spethe business-as-usual future modelled by the Club of Rome with cial treatment, we would be well on the way to our target. Having thirty years of data. It shows that we are right on track for the proprofited from our past generosity, they are now claiming that the hard jected decline. economic times prevent them from adapting. This rivals for chutzpah The financial crisis began with the US sub-prime mortgage debathe apocryphal story of the young man who murdered his parents cle. This was precipitated by the impact on US suburbia of fuel prices, and appealed for mercy because he was an orphan! the first tangible indicator of ‘peak oil’. More generally, the crisis can The Washington consensus is clearly dead, but dancing on its be sheeted home to the failure of economists and politicians to recgrave is not good enough. Kevin Rudd should embrace the emerging ognise that there are biophysical limits to human activity, leading ‘Zurich consensus’ – an integrated approach to secure our future. That them to assume that growth could continue for ever. That house of demands a massive investment in education and research. A cards has now collapsed.

Ian Lowe is Emeritus Professor of Science, Technology and Society Even such conservative bodies as the World Economic Forum are at Griffith University. now going further than Kevin Rudd, arguing that we need an integrated approach to climate change, peak oil, the financial crisis, water APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

25

INDIGENOUS NEWS

Change of name for ITEPC to Indigenous Policy Committee

Apology: 1 year on

N

TEU’s Indigenous Tertiary Education Policy Committee (ITEPC) has announced a name change and will now be known as the Indigenous Policy Committee, with the slightly less tongue-tying acronym of ‘IPC’.

The established role and responsibilities of the Indigenous Policy Committee will continue, as will the membership structure of the committee. A

Indigenous Forum provides value N

TEU Indigenous Forum 2008, held over two days in early December, was a great success. A total of 46 Indigenous members, NTEU Officers and staff participated in the combined meeting and training session.

Indigenous Forum provides an excellent opportunity for Indigenous members to provide their input into the further development of Indigenous policy in the Union, as well as participating in training sessions on Indigenous employment strategies and developing local campaigns.

A number of motions were tabled and passed at Forum, including: • Indigenous participation on the ERA panel.

• Review of guidelines and funding for the ITAS tutor funding program.

• ITEPC change of name to the Indigenous Policy Committee (IPC).

Feedback from participants states that Indigenous Forum was exceptionally valuable for Indigenous members and gave the wider Indigenous membership a chance to provide input in policy, as well as obtain quality training and fantastic networking opportunities. A

T

he Rudd Government’s 2008 Apology to members of the Stolen Generation was a significant and historic episode in the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Now known as Sorry Day, 13 February marks a turning point and sets a new path toward reconciliation and healing for Indigenous community members who were removed from their families – in some cases never to be reunited.

Education unions celebrated the anniversary by holding a breakfast function. Approximately 50 officers and staff from NTEU, Australian Education Union and the Independent Education Union commemorated this important occasion and listened to Indigenous and non-Indigenous speakers, including NTEU President Carolyn Allport, Wayne Costello (Federal Aboriginal Education Officer, AEU) and Cathy Hickey (Victorian Independent Education Union).

Adam Frogley, NTEU National Indigenous Officer, was MC for the event.

Wayne Costello (pictured above) gave a passionate speech sharing his family’s story of forced removal, the pain and loss they experienced and how this disconnection from family affected him personally.

While it is important to mark this significant event, we must all continue to strive for better social justice and educational outcomes for Indigenous communities. Education is the key and will provide a pathway to close the gap and give greater opportunities to the next generation of Indigenous leaders. A

Delegates at the 2008 Indigenous Forum. Photos: Paul Clifton 26

NTEU ADVOCATE

INDIGENOUS NEWS

EI Indigenous Seminar T

he Education International (EI) Indigenous Seminar was held in Melbourne on 6 December 2008. It was attended by approximately 100 delegates, representing 25 trade union organisations from 15 countries.

A traditional Welcome to Country was given by Boonerwrung Elder, Aunty Carolyn Briggs, followed by official seminar welcomes from NTEU General Secretary Grahame McCulloch, AEU Federal Secretary Lee Cooper, IPC Chair Terry Mason and Tracey Bunda at Susan Hopgood and the EI Indigenous Seminar.

IEUA Federal Secretary Chris Watt.

