Advocate Nov 2010 by NTEU

Advocate JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL TERTIARY EDUCATION UNION

ISSN 1321–8476

Volume 17, Number 4, November 2010

REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES IN HIGHER EDUCATION, TAFE, ADULT EDUCATION, R ACGP, RESEARCH INSTITUTES AND UNIVERSIT Y COMPANIES

From Dawkins to Deregulation  Full reports from National Council p.16

 NTEU farewells Carolyn Allport and Ted Murphy p.5  Bargaining State of Play: where is your university? p.8

Dealing with Canberra’s new paradigm

Dual Sector universities

p.22

New IPC

p.15

 New columnist: Tammi Jonas

p.32

 Life Members

p.20

p.37

 NTEU Election results

p.45

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Advocate is published by National Tertiary Education Union ISSN 1321-8476 ABN 38 579 396 344 PO Box 1323, South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia ph: 03 9254 1910 fax: 03 9254 1915 email: national@nteu.org.au

Advocate JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL TERTIARY EDUCATION UNION

VOLUME 17, NUMBER 4, NOVEMBER 2010

Publisher................................Grahame McCulloch Editor......................................Jeannie Rea Production................................Paul Clifton Editorial Assistance..................Anastasia Kotaidis Feedback and advertising....... advocate@nteu.org.au All text & images © NTEU 2010 unless otherwise stated.

In accordance with NTEU policy to reduce our impact on the natural environment, this magazine is printed on Behaviour–a 30% recycled stock, manufactured by a PEFC Certified mill, which is ECF Certified Chlorine Free. Advocate is also available online (e-book and PDF) at www.nteu.org.au/advocate NTEU members may opt for ‘soft delivery’ (email notification rather than printed copy) for all NTEU magazines. Login to the members’ area at www.nteu.org.au to access your membership details.

REGULAR FEATURES

On the cover: Mark Schier from Swinburne University at National Council Photo: Paul Clifton SPECIAL FEATURES

FROM THE OFFICERS

Enabling good ideas to become even better

NATIONAL COUNCIL  16

Jeannie Rea, National President

New Federal Balance of Power Grahame McCulloch, General Secretary

Funding our Universities Matt McGowan, National Assistant Secretary

UPDATE  5 6 7 8 11 14

Union lauds retiring officers, Carolyn Allport & Ted Murphy ‘Agenda Bender calls it a day’ Strong campaign against UNSW Agreement Top End members attend Dual Sector Forum Enterprise Bargaining: racing to the finish line Macquarie ‘No’ vote provides impetus for court challenge Bargaining State of Play tables In-principle Agreement signed at UQ RACGP Agreement application refused Progress on Research Workforce Strategy New Minister for Tertiary Education

INDIGENOUS NEWS  15

New Indigenous Policy Committee Chair

17 18

On Quality: You get what you pay for

 21

Balancing fairness at work Letter from New Zealand/Aotearoa, by Dr Tom Ryan, TEU

YOUR UNION 34  36 37 42 44 45 46 48

Union farewells Carolyn Allport Ted Murphy farewelled Life Members 2010 New NTEU staff Recent human rights actions by NTEU NTEU election results; Vale Peter Davidson Looking up your Agreement on the NTEU website Contacting your Union

International guests Council welcomed guests from New Zealand, Fiji and South Africa.

POLITICS 22

The Gillard Minority Government: while there is life there is hope Greg McCarthy on how a minority government may affect our sector.

 23

The new political paradigm is an opportunity for progressive politics Ged Kearney, ACTU President, discusses the recent federal election campaign and the implications of the new business model in Canberra.

SUSTAINABILITY 25

Council commits to act on climate change NSW gets Climate Active

PARENTAL LEAVE

Knowledge is the Economy, Stupid, by Tammi Jonas

Challenges and opportunities for NTEU in Dual Sector institutions What are dual sector institutions’ role in improving participation rates, the implications of different funding arrangements, and how does this impact on the internal distribution of resources?

News from the Net, by Pat Wright Lowering the Boom, by Ian Lowe

State of the Sector – Strangling the Goose that lays the Golden Egg Council debate covered the funding and regulatory framework, the offering of higher education qualifications in the VET sector and the emergence of private higher education providers.

30 iPadagogy Constricting Research And Publishing

CDU’s PVC Indigenous Leadership, Steve Larkin Prof Steve Larkin applauded NTEU’s advocacy for Indigenous Australians.

COLUMNS

National Council 2010: From Dawkins to Deregulation National Council committed the Union to developing a high profile and comprehensive campaign for a quality, accessible, well resourced, publicly funded tertiary education system.

 26

Government Paid Parental Leave countdown

REVIEWS

Power in Coalition: Building strong coalitions between unions and community organisations Amanda Tattersall’s new book, Power in Coalition, advances the case for greater interaction between unions and community groups.

Mind your language! AUR considers English as she is spoke.

INTERNATIONAL 30 

EI rallies to free imprisoned Colombian professor Snapshot: No Cuts! No Fees! protest at Glasgow University

FROM THE OFFICERS

JEANNIE REA, NATIONAL PRESIDENT

Enabling good ideas to become even better E

ureka moments are rare and even when they do happen, they are revealed in context. This is loosely the hypothesis of Steven Johnson’s latest book Where Good Ideas Come From. He argues that there needs to be a series of things in place to enable the breakthrough idea to not only emerge, but gain traction. This is not a new idea, but raising it is timely as the very purpose of universities seems to have been forgotten by too many.

away at the integrity of the university system. That our universities Universities traditionally brought together those with good ideas continue to successfully educate and produce significant research so that they could create better ideas. Universities have always had despite inadequate funding, and often poor management, is testinoble intentions of seeking answers to the dilemmas of the human mony to those who continue working at the coal face of higher educondition and to challenge ways of thinking and acting. Universities cation. But as well as sheer exhaustion, what worries NTEU members have been both ivory towers enabling an elite to consider the world is the impact that inadequate funding has on the capacity to mainfrom a position of privileged distance, but have also, often controtain and improve the quality of the education students receive and versially, engaged in the great political and cultural debates of their on the research processes and outcomes. time. They have been assumed as the place to educate those who are The external discourse on universities also revolves around questo take on the mantle of the academy and to be the leaders of tomortioning quality and standards, the experiences of domestic and row. The notion of the elite university has been properly challenged international students, increasing by democratisation, and now by student to staff ratios, work readithe sheer scale and expectations of ness of graduates, the high costs massification. ... good ideas do need nurturing. They do of running universities, funding But it is worth reiterating again not come out of thin air. sources and the role of TAFE in a that good ideas do need nurturing. broader tertiary education system. They do not come out of thin air. These are the same issues, but They come out of thinking people NTEU members are increasingly frustrated by the public discourse having the space and time and resources to talk, argue, experiment, being framed in criticism and a lack of informed debate. The NTEU’s write, challenge, teach and learn. Universities are the major enabling public campaign aims to promote positive perceptions of our work, site for this. Graduates often create their own hotbeds of creativity in whilst also developing a wider network of allies committed to high industry and community, but have learned their values and methods quality, accessible, well resourced publically funded tertiary educaat university. tion that operates in the public interest for the public good. However, this creative space does not sound much like the curOne area that NTEU members are clearly rallying around is our rent experience of most people in our universities. There is a lot of responsibility to address the causes and outcomes of climate change. space between reminiscing about the elite white man’s university of University staff, students and communities have been educating, bygone days and the current attitudes towards universities by too researching and organising on their campuses and into their commany external and even internal commentators. The expectation of munities, debating the issues and taking political as well as practical universities to deal with and have answers to the world’s problems action to change attitudes and behaviours. It is not surprising that has not changed, but now that expectation is more and more blinkclimate change and environmental sustainability has captured the ered. Generic core graduate attributes (CGAs) are the order of the day, imagination and energy of people in universities. It is a reasonable reducing the complexity of student learning to know the right lingo expectation that university staff and students should come up with for a job interview. Meeting the ‘metrics’ is becoming the measure of good ideas to deal with these issues. The NTEU recognises our role an academic career, while students are expected to pay more and as a union of education professionals to facilitate opportunities for more towards the basic infrastructure and running costs. greater debate and intervention on climate change. The deep unease about what is happening in our universities maniThis debate highlights core issues of intellectual freedom, of the fested in the many issues of concern to NTEU delegates at our recent responsibility to raise controversial ideas and pursue them, rigorNational Council. These concerns came together in the resolution carously testing such propositions and insisting on an evidence based ried unanimously at the end of the meeting that committed the NTEU debate not prejudiced speculation. As a union, we also have the to a major campaign to re-assert the critical importance of our work responsibility to raise these matters in the union movement. Our in universities and allied institutions, as academics and general staff. commitment on climate change in 2011 is to focus on education, (see p. 18) research and action including intervening in broader political and The lack of adequate base funding and the consequential overload union debates (see p. 25). and intensification of our work as we do more with less, is grinding 2

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

FROM THE OFFICERS

GRAHAME Mcculloch, general secretary

New Federal Balance of Power F

or the first time since 1941 Australia has a minority Federal Government. The hung Parliament follows one of the most uninspiring Federal election campaigns in living memory, with the official policy positions of Labor and the Coalition being indistinguishable in many (but not all) key areas. Higher education did not feature as an important issue for either of the major parties.

Opportunities for Higher Education

The swing against Labor was not unexpected, particularly given the backlash against the removal of Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister, the Rudd/Gillard Government’s back down on climate change, Labor’s For NTEU the new balance of forces in the Federal Parliament proembrace of a relatively harsh asylum seekers regime, and its tenvides a real opportunity to improve the funding and quality of terdency to make sweeping rhetorical statements not always backed tiary education, particularly in regional areas. Since the election, up by concrete policy action. While the two party preferred swing the Gillard Government has announced a Higher Education Funding against Labor was 2.6%, its primary vote fell by more than twice Review Panel with a brief to examine the current Commonwealth this number (5.4%). At the same time, the electorate was unwilling Grants Scheme (CGS) higher education discipline cost clusters. This to embrace the Coalition (whose primary vote rose by only 1.5%). initiative follows the Rudd Government’s 2009 response to the BradInstead voters opted to give the Greens and Independent MPs the ley Review which foreshadowed a 5% increase in public funding by balance of power in both 2012, to be accompanied by the introthe House of Representaduction of a demand driven funding tives and the Senate. model and longer term increased partici...significant minority of voters have Julia Gillard is therefore pation targets. lost faith in the major parties and have Prime Minister in a GovThe scale of Labor’s 2009 funding protested against the politics of sound ernment with 76 House commitment is insufficient to meet bites and photo opportunities. of Representatives seats the expanded participation objectives comprising 72 Labor MPs, 3 and still entails public higher education regional Independent MPs investment falling as a share of GDP and (Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Andrew Wilkie) and Green MP, Budget outlays. Moreover, much of the increased funding is perforAdam Bandt. From 1 July 2011, the Greens will hold the balance of mance-based and for specific purpose programs. The demand driven power in the Senate. system has the potential to penalise regional and outer metropolitan A striking feature of the election result is the wide diversity of outuniversities and create an unstable planning framework. comes on a state by state basis. NTEU will make a strong case The Coalition’s lower house prifor further public investment and NTEU will make a strong case for further mary vote increased in ACT, WA, for modifications to the demand public investment and for modifications QLD and NSW (with a range of driven system in its submissions 1.5%- 4%), but fell in Victoria, SA, to the Higher Education Funding to the demand driven system in its Tasmania and NT (with a range of Review Panel. The new political submissions to the Higher Education - 0.2%-4.5%). Labor’s primary vote authority of the regional IndependFunding Review Panel. The new political fell in every State, except Tasmania ent MPs and the Greens can be of authority of the regional Independent (with a range of – 1.9% -9.7%). The great assistance in achieving these Greens lower house primary vote objectives. Regional universities MPs and the Greens can be of great increased in every State (with a generate over $3 billion in direct assistance in achieving these objectives. range of 2.4% -6.0%). income, contribute around $9 bilOne reading of this result is that lion to the economic life of regional a significant minority of voters have lost faith in the major parties centres, and enrol large numbers of lower SES students. and have protested against the politics of sound bites and photo The new NTEU national leadership is planning a vigorous public opportunities. These voters believe that the benefits of continued and parliamentary campaign which will directly engage not only economic growth provides scope for increased public investment in Labor Ministers and backbenchers and the Coalition, but will also services and infrastructure. The popularity of Labor’s commitment to seek Green and Independent MPs support for legislative amendthe National Broadband Network (a key point of distinction between ments in both Houses to deliver the increased public investment that it and the Coalition) is emblematic of this belief. higher education so urgently needs. NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

FROM THE OFFICERS

MATThew MCGOWAN, national assistant secretary

Funding our Universities T

he announcement by Monash University of a projected $45 million drop in income, with the prospect of around 300 job losses, represented a significant shift in the public discussion about university finances. This was not the usual belt tightening. This was foreshadowing the most significant drop in international student numbers since Australia shifted its focus towards income generation from an overseas education market.