Susan Hopgood, who is also EI Vice-President, gave the keynote address on ‘Global perspective on key issues for Indigenous peoples in education unions’, noting that: Language is considered to be the cornerstone of culture and the ultimate expression of belonging, as it is through the language that culture is shared and transmitted. The non-recognition and the prohibition of the use of Indigenous languages in the education system and work place have impacted negatively on the lives of many Indigenous Peoples. It has affected them from childhood to adulthood, has limited them in the creation of their own unique multi-identities and has frustrated the development of their communities.

Education and justice A panel discussion on ‘Quality education and social justice’ followed the keynote address, with a distinguished panel of speakers including Associate Professor Tracey Bunda, Flinders University; Govind Singh, General Secretary of the Council of Pacific Education (COPE); and Lee Cooper, Te Awhina Arahi, Maori Officer, Association of University Staff, New Zealand.

Each of the members gave their insights on the future of Indigenous education across the globe, speaking with great passion on the challenges and how best to confront and overcome the barriers that face Indigenous students, educators, unions and governments.

NTEU presents Howard Guille Indigenous Scholarships

W

hat to do with $6,600 awarded to NTEU after the CQUniversity Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Rickard breached the Collective Agreement by failing to consult with 200 affected employees about job cuts?

The CQU branch decided to establish six scholarships of $1,000 each to support Indigenous students continue their post graduate study.

Former Queensland Division Secretary, Howard Guille, presented the scholarships named in his honour at the Nulloo Yumbah awards night held at the Dreamtime Cultural Centre, Rockhampton. John Fitzsimmons, CQU Branch President described Howard as ‘not just a champion of the worker – he championed many causes but none dearer to his heart than the plight of Indigenous Australians’.

Howard said he was humbled he was to present these scholarships named in his honour. He drew attention to the new Federal student target to increase the share of Australians aged 25-34 with degree qualifications from 29% in 2006 to 40% in 2025. To meet these targets, he said there will need to be a significant increase in participation rates from Indigenous and low SES groups.

Howard’s view that one could not look beyond establishing the first Australian Indigenous university as an effective mechanism to meet the Government’s aspirations was received with a loud round of applause.

The recipients of the inaugural Howard Guille Indigenous Scholarships were: • Lesley Dawn Scorgie from Middlemount is studying a Graduate Diploma in Learning Management. Lesley has previously graduated from a CQUniversity Bachelor of Education (Inservice).

• Jonathan Oates from North Rockhampton is studying a Graduate Diploma in Management. Jonathan has previously graduated from a CQUniversity Bachelor of Learning Management (Secondary).

• Anthony Walsh from Gladstone is studying a Graduate Certificate in Maintenance Management. A

Final communiqué Six workshops were held to discuss the challenges over the next 10 years for Indigenous education, with the outcomes from the discussions being formalised into an EI Communiqué on Indigenous education. The Communiqué will suggest strategies for government, unions and education authorities to ensure recognition of culturally appropriate learning and teaching for all Indigenous communities. A

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

Lesley Dawn Scorgie and Howard Guille at the presentation

27

YOUR UNION

NTEU member named PM’s 2008 University Teacher of the Year N

TEU member and historian Marnie Hughes-Warrington (right) was named the Prime Minister’s University Teacher of the Year in November 2008. The award is the Australian Learning and Teaching Council’s most prestigious prize, given to an academic with an exceptional record of advancing student learning, educational leadership and scholarly contribution to learning and teaching.

An Associate Professor in the Department of Modern History at Macquarie University, Marnie Hughes-Warrington was presented with a medal and $50,000 in recognition of her exceptional record of advancing student learning, educational leadership and scholarly contribution to teaching and learning.

She was chosen from 22 university teachers from across Australia who received teaching excellence awards this year, and joins Monash law academic, Professor Stephen Barkoczy, in being named a 2008 winner.

Hughes-Warrington told The Australian ‘You become a better researcher when you engage with students and they ask you questions and show you things you hadn’t thought about before.’

She said that she would be spending some of her prize money on a research project examining the way people vandalise, annotate or destroy history books.

Originally trained as a historiographer (someone who undertakes research on the nature and purposes of history), HughesWarrington completed an undergraduate degree that combined studies of history, philosophy and education. She was awarded a Rhodes scholarship to undertake postdoctoral research at Oxford University, before going on to lecture at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Hughes-Warrington moved to Macquarie University in 1998, joining NTEU soon after. her activities include pursuing a research agenda, writing on world history, historical films, the role of the state in Australian and British new idealist philosophies, and historical revisionism. A Sources: The Australian, Macquarie University Marketing Unit Photos: ALTC Full list of 2008 winners c www.altc.edu.au/carrick/go/home/awards

New offices for SA Branches T

he new South Australian office was officially opened on Wednesday 26 November 2008 by NTEU General Secretary, Grahame McCulloch.

The office is shared by the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia Branches. The highly visible location of the new office enables NTEU members to drop in on a regular basis, with an ease not experienced since on-campus accommodation ceased.

We now have a welcoming, purpose built office with private meeting areas and a conference room to ensure we can meet with

28

members according to their needs. Both Branches have spent the past two years in temporary accommodation pending the building purchase and are pleased to be able to settle in and finally unpack the boxes!

The new office address is located at Ground Floor, Palais Apartment Complex, 281 North Tce, Adelaide SA 5000. A

NTEU ADVOCATE

YOUR UNION

Towards an environmentally sustainable university sector

Improving our behaviour

A

T

ustralia’s universities and public research agencies are best placed to access the latest research and theory regarding climate change and environmental sustainability, and as such have important roles in both leading the public policy debate and acting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste.

This stock is Elemental Chlorine Free (EFC) certified, indicating it is made without the use of elemental chlorine. ECF pulp is produced with chlorine compounds, a bleaching alternative that serves to reduce harmful by-products.

Behaviour is manufactured by a Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) certified mill. PEFC is a framework for auditing forestry operations and promoting sustainable forest management. A Photo: Chris Orr

Evidence shows that universities and public research agencies are big consumers of energy as well as large emitters of greenhouse gases. As well as providing social and environmental benefits, improved environmental practices are a source of significant cost reductions.

NTEU’s 2008 National Council adopted an ambitious agenda to start tackling the causes and effects of climate change and other environmental concerns in universities, as well as measures to reduce the Union’s negative environmental impact.

In the next issue of Advocate, we will outline in detail the Union’s proposals, including the environmental sustainability claim being pursued by Branches as part of the current collective bargaining round. A

his edition of Advocate is the first to be printed on a new stock, Behaviour 30% Recycled, containing white waste sourced from within Australia.

The Complete Guide to Climate Change Brian Dawson and Matt Spannagle ISBN: 978-0-415-47790-1. Published by Routledge (2008). 448 pp.

For anyone trying to separate the fact from the fiction, The Complete Guide to Climate Change is an indispensable resource. An authoritative and easy to use guide to the key scientific, geographical and socio-political concepts central to the study of climate change.

Taking you through the latest thinking on global warming, environmental damage and risk, this book has everything you will need to know about the biggest issue facing mankind today. It’s an A to Z of the key scientific, geographical and sociopolitical issues involved in the study of the environment and the implications of mankind’s effect upon it.

Topics covered include: • Environmental Science – the Carbon Cycle and the ‘Greenhouse Gases’ • The impacts of climate change on life, land and sea • Mitigation strategies from carbon capture to carbon taxes • The Kyoto Protocol and UNFCC • Renewable fuel sources, from wind to solar power.

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

29

YOUR UNION

Welcoming new (and not-so-new) staff Brand spanking Shahn Rayner

Kevin Poynter

Branch Organiser, Edith Cowan University

Branch Organiser, Charles Sturt University

Shahn graduated from Murdoch University in 2005 after 4 years heavily steeped in student politics, with a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies and Communication and Cultural Studies.

She ventured into the Disability Industry for a couple of years and eventually found herself at LHMU as an Organiser for chronically undervalued Disability workers. Having found her niche in the Union Movement, Shahn started with the NTEU in March and looks forward to participating in further moves towards an organising framework, with a strong focus on recruitment.

Dan Murphy Branch Organiser, La Trobe University Dan joins us after18 months in Finland where he studied for a masters in education policy and globalisation.

Finland’s wholly public education system is attracting internatinal attention and for good reason according to Dan. ‘I guess you could call Finland a real clever country, although they don’t go in for hype and slogans, they just get on with it,’ he says.