we really say that things have not changed for the worse in tertiary International student income has been the gift that just keeps giving education over the past 20 years? and it has allowed government to gradually withdraw from compreThe Monash announcement is based upon projections drawn hensive funding of the tertiary education sector. Over the recent from the enrolments in English language courses delivered by years, we have seen international income grow from $0.4million in Monash College that have been a major feeder into its programs. 1996 to over $2.3billion in 2006 and international student numbers The NTEU estimates that these are likely to be down by 5% in 2011, grow from about 60,000 to over 250,000 over the same period. As a and 15% in 2012. The Monash experience will not be unique in this proportion of institutional income, this income has grown from 6% decline, but nor will it be everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience in the short run. to 15.2% while the government contribution to university funding However it is a direction that we must all pay attention to. has declined income from 59.8% to 41.6%. However, at one instiSome improvements have been made by this Government. The tution international student income now represents well over 40% improved indexation and research of total income while at a handful funding are significant and will go of others it now accounts for more some way to helping the position than a quarter of institutional Once upon a time, when the current of the sector. However it is not income. political elites were working their way sufficient to reverse more than a Over this same period, we have through a free tertiary education system, decade of neglect and hostility, seen student/staff ratios increase and at the same time, the governby more than 50%. As a result acathere might have been 10 -15 students ment has committed to significant demic and general staff alike have in a tutorial which was a forum to allow increases in domestic participaexperience significant increases in guided debate and discussion between tion. The sector is being asked to workloads. peers to assist the students to understand meet increased participation tarOnce upon a time, when the gets (40% of the population under current political elites were workand engage with both the topic and 35 to hold a degree, and 20% of ing their way through a free terthe process of learning. Today, in many enrolments to be from students tiary education system, there universities, tutorials have become from low SES backgrounds). might have been 10 -15 students seminars with 30 - 40 students (or more). The Federal Government has in a tutorial which was a forum announced a review of the clusto allow guided debate and dister funding arrangements. This is, cussion between peers to assist in effect, a review of the method and quantum of the funding for the students to understand and engage with both the topic and the sector. The outcomes of this review will be critical to the future the process of learning. Today, in many universities, tutorials have health of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tertiary sector. If we are to arrest, and even become seminars with 30 - 40 students (or more). While there are reverse, the decline in the quality of what we are able to deliver clear benefits that e-learning has provided, many universities seem to the Australian community, there are some hard decisions to be to be desperately trying to convince us that this can replace face made. to face contact. The best aspects of online learning can clearly With an expectation of expansion of the sector to meet the govimprove the learning process, but it still cannot replace face to face ernments objectives, we should be seeing increases in staffing, not communication. reductions as announced by Monash. Improvements in funding are Few feel comfortable talking about the pressure, either directly or critical to the future health of the sector, and the NTEU will pursue a indirectly felt, to pass students who may not deserve a pass, but it campaign to that end. If we do not and the decline continues, our does exist. No one wants to admit that the quality of our education international reputation will be further damaged and we will get is in decline because that means admitting that we are complicit in into a negative loop that will spell disaster for our Universities and this process, or worse still, we could add to the problem by speaking for all students seeking an education in Australia. about it and thereby further threaten the international reputation and income that we have become so dependant on. But how can 4

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

UPDATE NATIONAL

Union celebrates retiring national officers

he 2010 National Council marked a watershed for the Union, seeing the retirement of two longtime national leaders, National President Carolyn Allport and National Assistant Secretary Ted Murphy.

Presidential suite Carolyn Allport has served as National President of the NTEU for four terms, being first elected in 1994. Farewell events for Carolyn were held across the country during August and September, including a major dinner in Melbourne attended by longtime friends and colleagues. Speakers included Sharan Burrow (General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation), Meredith Burgmann (former NSW MLC), Ian Chubb AO (Vice-Chancellor, ANU) and Chris Game (former NTEU NSW Division Secretary). Friend and former Chair of the Indigenous Tertiary Education Policy Committee (now IPC), Tracey Bunda, read the nomination for Life Membership for Carolyn at National Council. Tracey particularly highlighted Carolyn’s work to achieve better employment, education and social justice outcomes for Indigenous Australian communities, academic and professional staff (see report, p.34).

National Assistant Secretary Ted Murphy has served as National Assistant Secretary since 1996. General Secretary Grahame McCulloch gave the Life Membership notation for Ted at National Council, noting a career spanning three decades with NTEU and one of its predecessor unions (see report, p.36). Grahame noted Ted’s personal capacities and capabilities – exceptional intellectual and analytical ability, sharp political and negotiating skills, integrity and moral rigour and a highly refined rhetorical ability. A farewell dinner was held for Ted in Melbourne in September. Friends and colleagues, including Cath Bowtell, Arthur Crook, Jenny Strauss and Terry Mason, spoke fondly and highly of Ted’s achievements. The new National President, Jeannie Rea and new National Assistant Secretary, Matthew McGowan took office on 1 October. A

NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

Top: Carolyn Allport at her farewell dinner; Sharan Burrow at Carolyn’s farewell; Cath Bowtell at Ted’s farewell; Ted and Grahame McCulloch lead a rousing version of The Internationale.

NATIONAL

‘Agenda bender calls it a day’

n 29 September, The Australian’s Higher Education Supplement published an article lauding the achievements of Carolyn Allport, NTEU National President since 1994, whose term ended on 1 October 2010.

Entitled ‘Agenda bender calls it a day’, the article by Jill Rowbotham said ‘Carolyn Allport has one more river to cross as she relinquishes the presidency of the National Tertiary Education Union: seeing academic freedom enshrined in the Higher Education Support Act. ‘If Labor fulfils its election commitment to pass the law, it will be a fitting postscript to Allport’s career as an academic and activist with 16 years at the union’s helm, guarding the interests of its 27,000 members and working with both sides of politics. ‘Allport says the advice she might give her successor Jeannie Rea, former deputy dean of the arts, education and human development faculty at Victoria University, is to be courteous. ‘That unionists don’t have to be combative to get things done may be news to some. But a civilised demeanour has done Allport no harm, certainly not in the eyes of industrial relations heavy hitter and former ACTU president Sharan Burrow. Burrow was president of the Australian Education Union when Allport became NTEU president in 1994 and the organisations were based in the same Melbourne building. ‘We worked closely; she has been a colleague and friend,’ Burrow says. Allport was also a member of the ACTU Executive. A Read the full article online c www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/ agenda-bender-calls-it-a-day/ story-e6frgcjx-1225931038721

UPDATE NEW SOUTH WALES

Strong campaign against UNSW Agreement

or over two years, NTEU members at UNSW have been bargaining with one of the most intransigent managements in the country. The campaign has included 3 strikes and a protracted ban on the transmission of student results.

Management has been exceedingly hostile in their dealings with the Union, including, at one time, standing down without pay the members taking part in the results ban. In a last ditch effort to get their own way Management, at short notice, put out a sub-standard General Staff Agreement that offered a low pay rise and no significant improvement on rights for casuals and fixed term contract employees. NTEU campaigned strongly against the Agreement and managed to mobilise a 40% ‘no vote’. The Branch accredited the high vote against the Agreement down to the hard work and campaigning that has taken place over the last two years and the hostility from staff over the way in which the University is being run. Unfortunately, the Agreement was voted up by a close margin. The Branch has put this down to the short time frame that staff had to consider the Agreement, the short term ‘bribe’ of a sign on bonus and other misinformation that was circulated during the ballot period. The Union believes that there are enough legal issues to conduct a challenge to the Agreement’s approval in Fair Work Australia (FWA). Under Australian law every Enterprise Agreement must pass a ‘better off overall test’ (BOOT) to show that every member of staff will be better off under the Agreement

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Top End members attend Dual Sector Forum

on Fuller and Susan Bandias, NTEU members from Charles Darwin University (CDU), attended the Dual Sector Forum in Melbourne on 28–29 October. The main focus of the forum was to examine means of achieving closer collaboration between the Vocational Education and Training (VET) and higher education (HE) sectors within dual sector universities.

than they would be under the appropriate Award. There are many conditions including such things as shift loadings, ordinary hours of work and most importantly the claims that the NTEU made in this round of bargaining around such things as job security and better rights for fixed term staff and casuals that are worse in the Agreement than the Award. NTEU will also be raising their concerns with the procedural irregularities and misinformation around the ballot. The Branch is confident of their success in the challenge and is already moving forward with the campaign for successful bargaining. A Andrew Rivett, Division Industrial Officer

The University of Ballarat, in partnership with Swinburne University of Technology, are working with the NTEU and the Australian Education Union to investigate ways of achieving more effective collaboration between the two sectors. As CDU is the only dual sector university outside of Victoria, the NT Division was keen to have representatives attend the forum. Don and Susan, with the support of CDU Vice-Chancellor, Barney Glover, are currently undertaking a research project on closer collaboration between the VET and HE sectors at CDU. The forum provided the opportunity to discuss issues that are common to all dual sector universities as well as highlight issues unique to CDU. According to Susan and Don, a significant VET enrolment, a high Indigenous student cohort and a unique Industrial Relations environment, - present a distinctive set of challenges and opportunities for closer collaboration between the VET and HE sectors at CDU. A

Above and left: NTEU UNSW members rallying staff to Vote No. Photos by Anne O’Brien

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

UPDATE NATIONAL

Enterprise Bargaining: racing to the finish line

nterprise Bargaining in Australian universities is almost complete, with most Agreements now concluded. The Stat of Play tables (presented over the next six pages) list the state of play at each NTEU Branch as at time of publication (22 October).

Agreements have recently been approved by NTEU at the following institutions: • Curtin University (General Staff ): After an active industrial campaign, negotiations concluded with an 18% pay increase by June 2012. • Queensland University of Technology (Academic & General Staff ): An 18% pay rise by December 2012 has been achieved by the local Branch. • University of Western Australia (Academic & General Staff ): Both Agreements

include a 17.5% pay rise to be delivered by September 2012. • Deakin University (All Staff ): A long campaign has achieved a 16% pay rise by June 2012. • UTS (Academic & General Staff ): Another protracted industrial campaign delivered a 16% pay rise by June 2013, plus a $1000 bonus. • Griffith University (Academic & General Staff ): The local Branch has achieved a 16% pay rise by September 2012.

NEW SOUTH WALES

Macquarie ‘No’ vote provides real impetus for court challenge

n a remarkable outcome for the NTEU Macquarie Branch, 43% of voters rejected the Professional Staff Agreement which the University recently and unilaterally, decided to put out to ballot. Effectively this meant the Union was only 80 votes shy of defeating the ballot outright and had carried hundreds of non-members in the process.

This result was gained despite the dirty ‘take it or leave it’ campaign run by the University, which selectively locked the Union out of the workplace, threatened a range of actions against campaigning NTEU members, and ‘letter bombed’ all staff at work and home. Formal negotiations for a new Macquarie Agreement have been ongoing since June 2009. Throughout this period the spectre of Management splitting a single Agreement into separate academic and professional Agreements loomed large and was the greatest threat experienced by NTEU nego-

NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

tiators. As a consequence, the local Branch has been on a campaign footing for the past 18 months and had actively worked to inoculate staff on the ‘dangers’ represented by separate agreements – at one stage the Branch had collected over 800 petitions calling on the University to maintain a single Agreement for all staff. The high levels of membership activism with members taking carriage of the Vote No campaign, was perhaps the most defining aspect of the Macquarie campaign. Amongst a range of activities, members actively canvassed non-members to vote

NTEU campaigned against two management-proposed General Staff Agreements at Macquarie and UNSW (see reports below and opposite). Despite a strong NTEU campaign against the Agreements, achieving 43% and 40% respectively, both were accepted (with the support of the CPSU). Bargaining continues at the remaining sites, with a steady stream of Agreements now being concluded for National Executive and membership approval by the end of the year. A

no, stacked Management forums designed to ‘spin’ the merits of the separate Agreement, and proudly held aloft Vote No banners at all entrances during the balloting period. The excellent result has now given the Branch a much needed boost as the NTEU prepares to mount a strong challenge to the Professional Staff Agreement in Fair Work Australia. The challenge is built around a number of grounds including the failure of the Agreement to meet the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT), particularly in areas of job security for fixed term staff, and procedural flaws in the notice of representational rights and conduct of the ballot process. In addition, Macquarie members are gearing up to take further forms of industrial action in a bid to get outstanding sticking points in bargaining (including HECE, review committees, and caps on casualisation) across the line. This followed a contested application in FWA for another secret ballot which has successfully expanded the range of industrial action options available to all Macquarie members. A

UPDATE

Bargaining State of Play

FINALISED AGREEMENTS MURDOCH Aca MURDOCH General BALLARAT

USQ

SCU

UWS Academic

CURTIN Academic

Status

Certified

Approval Date by National Executive Expiry Date Salary increase (flat) Increase compounded Annual wage growth (expiry to expiry) Annual wage growth (payrise to payrise)

2-Jun-10 30-Jun-13 21% 23% 5% 4.6%

2-Jul-10 30-Jun-13 20.5% 21.9% 4.7% 4.6%

16-Jun-10 30-Jun-12 17%–21%

25-Jun-10 30-Jun-12 17%–25%

4.3%–5.3% 4.3%–5.3%

4.3%–6.3% 4.3%–6.3%

3-Dec-09 30-Jun-12 19.5% 21.1% 5.0% 4.7%

17-Apr-10 30-Jun-12 18% 19.2% 5.5% 4.7%

16-Jun-10 30-Jun-12 18% 19.3% 4.6% 4.5%

27-Aug-10 30-Jun-12 18% 19.3% 5.4% 4.5%

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ n/a n/a n/a

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ n/a n/a n/a

✔

n/a

✔

n/a

✔ ✔

CURTIN General

HEWRRs RESTORATION

HECE fixed term limits Discipline & termination Job security/managing change Union rights CASUALS

25% loading Pay for marking Limits on casual numbers More secure jobs ACADEMIC WORKLOADS

Quantifiable and effective regulation INDIGENOUS EMPLOYMENT

Strategy & targets Monitoring Committee OTHER CLAIMS

Superannuation Dispute resolution Intellectual freedom General staff classifications NOTES & SPECIAL FEATURES

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Soft casual limits

✔ ✔ ✔ n/a • Pay increase depends on classification • Soft casual regulation

• Protected action • Protected action ballot (Sep 09) • Protected action ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09) • All bans enabled • Strike (16 Sep 09) • Strike (16 Sep 09) • Strike (30 Sep • Bans on results • Bans on results 09) (Dec 09) in (Dec 09) • All bans enabled • All bans enabled ✔ Claim achieved

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Pay increase depends on classification

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ n/a n/a • Restructured level A and • Contingent conB scales tinuing research staff provisions • Contingent continuing

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

research staff provisions • Protected action ballot (Sep 09)

• Protected action ballot (Sep 09)

• Protected action • Protected action ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09)

• Strike (16 Sep 09)

• Bans on results in (Dec 09)

• Non-union ballot defeated 23 Dec 09 by 67% majority

• All bans enabled

• Strike (16 Sep 09)

• Bans on results in (Dec 09) • All bans enabled

✖ Claim rejected or stalled ? Claim under serious negotiation ✔? Claim largely settled with some detail in dispute

QUEENSLAND

In-principle Agreement reached at UQ

TEU members at the University of Queensland (UQ) have given in principle agreement to terms of settlement for a new Enterprise Agreement.