“There’s a lot to admire in Finland but it didn’t come about by accident” says Dan. “The system is strong because education is held in high regard and teachers are respected. Workers enjoy good conditions, because there are very high levels of unionism - over 80 per cent across the workforce and almost total membership among university and school educators, “ he adds.

Dan comes to us with plenty of experience. He spent five years organising in the rough and tumble of the Sydney construction industry during the Olympics boom.

30

Fence jumpers

More recently he was Communications Coordinator for the Australian Education Union in Adelaide where he also worked on the Your Rights at Work campaign.

John Pezy Branch Organiser, University of South Australia John Pezy started work as the Branch Organiser for the University of South Australia Branch in December 2008, covering for Juliet Fuller while she is on maternity leave.

John has previously worked for a not-forprofit organisation, been a Personal Assistant for a Member of Parliament, and was the President of the Students’ Association of the University of Adelaide in 2006.

Outside of work, John enjoys performing in musical theatre and has competed in vocal categories in various eisteddfods, becoming the inaugural winner of the Adelaide Plains Male Voice Choir Scholarship.

Phillipa Geurens Admin OFficer/Branch Organiser, Monash University Phillipa has worked at Monash University for 25 years as an Admin Officer and PA. She left in February 2008 and started working with the NTEU Monash Branch part-time as an Administrative Officer/Branch Organiser.

Phillipa says knowing many people around the university has been an advantage in recruiting new members for the Union.

Although new to NTEU as a staff member Kevin is not exactly a new face at NTEU. Kevin has served on NTEU Branch, Division and National Executives, while working as a lecture in Design for Theatre and Television at Charles Sturt University from 1995 to 2007.

He left CSU to develop Wagga-based regional theatre company, Gearstick Theatre, with a focus on creating new work, including a piece based around the Your Rights @ Work campaign.

However, when a part time Organiser position at CSU became available, the opportunity to work with members to improve the standing of Australian universities, and build conditions for staff that supports their important research, teaching and social development work, was too good to resist. In addition to his NTEU work, Kevin continues to develop Gearstick Theatre.

Chris Latham Branch Organiser, Murdoch University Chris has been working in tertiary education as a sessional academic since 2004. He has worked at both Curtin and Murdoch Universities.

Prior to his appointment as Branch Organiser, Chris was a member of the Murdoch Branch Committee of Management from 2006 to 2008. In 2007 Chris was elected as the inaugural chair of the NTEU National Academic Casuals Committee.

Chris is currently working towards completion of a PhD in sociology, examining the participation of union members in social movements.

NTEU ADVOCATE

YOUR UNION

Movers and shakers Jo Kowalczyk Division Organiser, NSW Jo Kowalczyk has worked for NTEU since September 1998, first as a Branch Executive Officer and then as a Branch Industrial Organiser at the University of Wollongong.

In October 2008 she made the move to the NSW Division office to take up the position of State Organiser.

As State Organiser Jo’s focus is coordination of activity across NSW Branches designed to both increase and activate the membership.

Jo lives near Wollongong in a home with a kidney-shaped swimming pool and a waterfall.

Jen Tsen Kwok Policy & Research Officer National Office Jen has previously worked for NTEU as Branch Organiser at CQU and as a Research Officer for the Queensland Division. He has a background in community activism and has degrees in both arts and law. He is currently completing a PhD in political sociology at UQ. Jen has experienced both professionally and first-hand the implications of severe underfunding in the sector, particularly through casualisation of the academic workforce and the ‘unbundling’ of academic work.

He would prefer to live in a world where higher education stakeholders defend the ideals that underpin universities as unique and important civic institutions.

As a refugee from the tropical North, Jen has also reluctantly become a Bulldogs fan.

NTEU SA’s newest mini-member Congratulations to University of South Australia Branch Organiser, Juliet Fuller, on the birth of Samuel Frederick Fuller on 17 January 2009. Mum and bub are both doing well.

EDUCATION UNION

membership benefits guide

NATIONAL TERTIARY

2009–2010 EDITION

CORRECTION TO NTEU MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS GUIDE 2009–2010 p.23: AIG Travel Insurance. Discount saving link for members should read: http://aigtravel.com.au/nteu

ts, Discoun rs and offe for special services e exclusivU members NTE

| HEALTH | TRAVEL | SHOPPING | LEGAL SERVICES FINANCIAL SERVICES

NTEU ONLINE MEMBERSHIP DATABASE Update your details: In order for NTEU to keep you in touch, it is important we have your latest details.