The campaign at UQ has been hard fought with NTEU members engaging in extensive

rolling industrial action over the last 12 months. With solid support from UQ mem-

bers, the Union has restored a number of key conditions and protections lost during the Howard Government, and has gained important new improvements. For the first time we will have a single Agreement covering all staff at UQ with the following gains: • Removal of restrictions on union representation of members.

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

UPDATE QUT Academic

Status Approval Date by National Executive Expiry Date Salary increase (flat) Increase compounded Annual wage growth (expiry to expiry) Annual wage growth (payrise to payrise)

QUT General

UWA Academic

FINALISED AGREEMENTS CSU UWA General

Awaiting certification Awaiting certification Awaiting certification Awaiting certification

ECU Academic

ECU General

Certified

SYDNEY Certified

29-Sep-10 31-Dec-12 18% 19.3% 4.7% 4.8%

7-Sep-10 30-Sep-12 17.5% 18.8% 4.3% 4.2%

26-May-10 30-Jun-12 17% 18.3% 4.9% 4.6%

30-Sep-09 30-Jun-12 17% 18.3% 4.7% 4.1%

22-Sep-09 May-12 17% 18.3% 5.1% 5.5%

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ n/a n/a n/a

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ n/a n/a n/a

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ n/a n/a n/a

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔

n/a

✔

n/a

✔

n/a

✔

✔ ✔

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ ✔ ✔ n/a • Nomeclature changes to be negotiated with management

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

HEWRRs RESTORATION

HECE fixed term limits Discipline & termination Job security/managing change Union rights CASUALS

25% loading Pay for marking Limits on casual numbers More secure jobs ACADEMIC WORKLOADS

Quantifiable and effective regulation INDIGENOUS EMPLOYMENT

Strategy & targets Monitoring Committee OTHER CLAIMS

Superannuation Dispute resolution Intellectual freedom General staff classifications NOTES & SPECIAL FEATURES

✔ ✔ ✔ n/a • Soft casual limits

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

• Single Agreement for Academic, General and ELT staff

• Contingent continuing research staff provisions

• Serious research misconduct provisions

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

• Protected action • Protected action ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09)

• Protected action ballot (Aug 09)

• Strike (16 Sep 09)

• All bans enabled

✔ Claim achieved

✖ Claim rejected or stalled ? Claim under serious negotiation ✔? Claim largely settled with some detail in dispute

• Protection of general/ professional staff from summary dismissal. • Restoration of restrictions on fixed-term employment with management no longer able to turn genuine continuing positions into fixed-term jobs. • Improved workload clause. • Extension of intellectual freedom to general/ professional staff.

NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Soft casual limits

• Improved casual marking clause, ending unpaid bulk marking by casuals. • 25% casual loading (up from 23%). • Continuing contingent employment clause improving conditions for contract research staff • Restoration of job security clause and retention of protections in disciplinary clauses.

• Protected action ballot (April and Aug 09)

• Restoration of change management protections. • Defence of the current cap on annual contact hours for TESOL teachers. • Pre-natal leave for pregnant women for scheduled medical appointments. The Agreement is proposed to go through until May 2013 with a salary outcome of 18.5%. A

UPDATE FINALISED AGREEMENTS MELBOURNE CQU

ANU

MONASH

RMIT

DEAKIN

GRIFFITH Aca

Status

Certified

Finalised

Approval Date by National Executive Expiry Date Salary increase (flat) Increase compounded Annual wage growth (expiry to expiry) Annual wage growth (payrise to payrise)

17-Apr-10 30-Jun-12 16.5% 17.6% 4.1%

21-Dec-09 30-Jun-12 16.5% 17.7% 4.4%

1-Apr-10 30-Jun-12 16.5% 17.7% 4.6%

24-Feb-10 30-Jun-12 16% 17% 4.3%

20-Oct-10 30-Sep-12 16% 17% 4.3%

4.4%

4.9%

4.1%

27-Aug-10 30-Jun-12 16% 17.1% 4% 4.2%

20-Oct-10 30-Sep-12 16% 17% 4.5%

3.8%

21-Nov-09 30-Jun-12 16.5% 17.7% 4.2% 4.4%

4.5%

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ n/a n/a n/a

✔

n/a

✔ ✔

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Casuals limited by criteria

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Joint unionmanagement review of trimester system

✔ ✔ ✔ n/a

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

GRIFFITH Gen

HEWRRs RESTORATION

HECE fixed term limits Discipline & termination Job security/managing change Union rights CASUALS

25% loading Pay for marking Limits on casual numbers More secure jobs ACADEMIC WORKLOADS

Quantifiable and effective regulation INDIGENOUS EMPLOYMENT

Strategy & targets Monitoring Committee OTHER CLAIMS

Superannuation Dispute resolution Intellectual freedom General staff classifications NOTES & SPECIAL FEATURES

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Access to casual • Serious research • Strong casual facilities limits misconduct • Biennial increprovisions ments • New salary entry point for casual PhD holders • Contingent continuing research staff provisions • Serious research misconduct provisions • Protected action • Protected action ballot (May 09) ballot (May 09) • Strike (21 May • Strike (21 May 09) 09) • 4 hr stop work (24 Aug 09) • Strike (16 Sep 09) • Bans on results (Dec 09) • All bans enabled

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

✔ Claim achieved

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Soft casual limits • Review of salary structures and titles

• Contingent continuing research staff provisions

• Protected action ballot (May 09)

• Protected action • Protected action • Protected action ballot (May 09) ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09)

• Strike (21 May 09)

• Strike (16 Sep 09)

• Bans enabled

• All bans enabled • Bans on results

✖ Claim rejected or stalled ? Claim under serious negotiation ✔? Claim largely settled with some detail in dispute

Bargaining State of Play... 10

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

UPDATE

Status Approval Date by National Executive Expiry Date Salary increase (flat) Increase compounded Annual wage growth (expiry to expiry) Annual wage growth (payrise to payrise)

FINALISED AGREEMENTS CANBERRA UTAS Academic

JCU

LA TROBE

SWINBURNE

UTS Academic

UTS General

Certified

1-Apr-10 30-Jun-12 16% 17% 4.9% 4.7%

20-Oct-09 30-Jun-12 16% 17% 4.2% 4.3%

3-Dec-09 30-Jun-12 16% 17.1% 4.5% 4.9%

4-Nov-09 30-Jun-12 16% 17% 4.3% 4.1%

2-Jul-10 30-Jun-12 16% 17.1% 4.3% 4.3%

6-Aug-10 30-Jun-13 16% 17.3% 4.3% 4.3%

4-Jun-10 30-Jun-12 16% 17% 4.3% 4.3%

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ n/a n/a n/a

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔

n/a

✔

✔ ✔

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Extra 4% conditional pay increase

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Casual IT allowance

✔ ✔ ✔ n/a • Casuals limited by criteria

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

UNE Academic

HEWRRs RESTORATION

HECE fixed term limits Discipline & termination Job security/managing change Union rights

✔ ✔

CASUALS

25% loading Pay for marking Limits on casual numbers More secure jobs ACADEMIC WORKLOADS

Quantifiable and effective regulation INDIGENOUS EMPLOYMENT

Strategy & targets Monitoring Committee OTHER CLAIMS

Superannuation Dispute resolution Intellectual freedom General staff classifications NOTES & SPECIAL FEATURES

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Soft casual criteria

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • New research continuing category of employment • Protected action • ballot Serious research mis(May 09) conduct provisions

• New level B/C appointments

• Serious research misconduct provisions

• Protected action • Protected action • Protected action • Protected action • Protected action • Protected action ballot (May 09) ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09) ballot (May 09)

• Protected action ballot (Sep 09)

• Strike (21 May 09)

• Some bans enabled

• All bans enabled • 30 day extension granted ✔ Claim achieved

RACGP Agreement application refused n application by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) for a new Agreement has been dismissed by Fair Work Australia.

NTEU campaigned against the approval of the Agreement with strong support from many of the RACGP staff. Many of the con-

NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

• Some bans enabled

• All bans enabled

• 30 day extension granted

✖ Claim rejected or stalled ? Claim under serious negotiation ✔? Claim largely settled with some detail in dispute

NATIONAL

✔ ✔ ✔ n/a • Soft casual limits

cerns raised by NTEU about the Agreement lodged by the employer were confirmed by Fair Work Australia.

It is clear that there need to be significant improvements for any future Agreement to be approved – particularly ensuring that RACGP employees will be better off overall when compared to the Award safety net. NTEU will be returning to the bargaining table with RACGP management to achieve a new Enterprise Agreement that is fair and delivers real improvements to the conditions of employment for all College staff. A

UPDATE UNISA

Status Approval Date by National Executive Expiry Date Salary increase (flat) Increase compounded Annual wage growth (expiry to expiry) Annual wage growth (payrise to payrise)

Provisional

PROVISIONAL AGREEMENTS ADELAIDE UQ Provisional

Provisional

UTAS General

UWS General

AGREEMENTS NOT APPROVED BY NTEU UNE General UNSW General MQ General

Provisional

Certified

NTEU opposing

Not approved 28-Oct-12 16% 17%

Not approved 30-Sep-14 16% 17.2% 3.3% 3.3%

Not approved 3yr from cert. date 18% 19.5% 4.5% 4.3%

✖

✖ ✔ ✖ ✖

30-Jun-13 18.5% 19.9% 4.4% 4.4%

15-May-13 18.5% 20% 4.0% 4.0%

31-Mar-13 18% 19.3% 4.2% 4.2%

30-Jun-12 16% 17.1% 4.3% 4.3%

Not approved 31-Dec-12 18% 19.2% 4.8% 4.7%

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✖ ✖ ✖ ✔

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ n/a n/a n/a

n/a n/a n/a

✔

n/a

✔ ✔

? ?

✔

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Heads of Agreement signed 17 Sep 10

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

? ?

HEWRRs RESTORATION

HECE fixed term limits Discipline & termination Job security/managing change Union rights

? ? ?

CASUALS

25% loading Pay for marking Limits on casual numbers More secure jobs ACADEMIC WORKLOADS

Quantifiable and effective regulation INDIGENOUS EMPLOYMENT

Strategy & targets Monitoring Committee

OTHER CLAIMS

Superannuation Dispute resolution Intellectual freedom General staff classifications NOTES & SPECIAL FEATURES

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ • Contingent con- • Data on IFAs to be provided to tinuing research Union twice a staff provision • Serious research year

• Assessment of Agreement not yet available

misconduct provisions

✔ ✔ ✖ ✖ ✔ • Agreement with • Agreement with CPSU put to CPSU put to ballot Sep 10; ballot Sep 10: 57% Yes. Not 60% Yes. Not yet approved by FWA yet approved by FWA • Bargaining suspended Jul 10; impasse over HECE provisions

• Soft casual limits

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

• Protected action • Protected action • Protected action • Protected action • Protected action • Protected action • Protected action • Protected action ballot (Sep 09) ballot (May 09) ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09) ballot (Sep 09) • Strike (16 Sep 09) • Strike (16 Sep • All bans enabled 09) • Bans on results (Nov 09) • Rolling stoppages (Aug 10) • Strike (18Aug10) • Work bans (Sep 10) ✔ Claim achieved

• Strike (16 Sep 09)

• Strike (21 May 09)

• Strike (16 Sep 09)

• All bans enabled • All bans enabled • Strike (16 Sep 09)

• All bans enabled • All bans enabled • All bans enabled • All bans enabled

• All bans enabled

• Bans on results (Nov 09)

• Bans on results (July 10)

• Strike + O-Week action (Mar 10) • Rolling stoppages (Aug/Sep 10) ✖ Claim rejected or stalled ? Claim under serious negotiation ✔? Claim largely settled with some detail in dispute

Bargaining State of Play... 12

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

UPDATE ACU

UNSW Academic MQ Academic

NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUING NEWCASTLE USC FLINDERS

Status

Continuing

Approval Date by National Executive Expiry Date Salary increase (flat) Increase compounded Annual wage growth (expiry to expiry) Annual wage growth (payrise to payrise)

30-Sep-13 20% 21.6% 4.5% 4.5%

3yr from cert. date

30-Sep-14 16% 17.2% 3.3% 3.3%

30-Jun-13 16% 17.2% 4.3% 4%

16% 17% 4%

30-Jun-12 14.3% 15.1% 3.8% 3.8%

✔

✖ ✔

✖

✔

? ? ?