How to check your membership details online at www.nteu.org.au

If any of the following points apply to you, please change your details online or contact us immediately.

MEMBERSHIP DETAILS Have you moved house recently? ÎÎ If you have nominated your home address as your NTEU contact address, you must update it.

Has your family name changed?

Have your workplace details changed?

Has your Dept/School had a name change or merged with another?

Are you moving to a different institution? ÎÎ Transfer of membership from one institution to another is not automatic.

Have your employment details changed? ÎÎ Please notify us to ensure you are paying the correct fees.

For any of the above membership enquiries, please contact: Melinda Valsorda, Membership Officer ph (03) 9254 1910 email mvalsorda@nteu.org.au

CREDIT CARD/DIRECT DEBIT PAYMENTS Have your credit card (ie expiry date) or direct debit account details changed? ÎÎ Please notify us immediately.

Are you leaving university employment? ÎÎ If you are no longer an NTEU member, deductions will continue until the National Office is notified.

For all credit card and direct debit enquiries, please contact: Alex Ghvaladze, Finance Officer ph (03) 9254 1910 email aghvaladze@nteu.org.au

PAYROLL DEDUCTION PAYMENTS Have your payroll deductions suddenly stopped without your authority?

1: Login to the ‘Members Area’ ID = Your NTEU membership number Password = Your surname in CAPITALS

ÎÎ contact your payroll dept urgently.

2: Go to ‘My Home’

Payroll deduction queries should be directed to your Branch or Division office.

3: Select ‘Your Profile’ 4: Select ‘View Details’ (to change personal details) or ‘Print Tax Statement’ (after 1 July)

Annual tax statement: Available for download after 1 July. Statements will not be posted out.

APRIL 2009 www.nteu.org.au

31

Contacting NTEU b. . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

National Office 1st Floor, 120 Clarendon St, Southbank, VIC 3006

phone fax email website

PO Box 1323, South Melbourne, VIC 3205 b (03) 9254 1910  (03) 9254 1915  nteunat@nteu.org.au  www.nteu.org.au

NT Division

WA Division PO Box 3114, Broadway LPO Nedlands, WA 6009 b (08) 6365 4188  (08) 9354 1629  waoffice@nteu.org.au  www.nteu.org.au/wa

PO Box U371, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0815 b (08) 8946 7231  (08) 8927 9410  nteunt@iinet.net.au  www.nteu.org.au/bd/nt

Queensland Division 27 Cordelia Street, South Brisbane, QLD 4101 b (07) 3846 2355  (07) 3846 5977  b.williams@qld.nteu.org.au  www.qld.nteu.org.au

SA Division Ground Floor, Palais Apartment Complex, 281 North Tce, Adelaide SA 5000 b (08) 8231 1472  (08) 8231 1479  admin@unisanteu.org.au  www.nteu.org.au/bd/sa

NSW Division Level 1, 55 Holt St, Surry Hills, NSW 2010 b (02) 9212 5433  (02) 9212 4090  nteunsw@nsw.nteu.org.au  www.nteu.org.au/bd/nsw

Victorian Division 1st Floor, 120 Clarendon St, Southbank, VIC 3006 b (03) 9254 1930  (03) 9254 1935  office@vic.nteu.org.au  www.nteu.org.au/vic

NATIONAL OFFICE STAFF Officers & Central Resources Unit Executive Officer–General Secretary. . . . . . . . . . Anastasia Kotaidis IT Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Riley ICT System Administrator/Help Desk. . . . . . . . . . Tam Vuong National Indigenous Officer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adam Frogley Administrative Officer–Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . Tracey Coster Administrative Officer–Reception. . . . . . . . . . . . . Tim Rodrigo

Industrial Unit Industrial Unit Coordinator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Roberts Senior Industrial Officer (Strategy & Policy). . . . Ken McAlpine Industrial Officers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Josh Cullinan, Robyn May

Policy & Research Unit Policy & Research Unit Coordinator.. . . . . . . . . . Paul Kniest Policy & Research Officer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terri MacDonald, Jen Tsen-Kwok

Recruitment & Training Unit Recruitment & Training Coordinator .. . . . . . . . . Eleanor Floyd National Organiser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Evans Membership Records Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Melinda Valsorda National Publications Coordinator. . . . . . . . . . . . Paul Clifton Administrative Officer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julie-Ann Veal

Finance Unit Finance Unit Coordinator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jenny Savage Finance Officers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joanne Dunn, Jayne van Dalen, Gracia Ho,

Alex Ghvaladze, Tamara Labadze, Joyce Wong

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ACT Division G Block, Old Admin Area, McDonald Place, ANU, Acton, ACT 0200 b (02) 6125 2043 ANU/ADFA/ACU (02) 6201 5355 UCan  (02) 6125 8137  actdiv@nteu.org.au  www.nteu.org.au/bd/act

Tasmanian Division Private Bag 101, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001 b (03) 6226 7575  (03) 6226 2172  nteu.tas@utas.edu.au  www.nteu.org.au/bd/tasmania

NATIONAL EXECUTIVE National President. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carolyn Allport Vice-President (Academic). . . . . . . . . . . Gregory McCarthy SA Div Vice-President (General). . . . . . . . . . . . . Jo Hibbert UWS General Secretary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grahame McCulloch National Assistant Secretary. . . . . . . . . Ted Murphy Executive Members Rachael Bahl ACT Div Lyn Bloom WA Div Margaret Botterill La Trobe James Doughney VU Ian Hunt Flinders Margaret Lee Qld Div Kelvin Michael Tas Div Kate Patrick RMIT

Susan Bandias NT Div Andrew Bonnell UQ Derek Corrigan ANU Gabrielle Gooding UWA Genevieve Kelly NSW Div Matthew McGowan Vic Div Len Palmer CSU Michael Thomson Sydney

Indigenous Executive Member. . . . . . . Terry Mason UWS

NTEU ADVOCATE

THEY’RE CALLING ON YOU

Want to receive your own copy of Australian Universities’ Review?

AUR is published by NTEU to encourage debate and discussion about issues in higher education and its contribution to Australian public life.

The journal is published twice a year. NTEU members are entitled to receive a free subscription on an opt-in basis, so you need to let us know.

Gorilla’s are on the brink of extinction.

They’re calling on YOU to donate your phone today!

If you are an NTEU member and would like to receive AUR, please contact the Union via aur@nteu.org.au.

You can help save Gorillas in Africa simply by donating your old mobile phones. Each time your mobile phone rings, a tiny piece of metallic ore from Africa is making this call possible: coltan. The mining of this commodity within the Congo Basin is contributing to forest loss and unrest in the region, accelerating the loss of mountain gorillas at an alarmingly rate.

By donating your phone you are: • Diverting your phone from landfill • Helping Melbourne Zoo raise money to support the Jane Goodall Institutes primate conservation work in Africa through the sale of refurbished phones • Lessening the demand for coltan mining by providing the coltan coated capacitor in your old mobile phone a second life.

Visit www.zoo.org.au to download and print a copy of our postage paid label, then post your phone to the Aussie Recycling Program.

Your phone will be refurbished and resold to disadvantaged community groups.

Raffle 2009 YOUR CHANCE TO SUPPORT OUR 50 PROJECTS IN 15 COUNTRIES FIRST PRIZE: ROUND THE WORLD TRIP FOR TWO SECOND PRIZE: DELL INSPIRON 1525 LAPTOP COMPUTER

ORDER TICKETS TO BUY & SELL! 10 tickets per book – $2 per ticket

Email office@apheda.org.au Ring 1800 888 674 Visit www.apheda.org.au

Your super’s with the professionals Knowing where to invest your retirement savings isn’t easy, especially when there’s so much uncertainty in the markets.

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And recently, thanks to our history of top-tier investment performance, our lowcost philosophy and our ongoing commitment to responsible investment practices, UniSuper was awarded the 2009 national Investment Stewardship Award.

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Issued by: UniSuper Management Pty Ltd (ABN 91 006 961 799, AFSL No. 235907) on behalf of UniSuper Limited ABN 54 006 027 121 as the trustee of the UniSuper Fund (ABN 91 385 943 850). Before deciding whether to acquire or hold an interest in a UniSuper product, you should obtain the relevant product disclosure statement (available from UniSuper) and consider whether the product is appropriate for your personal circumstances, which have not been taken into account.