✖ ✔?

✔ ✔

✔? ✔?

18% 19.5% 4.5% 4.3%

CDU

WOLLONGONG

Continuing

13%

4%*

3.5%

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

? ? ? ?

✔ ✔ ✔

? ? ? ?

HEWRRs RESTORATION

HECE fixed term limits Discipline & termination Job security/managing change Union rights

? ? ✔

? ✖

✔ ✔ ✔?

✔ ✔ ✔

✔?

✔ ✔ ✖ ✔

✔

CASUALS

25% loading Pay for marking Limits on casual numbers More secure jobs

✔

? ✔ ✖ ✖

? ? ? ?

✔

? ? ?

✔ ✔ ✔ ✖

✔?

✔

✖

✔ ✔

? ?

✔ ✖

✔ ✔

✔

? ?

? ✔ ✔ ✔

✔? ✖ ✔ ✖

✔? ✔?

• Protected action ballot (Aug 10)

• Protected action ballot (Sep 09)

• Protected action ballot (May 09)

• Strike (16 Sep • All bans 09) enabled

• All bans enabled

• Strike (16 Sep 09)

• Strike (21 May • Strike (16 Sep 09) 09)

• All bans enabled

• Work stoppage (9 Sep 10)

• Bans on results (Dec 09)

• Protected action ballot (May 10)

? ✖

? ? ?

ACADEMIC WORKLOADS

Quantifiable and effective regulation INDIGENOUS EMPLOYMENT

Strategy & targets Monitoring Committee

✖

OTHER CLAIMS

Superannuation Dispute resolution Intellectual freedom General staff classifications

✔ ✔ ✔

NOTES & SPECIAL FEATURES

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

✔ ? ✔ ✔ n/a n/a • Bargaining • Previous suspended agreement from July covered 2010; impasse academic and over HECE general staff provisions

• Protected action ballot (Sep 09)

• Bans on results (July 10)

• Protected action ballot (Sep 09)

✔ ✔

• All bans enabled

? ✔ ✔ ? ✔ ✔ ? ✔ ✔ ? ✔ ✔ • Pay increase • Original 1 yr • Pay increase includes 2007 Agreement, is an admin catch-up in expired 28 increase original 1 year Feb 10 2009 Agree- • NTEU has rejected further ment, expired 3% offer as it is insufDec 09 ficient and conditional on dropping academic workloads claim • Protected action ballot (Sep 09)

• Protected action ballot sought for • 24 hour strike exam bans (Oct 10) (28 June 10) • 4 hr stop work (29 June 10) • 24 hour strike (8 Aug 10) • Bans on results (11 Jun 10–9 Aug 10)

✔ Claim achieved

NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

✖ Claim rejected or stalled ? Claim under serious negotiation ✔? Claim largely settled with some detail in dispute

UPDATE NATIONAL

Progress on Research Workforce Strategy

mongst the plethora of Federal Budget spending announcements in 2009, the Labor Government delivered two White Papers setting out its vision for Australian universities for the next ten years and beyond.

Powering Ideas, the White Paper from Senator Kim Carr’s department, established the task of developing a Research Workforce Strategy (RWS) to address expected shortfalls in the supply of research-qualified people. It also called upon the formation of a Reference Group to support the development of this strategy. Before the 2010 Federal Election intervened, the work of the Reference Group led to the development of a Consultation Paper called Meeting Australia’s research workforce

needs. NTEU was strongly involved in the process, represented on the Reference Group by Carolyn Allport and Paul Kniest. There was substantial member involvement in the Roundtables in January and February 2010, and critical ideas were developed by the Research Policy Committee and NTEU members (especially the University of Queensland Branch’s Research Committee) in composing the NTEU submission. In our submission, the NTEU emphasised the critical role of Australian universities as

NATIONAL

New Minister for Tertiary Education

s the dust settles on the 2010 Federal election, the formation of the new Gillard Government has led to only a handful of ministerial changes. In the upper echelons of Federal Cabinet one of the most significant has been the appointment of Senator Chris Evans, Leader of the Government in the Senate and former Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, as the new Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations. Before politics, Senator Evans, an alumni of the University of Western Australia, spent much of his professional life inside the union movement. He has worked as an Industrial Officer for the Federated Miscellaneous Workers Union (198287), State Secretary of the Western Australian Fire Brigade Union (1987-90), and before his election to the Australian Senate in 1993 was the Western Australian ALP State Secretary. Since 1998, Evans has served on Labor’s frontbench in a range of shadow portfolios including: Family Services and the Aged; Defence Procurement, Science and Personnel; Social Security; Indigenous Affairs; Family and Community Services;

and National Development, Resources & Energy. After the October 2004 Federal election he became the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, and after the election of the Labor Government in 2007, he became both Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. The Union congratulates Minister Evans on his appointment to the Tertiary Education portfolio. In the spirit of the ‘new paradigm’, NTEU is looking forward to a productive relationship with both Minister Evans and Minister Kim Carr. Senator Kim Carr continues in his role as Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. A

both a source of R&D activity and as educators of future researchers. It emphasised the significant task in not only replacing but growing the research workforce in universities, including concern over the scale of unmet supply in the current labour force, and the nature of the structural barriers to the future demand task. We framed the RWS’s capacity for change amidst broader policy settings such as Mission Compacts and ERA outcomes, and spoke to the need for better data - such as data collection on longitudinal studies of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) graduates, evidence based on workforce gaps via discipline, research commissioned by DEEWR on the work roles and attitudes of academics in Australian universities, and the research on HDR student career pathways and teacher training. NTEU believes the major question for the Research Workforce Strategy turns upon the attractiveness of a research and academic career. Key issues have included the impact of the ageing workforce, lack of mobility, casualisation, collegiality and mentoring, career pathways, the effect of career breaks, career stability for research contract staff, the quality of the HDR experience and workforce concerns specific to women researchers and researchers from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds. New NTEU President Jeannie Rea attended the final meeting of the Reference Group in early October 2010. The final meeting recognised the need for the RWS to address seven additional challenges: • The demand for researchers. • The declining pool of domestic graduates • The weak alignment of research training with employer needs and quality standards. • The diminishing attractiveness of research careers. • Impediments to mobility (national and international). • Under-representation within the research workforce. • Information gaps in relation to Australia’s research workforce. The next step in the process will be the finalisation of the RWS. If the RWS is integrated and embedded across departments and levels of government, then the NTEU believes government is on the right track. Over the next year, the NTEU will lobby for expenditure commitments commensurate with the Gillard Government’s ambitious workforce plans. A Jen Tsen Kwok, Policy and Research Officer NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

INDIGENOUS NEWS

New IPC Chair elected I

n September, the Indigenous Policy Committee (IPC) elected a new Chair, Jillian Miller from the University of South Australia (UniSA). The Deputy Chair is Terry Mason from University of Western Sydney (UWS). The Chair, Deputy Chair and members of the IPC will hold office from October 2010 to October 2012.

Jillian Miller is a Mirning woman with family ties to the West Coast of South Australia. In 2006, after 37 years employment with the South Australian Department of Education and Children’s Services (DECS), Jillian accepted a position at UniSA as Coordinator–Indigenous Student Services. In 2002, Jillian was invited by Professor Denise Bradley (former Vice-Chancellor & President of UniSA) to be the Indigenous member of the UniSA Council. Jillian remained a member of Council until her employment within the University in 2006. Jillian also chaired the UniSA Indigenous Education and Research Advisory Committee from 2001–2006. In Jillian’s previous role as Superintendent Aboriginal Education, she had state wide responsibility for Aboriginal Education in South Australia from 2000–2005. In this role she chaired many DECS committees and was a member of the National Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) Task Force on Indigenous Education. Jillian also initiated and was the inaugural chairperson of the Senior Officers National Network Indigenous Education (SONNIE). Terry Mason was born at Kahibah, land of the Awabakal language people and had been elected as Chair of the IPC for the previous two terms. Terry currently works as a Senior lecturer in the Badanami Centre for Indigenous Education at UWS and was previously the Academic Coordinator of the Bachelor of Education Degree delivered by mixed mode through the Aboriginal Rural Education Program. Terry is the Indigenous representative on the Board of the Welfare Rights Centre in NSW and has extensive experience on the issues of Indigenous employment and work, including substantial input into the current employment strategies and clauses in industrial Agreements. NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

Right: Jillian Miller and Terry Mason

Terry is active in the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group and was the primary Indigenous reader of written submissions to the 2004 NSW Review of Aboriginal Education. Terry was also a key researcher in the ‘Successful transition programs from prior-to-school to school for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’ project. Recently, Terry has been directly involved in the One Laptop per Child program, providing advice on cultural and program implementation issues. Terry is closely involved with the Koori community in NSW, social and work issues through active involvement with community groups, welfare organisations, Commonwealth and State Public Service entities and Union representation at member and Executive level.

IPC members The IPC is comprised of eight Indigenous Division Councillors and three Indigenous National Councillors. The membership for the current term includes the following elected representatives: Currently there are two vacancies on the IPC for Tasmanian and ACT Indigenous Division representatives. To ensure full membership and representation, it is hoped that these positions will be filled in the coming months. NTEU congratulates the new membership of the IPC on their election to Committee and looks forward to working with the elected committee members for their terms of office and into the future. A For further information on the IPC please contact Adam Frogley, National Indigenous Officer

IPC Membership 2010–2012 IPC Member

Elected Position

Institution

Jillian Miller

Chair & Indigenous Division Councillor (SA)

UniSA

Terry Mason

Deputy Chair & National Indigenous Councillor UWS

Dr Bronwyn Fredericks

National Indigenous Councillor

QUT

Frances Wyld

National Indigenous Councillor

UniSA

Celeste Liddle

Indigenous Division Councillor (VIC)

Melbourne

Maree Gruppetta

Indigenous Division Councillor (NSW)

UWS

John Graham

Indigenous Division Councillor (QLD)

Griffith

Alma Mir

Indigenous Division Councillor (NT)

Batchelor

Marilyn Strother

Indigenous Division Councillor (WA)

UWA

vacant

Indigenous Division Councillor (TAS)

vacant

Indigenous Division Councillor (ACT)

NATIONAL COUNCIL

National Council 2010: From Dawkins to Deregulation N

ational Council delegates concluded this year’s meeting by unanimously committing the National Executive to developing a high profile and comprehensive campaign for a quality, accessible, well resourced, publicly funded tertiary education system that operates in the public interest for the public good.

The multi-faceted theme resolution recognised that after two decades of the Dawkins restructuring, the university system is again undergoing significant change. The Labor Government’s response to the Bradley review involves substantial deregulation through a new student demand driven funding system. It also removes the sharp distinction between higher education (largely the preserve of universities) and the vocational education and training sector. Within this new policy environment key challenges include: • Increasing public investment in the higher education system to fully reflect the real costs of teaching and research, with particular emphasis on ensuring the financial viability of regional and outer metropolitan universities. • Promoting and protecting the inherent relationship between research, teaching and community service as being the fundamental distinguishing feature between university and other forms of education. • Protecting and improving working conditions including the resourcing of an academic workforce development and recruitment strategy to address the challenges faced by the ageing of the academic workforce.

• Guarding against excessive instrumentalism in the regulation and funding of our universities to protect institutional autonomy and academic freedom. • Ensuring that the student demand driven system does not erode courses and research offerings especially in less popular, but significant areas with longer term social, economic and cultural value. • Re-examining the excessive and narrow metrics of the ERA research funding arrangements and Mission Based Compacts learning and teaching performance indicators. • Establishing Indigenous scholarship as a key national research priority. • Ensuring social equity in access to higher education, including maintenance and extension of Indigenous Support Program funding and improved student income support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, as well as for students from regional and remote Australia. • Ensuring that democratically elected student bodies have the capacity to influence the level and nature of services provided, as well as the capacity to provide independent advocacy on students’ behalf. The National Executive will establish the groundwork for the campaign at the November meeting. Key elements include strategic political lobbying and alliances with student organisations and other education unions, as well as community and professional organisations. In 2011, a major national conference on future directions for Australia’s universities will canvass an alternative structure and funding model for tertiary education. A

Gabe Gooding (UWA), Andrew Bonnell (UQ) and Greg McCarthy (Adelaide) and Mark Schier (Swinburne) 16

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

NATIONAL COUNCIL

Steve Larkin, PVC Indigenous Leadership at Council

rofessor Steve Larkin, Pro Vice Chancellor Indigenous Leadership at Charles Darwin University and Chair of the Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Committee (IHEAC) was a guest at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Council.

Above: Jeannie Rea, NTEU National President with Indigenous Policy Committee Chair, Jillian Miller and Council guest AEU Deputy Federal Secretary, Darcel Russell.

Professor Larkin focussed the attention of the National Council meeting on the reasons behind the continuing issues and challenges in increasing the current levels of Indigenous staffing in higher education. He outlined IHEAC initiatives with particular focus on the National Indigenous Higher Education Workforce Strategy. Professor Larkin reflected upon the exclusion of Indigenous perspectives in higher education due to epistemological racism. He applauded the NTEUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initiatives and consistent industrial and policy advocacy for Indigenous Australians. A

Above: Gabe Gooding, NTEU National Vice President (General) addressing Council. Below: Council preparing to get underway on Day 1.

NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

NATIONAL COUNCIL

State of the Sector – Strangling the Goose that lays the Golden Egg O

ne of the major issues which received a lot of attention at the 2010 National Council was the state of the higher education sector. There were three plenary sessions which covered issues as diverse as the funding and regulatory framework, the offering of higher education qualifications in the VET sector and the emergence of private higher education providers, especially those with a direct connection to our universities.

Each of these issues generated a significant amount of discussion not only from panellists but also from the floor of Council. Greg McCarthy, National VicePresident (Academic), neatly summed up the nature of the discussion when he asked: • Whether the policy discussion around higher education had reached a critical moment? and • If so, what should NTEU be doing about it?

Regulation and funding of higher education The so-called Dawkin’s reforms of the late 1980s which saw the introduction of the unified national system of higher education were seen as the catalyst not only for the way universities would be funded and regulated but also in the political and social discourse about the role of our universities in a modern society. The initial outcry about Julia Gillard’s decision to have higher education covered by the Minister for Skills (Senator Chris Evans) was seen as symptomatic of the shift in the policy debate which essentially characterised universities as part of the Government’s agenda to increase national productivity. What happened to the idea of education as a vital public good which is a goal in itself and not simply a means to an end? A number of the discussants observed that changes in the funding and regulatory framework for our universities had resulted in real declining levels of public investment in our universities and increased use of contestable funding, which was not only increasing staff workloads, increasing casualisation of teaching and also reducing job security for research intensive staff. Increasing reliance on market based policy mechanisms, including the imminent introduction of the student demand driven model was resulting in the commodification of higher education, a reluctance of universities to offer less popular courses and a diversion of scare university resources away from core learning and research activities to marketing and branding.

The emergence of international university rankings (such as the Jiao Tong University ratings) and their perceived importance in university management thinking and effort was cited as evidence of market presence. While being supportive of the government’s participation and social inclusion agenda, it was pointed out that this presented challenges in relation to the provision of appropriate student support services as well the recruitment and retention of staff. In addition to the importance of promoting the values that define the nature of a university education, it was emphasised that declining levels of public investment in our universities was undermining their capacity to fulfil the communities’ expectations. Declining public investment was leading to increasing workloads, which is neatly captured by Figure 1 which shows that there is a strong inverse relationship between funding per government supported student and student:staff ratios. The consequences of increasing student:staff ratios goes well beyond impacting on the working conditions of NTEU members and other staff but also has the potential to undermine the quality of education and research being undertaken at our universities. Ultimately these developments also decrease the attractiveness of academic careers, which will make the task faced by universities in addressing the demographic reality of an ageing academic workforce all the more difficult. Declining levels of public investment and the resulting increase in student:staff ratios not only impacts directly on workloads, but has also resulted in the push towards more cost efficient ways of delivering undergraduate education. However, it follows that if reducing expenditure is the over-riding concern, then inadvertently quality may be sacrificed. Increasing use of sessional teaching staff, a desire by universities to classify more academic staffing as teaching or research specialists and the outsourcing of undergraduate teaching to private providers such as Navitas, are evidence of this (short sighted) cost efficiency drive.

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

NATIONAL COUNCIL

Outsourcing of university programs

140

130

Student:Staﬀ Ratio

(Universities Australia) The emergence of VET and private providers 120 in the delivery of higher education qualifications is another area of policy that received 110 considerable attention. In addition to presenting a direct threat to the jobs of staff in 100 our universities, the delivery of higher education programs outside of universities must 90 be subject to the same quality assurance mechanisms as apply to universities. 80 Real Funding per Student Following a robust discussion, the gen(NTEU Estimates) eral view was reached that these changes 70 within the higher education sector are in recognition of the existing reality, and while 60 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 undesirable there was little to be gained in opposing these developments outFigure 1: Student Staff Ratios and Funding per Government Supported Student 1996 - 2006 right. Rather, the view which was ultimately adopted by Council and reflected in motions was that staff who were teaching in higher education programs should be appropriately qualified, have access to mentoring and professional development and be employed and paid in accordance There was a strong feeling amongst both the panellists and those on with staff delivering similar programs at our universities. the floor that it was important that NTEU undertake a public camWhile this approach will put pressure on external providers who paign, the primary objective which would be to reshape the public wish to undercut our universities, it also provides NTEU with an policy agenda around higher education. Ultimately the campaign opportunity to work with the other unions to ensure these staff are should aim to shift the public view about the role of universities in properly recognised, supported and rewarded. contemporary Australian society. Without shifting public opinion on Some of the recommendations of NTEU’s Private Providers Workthe importance of universities we are unlikely to have any prospect of ing Party, which was established to look at some of these emerging shifting the major Parties’ policy positions. issues, go to industrial and professional issues associated with the Historically, the Union’s message has been well received on broad outsourcing of university courses. issues around education, and recent experience with a number of The recommendations include, but are not limited to: branch based campaigns around the introduction of mission based • NTEU undertaking further research into the scope and structure of compacts clearly shows that our members want to engage around private providers. broader policy and professional issues. Membership engagement • Lobbying the Federal Government to ensure that TEQSA’s remit is and commitment are important precursors to shifting public opinion, extended to include registration and quality assurance for all postand in cementing the Union’s position as the progressive body leadschool education and training providers. ing the debate on public policy, social commentary and industrial • Formulating claims for the next bargaining round to address advocacy within the sector. workload issues and that members receive an equitable share of The campaign should be focused on the idea of ‘the university’ the economic benefits of any course materials transferred, sold or and in particular what makes universities unique and the values that leased to PEPs. underpin their missions as organisations for public good. Important • At a very minimum enforce the pay and conditions of employment values include academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and equiunder the Educational Services (Post Secondary Education) Award. table access and participation in higher education. Emphasising the • In the first instance, adopt a targeted approach to organising and importance of universities as institutions engaged in the scholarship recruiting in the PEP sector. of teaching, research and community engagement was seen as criti• Produce a resource, such as the UCU’s Fighting Privatisation: A cal to the campaign. A Branch Activist’s Guide. Paul Kniest, Policy &Research Coordinator

National campaign

NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

NATIONAL COUNCIL

Challenges and opportunities for NTEU in Dual Sector institutions At National Council, a wide ranging panel discussion about the nature and implications of the dual sector universities in Australia was held. Panel participants included Tony Brown (UTS), John Fitzsimmons (CQU), Susan Bandias (CDU), Colin Long (Vic Div) and Jamie Doughney (VU).

dual sector institution is defined as one that offers both higher education and VET qualifications. At present there are six institutions classified as dual sector, namely the University of Ballarat, RMIT University, Swinburne University, Victoria University (VU), Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (BIITE), Charles Darwin University (CDU) and Curtin University. While Central Queensland University (CQU) is currently under negotiations with the local TAFE to form Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seventh dual sector institution, it possible that a number of other smaller regional universities might also be considering such options.

The discussion covered a wide range of issues associated with dual sector universities, from their role in improving participation rates for disadvantaged students, to the implications of different funding arrangements for higher education and VET students and how this was impacting on the internal distribution of resources within dual sector universities. In terms of staff related issues, the discussion covered a number of topics, including the differing pedagogies between the sectors, the different qualifications expected or required and more direct industrial concerns such as significant variations in pay, working conditions and position structures.

Social inclusion Tony Brown (University of Technology, Sydney) argued that based on social justice grounds NTEU should support dual sector universities because they play an important role in promoting greater social inclusion within Australia higher education. There is evidence to support the view that many dual sector universities have an important role to play in expanding education by providing pathways from VET into higher education. The articulated pathway model is one being promoted by the Gillard Government and as a way of improving both participation and retention of students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. John Fitzsimmons (CQU) supported this view and observed that one of the primary reasons the proposed merger between CQU and the Central Queensland Institute of TAFE (CQIT) had gained such strong political support from both the Commonwealth and Queensland governments was because of its capacity to increase participation rates in post secondary education in Central Queensland. The new merged entity would result in an institution with some 25,000 20

students and add an additional 470 staff as well as 27 programs to CQUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current offerings. It would also add nine new campuses to CQU which was seen as having a major advantage in improving the reach of higher education offerings in the region.

Challenges for the Union Dual sector universities also present a number of educational and industrial challenges for the union. One clear challenge that faced dual sector institutions was the very different approaches to pedagogy in the VET and higher education sectors. Within the VET sector there has been a move toward nationally standardised competency based training whereas as in higher education there remains a concern not only with what students learn but how they learn it. A crude simplification of why there are differing approaches to teaching in the two sectors is because in higher education staff are assumed to operate with academic freedom and therefore exercise a degree of control of what and how they teach and research. In most states the regulatory, funding and reporting frameworks also differ significantly between higher education and VET. For example VET courses generally need to be approved and accredited by a State or Territory authority whereas universities self accredit higher education qualifications. Interestingly, the regulatory framework for the new CQU-CQIT merger appears to differ from those applying in other jurisdictions. The new merged entity will be responsible for self accrediting all of its higher education and VET programs. Differing pedagogical approaches, funding and regulatory frameworks have resulted in organisational structures where the higher education and VET functions of each institution are segregated and academic staff are identified as being involved in either the higher education or VET programs. NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

NATIONAL COUNCIL

VET Agreements Susan Bandias noted that CDU was unique in that it was the only dual sector institution with a single Collective Agreement which covered all staff regardless of whether they were involved in VET or higher education, albeit with separate clauses that relate specifically to staff working in the two sectors. Until 2007, CDU operated on an integrated organisational structure where VET staff taught into some higher education programs and vice versa. In 2007 however, the VET and higher education functions were segregated and any cross-over teaching also ceased. CDU is currently considering a new organisational and staffing structure which once again goes back to an integrated structure. Rather than being classified under VET or higher education staff the university is proposing that staff be designated as ‘teaching intensive’, ‘research only’ or ‘teaching and research’.

Financial viability Jamie Doughney examined some of the resourcing issues confronting dual sector universities. His analysis of dual sector finances indicated that dual sectors tended to have a much stronger focus on teaching in their higher education divisions compared to other universities. He also noted that for most dual sector universities the financial data indicated that there was a high degree of cross subsidisation from the higher education divisions to VET divisions. He estimated that the value of cross subsidisation for VU was in the order of $25m per year. By way of example he noted that one important activity that the actual student contact hour funding for VET provision in Victoria did not cover was the provision of student services. Jamie concluded his address by posing the question as to what the introduction of the new student demand driven model of funding for university students would mean for dual sector institutions. He speculated that some dual sector institutions would be tempted to shift VET student load to higher education based on the fact that higher education students are funded at a higher rate. NTEU would need to monitor any such developments to guard against threats to our members’ positions because of their courses being taught by staff employed under inferior VET staff conditions.

Future options Differences in resourcing and pedagogical approaches between the VET and higher education sectors means that the staff employed in each often have different qualifications, expectations and working conditions. This presents a threshold question for NTEU, namely whether we should engage with or oppose the notion that staff employed primarily to teach in VET also be involved in higher education. A number of speakers noted that given the reality, it would be counterproductive for the NTEU to ignore both the challenges and opportunities presented in dual sector universities. There was a general consensus that it was important for the NTEU to work with the Australian Education Union (AEU) to not only increase union coverage and improve the pay and working conditions of VET staff so that these are commensurate with staff working in higher education, but also to have a more consistent approach in terms of policy development. A NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

International guests E

ach year, NTEU invites guests from overseas tertiary education unions to attend National Council. As well as fostering friendship between the NTEU and other unions in our region and sector, these visits are an opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences, directions and ideas.

In 2010 our international dignitaries were Barry Foster, Vice President (Academic) from the New Zealand Tertiary Education Union (NZTEU); Rohit Kishore, President of the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (Fiji); and from National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) South Africa, John Landman, National Office Bearer (Strategic and Policy Affairs) and Graham Myers, National Treasurer. New Zealand’s TEU is a recent (2009) amalgamation of the Association of University Staff (AUS) and the Association of Staff in Tertiary Education (ASTE). Barry Foster said they are busy trying to find out what their members want from the Union. South Africa’s NTEU is an even more recent amalgamation. It was formed in 2009 when the National Tertiary Education Staff Union and National Union of Tertiary Employees of South Africa merged, bringing 5000 union members within the higher education industry together. The South Africans were impressed with NTEU’s structure and activities and were keen to continue discussions on the benefits of our two unions working together. A

From top: John Landman, NTEU South Africa; Graham Myers, NTEU South Africa; Barry Foster, TEU NZ, and Rohit Kishore, AUSPS Fiji.

POLITICS

The Gillard Minority Government: while there is life there is hope Professor Greg McCarthy National Vice President (Academic)

inority governments are as commonplace around the world as they are in the history of Australian States. They have been good and bad, effective and ineffectual, radical and moderate. The particular political configuration of the current Gillard minority Government is pregnant with possibilities for all the political players and for the public. The formation of the Government revealed the Prime Minister’s negotiating skills and her ability to askew traditional Labor party ideology or vision for pragmatic outcomes. In contrast, Opposition leader Tony Abbott showed that he preferred hard-edged adversarial politics to compromising. For their part, Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter revealed that, whilst at times befuddling the press, they were men of principle, true to what they believed was best for the country over electoral pork-barrelling. In this regard, they follow, a little discussed but, long history of Australian independents seeking to champion larger causes, such as Nick Xenophon and his anti-pokies campaign. Likewise the Greens were true to their social justice and environmental agenda, but also showed willingness to compromise and perhaps therein dispel their ideologue status.

Higher education Given this mixture of political pragmatism and cooperation, the potential for the new Gillard Government to not just survive but be an effective government is encouraging. For higher education the new political configuration will challenge the Prime Minister’s skills as a problem solver. Gillard has a strong commitment to education for its ability to create equal opportunity. But for her this is more a junior-secondary school sector ‘passion’ (where by-the-by there are more votes). For Gillard, higher education is about skills and market-based innovation, where the knowledge gap can be filled just as readily by the vocational institutions as universities. For the Independents, notably Tony Windsor, this is a once off chance to address regional higher educational disadvantage. The Greens will need to find a space between the two agendas of skills and regionalism to define their plan for higher education. For their part, the Opposition can retain the minimalist higher education program they took to the last election, whilst seeking to oppose the Government on more high profile issues such as Afghani22

stan, refugees and carbon trading. In this regard, the Gillard Government has a good deal of room to manoeuvre on higher education as it is not an issue that Abbott regards as central to his destabilising plan or to popular opinion. There are, however, two impediments to advancing higher education under the Gillard minority Government. The first is that there is no over-arching vision for the sector, notably its 37 diverse universities; apart from utilitarianism (their utility is to serve the market or region by training graduates and conducting industry focused research). The silence on the benefits of an analytically based liberal education is deafening. Secondly, the Gillard Government is caught between two imperatives, on the one hand, to deregulate student numbers whilst, on the other hand, not trusting universities to conduct their affairs in an autonomous manner. In this, the minority Government is no different from the Rudd or Howard Governments. None of these governments trusted universities to have a view that was not self interested, thus the plethora of regulation, quality audits, rankings and compacts. All these regulatory intrusions were defended in terms of taxpayer accountability, whilst paradoxically it was the growth in student fees (HECS) and international student income that preserved the university’s financial base so as to meet its broad educational goals. The mishandling of the international student market reveals how blasé politicians have become to the financial needs of the universities. Crude electoral populism by Abbott and Gillard has placed the student market at risks at the very time when international forces are coalescing against the training of overseas students in Australia. This example shows the real danger facing the minority government of a visionless, fix-it when it becomes a problem, model of government. It will be tests like university funding that will tell whether this Government simply lives until the next election or meets the hopes of many in the electorate for genuine change. A NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

POLITICS

The new political paradigm is an opportunity for progressive policies Ged Kearney ACTU President

took office as President of the ACTU at the start of July, and almost from day one we were in election mode. I quickly discovered how hard my staff would have me working! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d hate to think how many kilometres I covered in July and August. Like most of you, the election outcome was certainly a surprise to me. It revealed how much different regions of Australia differ politically.

In WA, for example there was a 5.6% swing against the Government â&#x20AC;&#x201C; although more of that was to the Greens rather than the Coalition. But in my home state of Victoria, there was an almost equal swing against the Coalition that resulted in Labor picking two seats from the Coalition. And, of course, also the first Greens MP in the Lower House. We are in for interesting times ahead, but in the end, the two regional independents, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, made the right decision in the interests of both stable and effective government, and working Australians and their families. It was a decision for the future, framed around new agendas on climate change, broadband, health and education, a more democratic parliament and more compassionate nation, and, of course, a stronger economy that delivers job opportunities for all. The election highlighted how the issues are also different in parts of Australia as well. Again in WA, no doubt the mining tax remains an area of controversy. But in the southern and eastern states, there is little argument with the idea that some of the windfall wealth generated from our natural resources should be shared so that all of Australia benefits.

The ghost of WorkChoices Despite our regional differences, the recent election has cemented a national consensus on a fair workplace system. WorkChoices is dead. None of the major parties have espoused plans to resurrect it. From the outset of the federal election, the union movement set itself one over-riding and primary objective - that was to ensure that the improvements to workplace rights gained since the abolition of WorkChoices were locked in. WorkChoices was one of the major issues of the election, and the Rights at Work campaign successfully ensured that both parties have committed to fair work laws. Australians believe fundamentally in a system that delivers a strong workplace safety net, job security and NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

good workplace conditions. Tony Abbott was forced to abandon his previous public commitments to individual contracts, to cutting protections from unfair dismissal, and to winding back the award safety net. And he finished the campaign as he started: rejecting the policies of deregulated labour markets that have been a central plank of Liberal philosophy since the party was founded. Remember dead, buried and cremated? We are pleased that the cross-bench MPs have, in the end, supported the formation of a Labor Government. This will ensure that the workplace rights we value are well and truly protected, because it is true that we did have suspicions that Tony Abbott would not honour his public statements during the election campaign. It remains a travesty that we never saw a detailed IR policy from the Coalition. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d also remind the independents that the consensus on a fair workplace system applies to them as well. They would be going against the wishes of Australian voters if at some stage they backed legislation that would reduce protections from unfair dismissal or allow the re-introduction of individual contracts. And we would hold anyone who did that fully accountable at the ballot box. But I have faith that the rural independents are aware of their responsibilities, so I think we have little to fear on that front. It is very interesting though, that we are seeing long standing disputes suddenly settle after the election, with organisations such as Telstra, CBA and Qantas waiting, it seems, to see which way the industrial cards would fall. That is not to say that the Fair Work Act is perfect. We have been frank about its deficiencies which include the right to bargain at whatever level workers choose; the restriction on arbitration; the constraints around low paid determinations, and the failure of the Fair Work Act to comply with ILO conventions particularly in relation to the taking of industrial action; rights of union delegates; officers on worksites, and of course the ABCC. continued overpage... 23

POLITICS ...continued from previous page

The quality and worth of unions As a new President of the ACTU – I have only been in this position for three months – it was an incredible privilege to be able to travel the nation during the election campaign and to meet with so many workers from all around the country and in different types of jobs. In those few weeks, I visited trucking yards for breakfast with drivers at dawn, served sausages to nurses and orderlies in hospitals at lunchtime, call centres, railway stations, building sites and factories. Everywhere I went, I met decent, hardworking people whose aspirations are modest, yet so often unfulfilled. They want a secure job, a job at which they can earn enough to provide for their family without forfeiting precious time; they want to be safe at work; they want to be respected and consulted by their employer; they want productive and satisfying work that they have some control over, and that encourages them to learn new skills; they want to be treated fairly and, women, equally; they want their workplace to be environmentally and worker-friendly. The union movement has a responsibility to these workers. As President of the ACTU, I am determined to continue driving that agenda. The Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) where I came from, is a campaigning union that builds on values that are important to our members, those of social justice, of professional advocacy and leadership, and of course industrial outcomes. We know that unions can be places that make you feel secure, productive and proud. I want every Australian to know that and I want them to feel the need to join, to feel part of a movement, a movement that makes changes for the better. And I am determined to fight for more respect for unions from all our political leaders and commentators. My message is this: if you want to know what’s best for jobs, for public services, for our industries – ask the people who work in them, speak to unions and their members! We must develop and advocate for good social policy that connects not only with our members, but the wider community, We cannot lose sight of the importance of campaigning to our movement. Governments, whether Labor or Liberal, will not simply implement change because unions ask them to. Of course, strong advocacy does not mean you have to be about finding conflict for conflict’s sake. I’m sure everyone in this room knows it, but it is important that we communicate to the wider community that the union movement is far different from the stereotypes of male, blue-collar workers, important as they are to the union movement.

Building a new image for unionism Today, close to 50% of union members are women, and increasingly our growth is in white-collar and service industries. Given that, it is untenable that we have a pay inequity gap of 18% in 2010, a gap that has been widening rather than closing – a perfect example of a social issue’s impact on an industrial issue, an example of what we as a movement must fight to change. I think unions and unionism have been unfairly demonised, particularly during the Howard years. We need to change that language 24

about unions: think union thugs, ugly union bosses, think bad for the economy! This is bad for progressive policies – conflict only ever seems to be one guilty party in any workplace conflict. It’s time to move away from that: I think we can. We need to take up social issues again, appeal to women to a younger generation. And of all unions, your union is perfectly placed to do so. I am not sure of your exact gender mix but I would say fair female and male representation. You provide a vital community service, and you are prepared to take a broader social view of what is important to your members and the community and with a credibility that many others would struggle to find. You have links with our youth at that critical age where political awareness is born. Attracting young activists is one of our biggest challenges as a movement. The biggest mistake we make I think is assuming young people aren’t interested in policy. My experience is the opposite. They are totally interested and willing to be engaged if only we can connect and captivate them. I suspect social networking will have a great deal to do with that, and on-the-ground mentoring. I’ll be coming your way for help with this challenge. I think the future is bright for us. I think the next three years with this new strange political paradigm can be a real opportunity for us to grow and forge progressive policies for all Australians. And people like you are just the ones to do it. A This is an edited version of the speech Ged Kearney gave at NTEU National Council

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

SUSTAINABILITY

Council commits to act on climate change ‘C

limate change is the greatest challenge of our time’* and NTEU National Council recognised this with a determination that the Union increase our activity towards environmental sustainability.

Council recognised that members, Branches and Divisions have established networks and are organising in and outside our institutions to change our own practices and to lobby decision makers at all levels. The focus was upon resourcing climate change and environmental sustainability activities within the union, as well as working with other unions to develop future policy and strategy on moving the Australian economy from the reliance on fossil fuels as Australia’s primary energy source and major export earner. To this end, NTEU will hold a major con-

ference next year (held over from 2010) and invite union representatives from the carbon intensive sectors. Council committed the National Executive to seeking amendments to the current ACTU environment policies at the next ACTU Congress in late 2011. The ACTU has established a high level Climate Action Group to focus upon the new political environment recognising the pivotal role that climate change policy and politics will have in determining the speed and scope of the transition to a low-carbon economy. The NTEU Climate Change Conference will

also focus upon the critical responsibilities that we as a union of academics and education professionals have in teaching, research, publishing and commentary on climate change and environmental sustainability. As well as drawing upon the academic expertise of our members, we will also focus upon Educating for Sustainability (EFS) through our curricula and through our institutional practices, where many members have much experience. A *UN Copenhagen Climate Change Summit Agreement 2009

NSW gets Climate Active O

n 18 September 2010, NTEU NSW co-hosted the Climate Active Conference in conjunction with the LHMU and NSW Teachers’ Federation. The conference was a great success and brought together more than 100 activists from 10 different unions and a number of student and community environment groups.

Keynote speaker was Tim Noonan, Director of Campaigns and Communications from the International Trade Union Confederation, who spoke about the challenges and successes of the ITUC in representing a union-driven climate change agenda at an international level. Other speakers included former UNSW Branch President Susan Price, long-time NTEU member and climate activist Mark Diesendorf, Greens candidate and former NSWTF Assistant General Secretary Phil Bradley, and LHMU Clean Start Leader Lucy Fu. In addition to the plenary sessions, NTEU, LHMU and NSWTF members ran 11 different workshops covering a diverse range of topics including ‘Education and training for a sustainable future’, ‘Climate change and low paid workers,’ and ‘Direct action on climate change: towards a progressive agenda’. In the wake of the conference, the NSW Sustainability Network has doubled in size and now has more than 50 members. We also hope to use this partnership with other unions to promote the sustainability agenda within the broader union movement. A

NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

PARENTAL LEAVE

Government Paid Parental Leave countdown Terri MacDonald NTEU Policy & Research Officer

he Government’s Paid Parental Leave scheme (PPL) will take effect from 1 January 2011. The PPL is a stand-alone scheme, separate to the employer funded parental leave entitlement negotiated by the Union in Collective Agreements. As such, the PPL can be taken in addition to existing employer-funded schemes and employees may receive the PPL payments before, after, or at the same time as employer-provided paid leave.

At a glance The Federal Government Paid Parental Leave: • Is funded by the Australian Government. • Is, in most cases, for mothers who have been working before the birth of their child. • Can be transferred to the other eligible parent, but must be claimed initially by the mother. • Is paid at the National Minimum Wage – currently $570 a week (before tax). • Lasts for up to 18 weeks. • Can be taken in a continuous period, any time in the 1st year after the birth of a child. • Is also available to adoptive parents.

Who is eligible? Most permanent and long term contract staff will be entitled to either the PPL or the Baby Bonus payment of $5294, (noting that unless there are multiple births, employees must chose which payment they wish to take). Some casual and sessional employees working in higher education may also qualify for the PPL. In order to qualify for the Government’s PPL scheme, employees must meet the ‘Work Test’ provisions. To meet the ‘Work Test’ an employee must have: • worked for at least 10 of the 13 months prior to the birth or adoption of your child, and • worked for at least 330 hours in that 10 month period, with no more than an eight week gap between two consecutive working days. (note: NTEU is currently lobbying the Federal Government to revise this eight week gap provision, as this may 26

disadvantage many long term sessional/ casual staff in higher education due to the nature of semester based employment arrangements.) Where an employee does not meet the ‘Work Test’, they may still be eligible for the Baby Bonus. Members in this situation should contact the Family Assistance Office for more information.

Key milestones 1 October 2010: The first claims can be lodged by parents. 1 January 2011: Payments will start for eligible parents of children born or adopted on or after this date. 1 January 2011. Employers can choose to undertake the role of providing Government-funded Parental Leave Pay from this date. 1 July 2011: Employers will be responsible for providing Parental Leave Pay to their long term employees (i.e. those with 12 months service with their employer). More information on the PPL c www.australia.gov.au or contact your local NTEU Branch

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

review

Power in Coalition: Building strong coalitions between unions and community organisations N

TEU knows that to improve the lives of our members and the state of Australia’s university system, we need to work with like-minded organisations who share a similar vision and set of values. Consequently, coalitions between unions and community organisations are an important tool for advancing our professional and industrial interests, particularly when it comes to increasing the financial support and respect for the higher education system.

While coalitions may be an important tool for social change – what makes them successful? What causes them to fail? Amanda Tattersall, Deputy Assistant Secretary at Unions NSW (pictured, left) has written a book called Power in Coalition that considers these challenges. It is the first international study to examine successful coalitions between unions and community organisations in three countries: Chicago’s living wage campaign run by the Grassroots Collaborative, the public education coalition in Sydney and Toronto’s Ontario Health Coalition fighting to save universal health care. The book looks at when and how alliances between unions and community organisations can win policy changes and strengthen the power of unions. It identifies important lessons for building strong coalitions. For instance, counter to the popular belief that big coalitions are always better – Power in Coalition argues that ‘less is more’. A smaller number of powerfully committed organisations will be more successful at sustaining social change and engaging union members than a highly diverse coalition where there is little trust or common interest. Tattersall argues that the most successful coalitions are ones that not only achieve social change victories but also sustain relationships with community organisations over time and engage the rank and file in the campaigns. NTEU has a track record of working in coalition. University branches regularly work with student organisations, other unions and community-based organisations to promote and expand the vitality of the higher education sector. These are often successful, but also frequently challenging relationships. Power in Coalition provides helpful insight into how the NTEU can make these relationships successful so they deliver powerful social change outcomes and strengthen the Union in the process. The author, Amanda Tattersall, has a background as a union and community organiser. She was a leader in the student movement, cofounded Labor for Refugees and GetUp, as well as being an elected official at Unions NSW. To write this book she spent two years living in Canada and the United States learning from their successes and struggles in building coalitions. Over the past three years, she has been putting these ideas into practice in instigating and helping to NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

build the Sydney Alliance, which is set to publicly launch in 2011. Power in Coalition was released in September 2010 by Allen & Unwin. A Book website c www.powerincoalition.com

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Contact Dr Lisa Lines: 0402 361 452 Email: info@eliteediting.com.au Web: www.eliteediting.com.au 27

AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Mind your language! AUR considers English as she is spoke

2010 no. 2, 0818– 8068 vol. 52, ISSN by NTEU Published

AUR

iew ities’Rev n Univers Australia

Ian R Dobson Editor of Australian Universities’ Review

he language of tuition in Australian universities continues to be English, but few would dispute that ‘standards’ have declined over recent decades. There was a time when a pass in Sixth Form (matric) English was a prerequisite for entry into most university courses, but no longer. As Katie Dunworth reports in her paper in the current issue of Australian Universities’ Review (AUR) ‘the English produced by our university students is often disgracefully shoddy in the fundamentals of language....’ How true, I hear you say, but she is quoting Theodore Morrison from 1941! However, as she puts it, ‘the gist … has hardly wavered across the generations….What has changed… is the nature of the population against whom such criticism is levelled’ (Dunworth, 2010, p5).

Contemporary universities have many more students than they used to have, and many don’t speak English as their mother tongue. This a result of the ‘massification’ of higher education, an American neologism used to describe the transformation of universities from elite to mass institutions (and perhaps a word we could love to hate). Many of the ‘new’ students in Australian universities (over 250,000, in fact) are overseas students, and our fragile university system has allowed itself to become dependent on the fee income they generate. Anything that affects the overseas student as cash-cow is bad! Just ask any Vice-Chancellor. But back to English! Katie Dunworth demonstrates that the issues involved are complex ones. It is generally argued that students’ language skills are less than they should be, but she notes that ‘English language proficiency’ is not universally understood as meaning the same thing, and it is not certain how it is to be measured. Universities, she says, ‘need to articulate communal and defensible understandings of the nature of language proficiency and the levels that are appropriate for tertiary study’. Her paper is topical and makes excellent reading. Whilst our thoughts are on English expression, we ought not to forget that a lot of what is written by universities about themselves is not of a particularly good standard. In other words, underachievement in English is not the exclusive domain of university students. We need go no further than (most) Australian universities’ official websites to find third rate English expression. Is there any excuse for a university failing to express itself clearly and unambiguously? Surely our universities would not attempt to con us with weasel words1. When it comes on stream, I hope the new Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) lists as one of its first tasks 28

an examination of the standards of English expression in university documents in the public domain. University websites and university documents are not the only places to find egregious English. We also have to put up with the slogans, tags and ejaculations that universities now use as part of their ‘branding’. Australia has many fine universities, but surely they cheapen themselves by suggesting we Dream large, and/or Go Boldly, thinking of two of the three universities I once worked at, and hold qualifications from. As a confirmation that AUR is thinking of your intellectual wellbeing on this matter, please read Arthur O’Neill’s paper in the current issue. Arthur suggests that universities could do without the zany promulgations that we see on their websites, job advertisements, et cetera. ‘A demonstration of good teaching and research, not of questionable boosting, is the way to secure esteem’ (O’Neill, 2010, p75). Is he right, or is he right? And while we’re on the subject, dig out the February issue of AUR and re-read Joseph Gora’s (2010) paper ‘Run that sexy motto by me again’. Scary stuff! A 1. ‘Weasel words’ is an informal term for words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated – Wikipedia References Dunworth, K 2010, ‘Clothing the emperor: addressing the issue of English language proficiency in Australian universities’. Australian Universities’ Review 52(2) 5-10. Gora, J 2010, ‘Run that sexy motto by me again’. Australian Universities’ Review 52(1) 77-80. O’Neill, A 2010, ‘Reach for the starts’. Australian Universities’ Review 52(2) 72-75.

Australian Universities’ Review c www.aur.org.au NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

INTERNATIONAL

EI rallies to free imprisoned Colombian professor E

ducation International (EI) has ramped up its protest against the incarceration of Colombian professor and trade unionist Miguel Beltrán by launching an online petition to free him. The petition went online after its launch on 10 September at the International Conference on Higher Education and Research in Vancouver, Canada.

Beltrán was tried last year by the Colombian Government on charges of ‘rebellion’ and ‘breaking the law for terrorist purposes’. There is no evidence to support the allegations against him, say the organisations that have been gathering signatures across the globe to demand his release. Beltrán was deported from Mexico in 2008 for suspected involvement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). EI has repeatedly condemned abuses of teachers’ human and trade union rights in Colombia. As part of its campaign to release Beltrán, EI has written an open letter to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and to the Colombian embassy in Belgium, calling for Beltrán’s unconditional release. There has been little evidence to prove Beltrán was breaking any law; prosecutors used scholarly articles to make their case. ‘Although my academic activities are not criminal, papers written by me are presented as evidence against me,’ Beltrán wrote from prison. ‘It is easy to echo the calls to war. But studying the roots of the social and armed conflicts is a much more complex and dangerous exercise.’ In an open letter to his union, the Association of University Professors (APSU), sent from La Picota prison last February, Beltrán wrote: ‘These violations are reflected in the arbitrary arrests of students, police raids on university campuses, the murder and disappearance of students, threats against university professors, and widespread accusations of rebellion against university members, followed by hasty trials.’ Beltrán’s case has already garnered hearty support around the world, including petitions organised by the UK-based University and College Union, Justice for Colombia, and Tlaxcala, the international Translators’ Network for Linguistic Diversity. Appeals have also been made by international trade union LabourStart and the Network for Education and Academic Rights NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

(NEAR). Some higher education institutes have also linked into EI’s petition, said its human and trade union rights coordinator Dominique Marlet. So far, there has been no final tally of the number of petitioners nor has there been any news about Beltrán’s release. A Eileen Travers, University World News, 17 October 2010 Sign the petition to free Beltrán c www.ei-ie.org/form/20100910_en.php University World Newsc www.universityworldnews.com

SNAPSHOT

glasgow, scotland, 20 October 2010

No Cuts! No Fees! protest march by the Glasgow University Anti-Cuts Action Network in reaction to the spending cuts and proposed University fees announced in the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance by Lord Browne. Photo: Jani Helle, GlasgowUniPhoto.com

NATIONAL COUNCIL news from the net

PAT WRIGHT

iPadagogy T

he star turn at the recent Education Research Group of Adelaide conference (www.adelaide.edu.au/erga/) was an outline of the proposal by the Adelaide Science Faculty to give an iPad to each student beginning a Science degree in 2011. This proposal has attracted international attention and some criticism, most of which assumes that the devices will be substitutes, rather than supplements, for text-books or teachers or both, and thus demean the learning experience.

On the contrary, the Faculty’s intention in using iPads in teaching is ‘to revitalise the learning experience’ and to ‘increase student-teacher interaction’ in an ‘iPad-enhanced curriculum’. The pedagogical processes being fostered in association with the iPad and other ICTs are probably more important and effective than the devices themselves. The iPad may be a trigger, but it is not a gun, and certainly not a silver bullet for effective university teaching. The iPad has prompted the adoption of more interactive processes such as pre-reading bulletin boards, pre-lecture online quizzes, lecture-concurrent chat-lounges, tweets or wikis, issue tag-clouds, lecture outlines with hyper-linked text and embedded illustrative material, post-lecture queries by email or SMS, online evaluation and peer-assessment and even group work on social media networking sites or university online education sites. No doubt the students themselves will devise further mechanisms and techniques which work for them. For the lecturer, this ferment of innovation could transform lectures and tutorials into more interactive learning sessions in a more satisfying work-life. Not that less lecturing means less work - in fact, it probably takes more work, at least initially, to design online quizzes, lecture presentations and assessment tasks and projects than to stick with traditional pedagogy. As with most labour-saving devices, the labour that the iPad saves (or stores) is yours. So why bother if it’s more work? ‘Cos it’s more fun and it works! Besides, jus imagine how much nicer it would be to give a lecture with prior knowledge of what the class knows already, thanks to an online pre-test - both sides of the lectern would gain from that. And what a delight to no longer hear the excuse that the tutorial reading was not available from the library Reserve... For the student, the inclusion of familiar technology and social media in their learning as well as their life makes for more congenial learning - providing, as Ivan Illich once said ‘Tools for Conviviality’. Students with part-time employment, in particular, appreciate having a greater proportion of their learning not tied down to one particular time and place - so the asynchronous teaching made possible by ICTs facilitates continuing and ubiquitous learning. Besides, having all of your text-books, reference sources, lecture notes, tutorial readings, workshop papers, essays and exam papers, along with your diary of deadlines, dates’ contacts, games and infotainment, favourite music and videoclips all in one small iPad security-blanket the size of a magazine sure beats lugging that rucksack around. Hopefully, when the novelty of the iPad has worn off, the pedagog30

ical processes that it has prompted will persist. Such collaborative learning practices certainly existed before the iPad, and most can be adopted without an iPad (though the iPad is a good catalyst), so there is hope that university education can be more effective. And just in time, too! Given the planned expansion of university student numbers in the next few years, particularly the targets for participation by students from Low SES backgrounds, and the funding shift from student places toward qualification outputs, universities will have to improve their teaching to cope. Not that students from LowSES background need any changes to curriculum content or standards - the few that currently get in do better than your average middle-class student - but some changes to pedagogy would benefit not only students from LowSES background, but all students, by attracting, retaining and graduating a greater number and wider diversity of students. Providing a more congenial learning environment, with greater scope for social interaction with their intellectual peers and acceptance of different ways of expressing ideas would make more students from LowSES backgrounds more at home at university and thus more likely to excel. Many universities are trying to adopt more inclusive, ICT-enhanced pedagogical practices, with an eye to the future growth in student numbers and diversity, as evidenced by the ERGA conference, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (www.altc.edu.au) priority projects funding, the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/ncsehe) and its Equity 101 portal (www.equity101.info), and such publications as the 2010 UNESCO Guide, ‘ICT Transforming Education’ (http://bit.ly/cFD8Rv). Australian universities have been quick to try to learn from universities overseas, but less quick to seek to learn from other sectors of education in Australia, where inclusive education and collaborative learning practices have been established for years. Such practices have been commonplace in the TAFE sector for a decade, and in some senior secondary subjects for two decades or more. Perhaps the democratising wave of progressive pedagogy rolls through each decade from the most inclusive compulsory schooling to the least inclusive Higher Education. Given that universities are now embracing collaborative learning practices, perhaps they might adjust their entry policies to stop discriminating against students who do senior secondary subjects that include such practices. A Pat Wright is Director of the Centre for Labour Research at the University of Adelaide. email: pat.wright@adelaide.edu.au NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

lowering the boom

IAN LOWE

NATIONAL COUNCIL

Constricting Research And Publishing I

t’s that time of the year again. With no turn left unstoned and no cliché overlooked, I set off on the annual springtime pilgrimage to Tamworth for my regular dose of higher education insight from the irrepressible Cal D’Aria. Cal now calls himself Vice-Chancellor, President and Supreme Leader of Tam U, originally known as Tamworth University of the Tonsorial Arts in earlier, more explicit days.

nobody understood, to the ERA, which is just as mysterious to most He has always been in the forefront of development, pioneering the people and disadvantages some researchers, depending on where student-free campus and the approach of taking university degrees they publish’, Cal said. ‘So the Ongo team in Canberra is working to the emerging market in shopping centres. Three years ago he dison a simplified system called Constricting Research And Publishing pensed with full-time academic staff and expected students to down[CRAP].’ load information from the Web, an innovation now being explored There will always be controversy about the relative weighting more widely. ‘I saw another VC saying Wikipedia is the way to go just of books, chapters and journal articles, as well as disagreement the other week’, said Cal. ‘We are already the first Wiki-versity. Where about which journals are the most prestigious and how exactly to Tam U goes, the rest of the system follows’. count papers in lesser publications, Cal explained. Under the CRAP He has a point. Cal pioneered the idea of re-badging qualificascheme, universities will be rated according to how much of their tions as doctorates to make them more attractive. ‘The old universities have been calling their bachelor graduates in medicine ‘doctor’ time and resources they waste on research. ‘The more they publish, the more money they are blowfor ages’, he said. ‘Now they’re coning on that sideshow’, said Cal. ‘So ferring the same title on dentists ‘We’ve gone from RQF, which nobody Tam U will rank highly. The fact and vets’, he continued, ‘and one of that our staff don’t publish shows the sandstones has worked out the understood, to the ERA, which is just we don’t waste any money on punters will pay more for a Masters as mysterious to most people and research.’ if they can call it a doctorate’. Tam U disadvantages some researchers, He told me the Canberra team has taken this approach to its logidepending on where they publish’, Cal was particularly excited by a cal conclusion, deciding that every recent visit from the head of the graduate can call themself ‘doctor’. said. ‘So the Ongo team in Canberra is only private university in the So I was keen to learn what Cal working on a simplified system called UK. ‘This joker reckons Margaret sees ahead in 2011. Constricting Research And Publishing Thatcher stimulated research by He was jubilant about the result [CRAP].’ cutting its funding’, Cal said. ‘Dr of the 2010 election. ‘For too Ongo reckons that was music to long the whole country has been his ears. It’s the perfect reply to organised around Sydney and Melthose whingers who claim the Government is damaging research bourne’, Cal told me. ‘Now our local member, Tony Windsor, and his by not funding it. The Government’s going to call the budget cuts mates are just about running the country’, he said. ‘The regional a stimulus package – even the Reserve Bank thinks that is the way institutions are finally going to get a fair go’. to go!’ Cal had just received a personal briefing from senior Canberra I had gone to Tamworth thinking a minority government might bureaucrat Dr Ongo, and was excited by what he had learned. ‘The mean little innovation, but Cal convinced me that 2011 will see even Bradley reforms are going ahead and there will be a special $500 more change for the university system. ‘Ongoing reform, mate’, he million package for regional institutions’, he said. ‘Nobody can even concluded. read in Bob Katter’s electorate, so I reckon Windsor and that OakeWay to go, Cal. I almost wished I was back on the payroll… A shott bloke are going to get the lion’s share’. Ian Lowe is Emeritus Professor of Science, Technology and Society Cal is proposing to give them both honorary doctorates in this at Griffith University and a Life Member of NTEU. year’s graduations. ‘Belt and braces, mate’, he chortled. ‘I’m on both horses in a two-horse race!’. Cal was particularly excited by what Dr Ongo revealed about the future of research assessment. ‘We’ve gone from RQF, which

NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

Knowledge is the Economy, Stupid

TAMMI JONAS

On Quality: You Get What You Pay For E

verybody’s talking about quality. We’ve had the review of the Australian Qualifications Framework, the establishment of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency and now the Government’s Higher Education Base Funding Review, which intends to benchmark course quality and student engagement. This latest review posits quality against cost in its very first dot point. If ‘you get what you pay for’, it would seem Australia has a problem given our lack of investment in higher education over the past 20 years.

The Base Funding Review echoes the higher education reforms in the 2009 Budget, which ‘stated the purpose as enabling Australia to participate fully in, and benefit from, the global knowledge economy.’ All of this may well be laudable so long as we have a shared understanding of what is meant by ‘knowledge economy’. In a knowledge economy, human capital is highly valued, as people are the keepers of knowledge, and we are the connectors in an economy that is globalised and fluid. A knowledge economy should create critical, engaged, cosmopolitan citizens. It should value fairness and civility. If it is truly a knowledge economy, it must surely promote greater levels of participation in higher education as knowledge begets knowledge. So how is Australia faring in its performance as a would be knowledge economy? Will our recent focus on quality improve our performance? Not so long as we continue to undervalue the human capital driving the economy, which we have systematically done for decades. While the current Government promises reform and has demonstrated some commitment by increasing higher education funding in the 2009 Budget (but not the 2010 Budget), it has a long way to go to recover from chronic underfunding by previous governments. Between 1995 and 2004, Australia was the only country in the OECD to have reduced public expenditure on higher education in real terms, leading to a situation where less than half of the sector’s funding is now public money. Private contributions are amongst the world’s highest, and we are now much closer to the USA than the UK in our reliance on student contributions (though the recent Browne Report there has signalled their intention to increase student contributions as well). While there are reasonable arguments for requiring some level of student contributions in a rapidly expanding higher education system – the most compelling being that one should contribute to a degree that virtually assures one a private benefit in the form of higher salary – there are equally compelling arguments to cap student fees and maintain public investment to ensure the broadest possible participation in a burgeoning knowledge economy. On campuses, we all know what the consequences of decreased funding and increased reliance on student fees has meant. Australia’s staff to student ratios are now amongst the world’s highest, we perform poorly in international comparisons of student satisfaction surveys, more universities are offering voluntary redundancies than pay rises, and the sector has the second most casualised workforce in Australia. Remuneration, conditions and career pathways are woeful for casuals, many of whom are postgrads, the present and future 32

leaders of Australia’s knowledge economy. Meanwhile, they live on stipends that sit at or below the poverty line, working far more hours than they’re paid to, as institutions consistently knock back requests for greater job security, recognition and participation in a collegial environment. Universities tell us they can’t afford to pay casuals more because of lack of government funding, as government tells us universities are not getting their priorities straight by investing in human capital. Whose fault is this? Ultimately, we’re all to blame. Each time a casual academic accepts another exploitative contract, offered by a permanent staff member suffering workload issues that are exacerbated by a head of school who is ensuring the faculty dean will be happy with her bottom line, we get it wrong. And when the Australian public votes for a government that doesn’t invest seriously in the nation’s education and accepts that 25% of our educational dollar will fund private education, we get it wrong. And when peak bodies for the elite argue for a blurring of our qualifications that would allow doctorates to be situated on two of the 10 AQF levels, thereby damaging the integrity of the globally recognised PhD, they get it wrong. And when the Government continues to fund education in short, uncertain grant cycles and expects Australia to be a leader in research and innovation, they get it wrong. And when the Government makes grand plans to improve access to higher education for all, but fails to appropriately fund the increased numbers of students in real dollars that provide real lecturers and tutors and real desks in classrooms that are not overcrowded, they get it wrong. The only way to fix our current broken system is to take all this talk of quality and cost and invest in people, for we are the knowledge economy. A Tammi Jonas is 2010 National President of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) Advocate’s newest columnist, Tammi Jonas, is the 2010 National President of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA). In 2008, she was President of the University of Melbourne Graduate Student Association, and was the graduate student member of the University of Melbourne Council in 2009, resigning in November of that year in protest of the University’s exploitation of casual labour. She has worked in various roles for universities, from tutoring and RA work, to writing online academic skills and research ethics and integrity websites. Tammi is doing her PhD in Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne, investigating the role of food in cosmopolitanism. She is also the mother of three inquisitive and political young children. Tammi blogs on food, community and higher education politics at www.tammijonas.com NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

letter from new zealanD/aotearoa

TOM RYAN, TEU

Balancing fairness at work A

few weeks ago, while our union was appearing before the Government’s Industrial Relations Select Committee to oppose its proposed new employment laws, we got to listen in on a debate between another submitter, the New Zealand Human Rights Commission’s Dr Judy McGregor and Government MP Allan Peachey. Dr McGregor was opposing the Government’s new laws. Mr Peachey, conversely, was suggesting that so far the debate over the proposed laws was focused too much on the fact that employees were losing their rights. He wanted to know how we should balance those rights against the rights of employers who, as he put it, also risked losing their jobs, livelihoods and houses if things went wrong.

for any number of other reasons – they do need to be able to justify Dr McGregor stated that the Human Rights Commission’s view was why they are dismissing someone though. that, when balancing rights, one has to lean toward protecting the What this proposed new legislation does is something altogether rights of the most vulnerable – that is young, and marginalised workdifferent. It allows employers to dismiss workers where they (the ers or workers who are likely to suffer discrimination. employers) do not have a reason, have a bad reason, or are not willThat’s a value judgement about whose rights matter most; one ing to give a reason. This opens the door for those employers who that I agree with, but a value judgement nonetheless. wish to discriminate against groups of workers or individual workHowever, before we even need to make that judgement there is ers. It effectively rewards bad employers by reducing the complione more point to consider. The New Zealand Government’s proance costs associated with dismissing workers unfairly. posed new legislation aims to remove some of the rights workers All this raises the question, under what circumstances could a have when they are unjustifiably dismissed. These rights include good employer want to dismiss a both process rights, such as how worker and yet not have a reason? unfair dismissal cases are heard ...this proposed new legislation ... allows As we noted in our submission and what representation workers to Parliament the focus on letare entitled to, as well as substanemployers to dismiss workers where they ting employers off the hook for tive rights around what actually (the employers) do not have a reason, unfair dismissal will be particularly constitutes unfair dismissal. One have a bad reason, or are not willing to harmful for academics. Money is proposal is that employers be give a reason. This opens the door for not an adequate compensation allowed to put all workers in their for many academics with specialfirst ninety days of employment those employers who wish to discriminate ised areas of study, given the harm on a fire-at-will trial period where against groups of workers or individual that unfair dismissal would cause the employees lose virtually all workers. to their careers. They want to keep their rights relating to dismissal. their jobs, not take a payout. Workers can effectively be fired Many academics in specialised areas of study have very few without reason, or for a bad reason. But even workers not covered places that they can seek work. A specialist academic in agricultural by the 90-day no-rights provision lose some unjustified dismissal sciences, for instance, cannot simply take the money and go onto rights. another job, as there may only be one or two such jobs in the entire Mr Peachey was arguing that his hypothetical employer who is at country. Even if there is work available in their field it could be in risk of losing her or his house should be able to dismiss employees an entirely different part of the country, which would mean leaving to stave off this impending financial ruin. friends and relocating their family. This is different however from dismissing workers without reason. Unions here in New Zealand are running a significant campaign Dismissing workers because of financial pressures is not only legitito stop these proposals before they become law. Much of that cammate, it is commonplace. It is called redundancy and workers suffer paign is modelled on Australia’s ‘Your Rights at Work’ campaign. from it all the time – not just when they work for employers who With 80 per cent of New Zealanders now opposed to the Governare suffering financially, but also at the hands of employers who are ment’s planned changes to dismissal laws, we hope to succeed. A doing well financially, but want to do even better. Dr Tom Ryan is National President/Te Tumu Whakarae, Mr Peachey’s colleague, Select Committee chairperson David New Zealand Tertiary Education Union/Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa Bennett, later noted that employers sometimes need to get rid of TEU  www.teu.ac.nz workers who interview well, have a strong CV, but then fail to come into work five days a week. Again, such a dismissal is already currently legitimate under existing legislation. Employers are allowed to dismiss workers who do not come into work, or fail to perform NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

YOUR UNION

Union farewells Carolyn Allport NTEU National President 1994-2010 D

r Carolyn Allport has served as National President of the National Tertiary Education Union from 1994 to 2010. Carolyn’s tenure as NTEU National President is the longest in the history of the Union. Her last day in office was spent presiding at NTEU National Council in Melbourne on 1 October. The following commendation for Life Membership was read by Tracey Bunda, former Chair of the Indigenous Tertiary Education Policy Committee. It was accompanied by cheers, tears and a standing ovation. Prior to becoming NTEU National President, Carolyn worked as an academic for over 20 years at Macquarie University in New South Wales. Her teaching and research publications were in the areas of economic history, urban politics, public housing and women’s history. Carolyn was elected President of the National Tertiary Education Union in 1994, and was re-elected in 1998, 2002 and 2006. Carolyn has represented the Union’s 25,000 academic and professional staff members in matters relating to tertiary education funding and policy issues. Carolyn was a member of the Higher Education Council (19951999), and was an observer to the Board of the Australian Universities Above, from left: Outgoing National Assistant Secretary Ted Murphy, General Secretary Grahame McCulloch, new National President Jeannie Rea and new National Assistant Secretary Matthew McGowan stand to applaud Carolyn Allport at National Council. Left: Tracey Bunda presenting Carolyn with her Life Membership.

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

YOUR UNION Quality Agency (AUQA). Carolyn worked as a consultant for UNESCO, through Education International and co-published a study on Academic Freedom in the Asia-Pacific Region and in 2009; Carolyn was a member of the Australian delegation at the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education. Carolyn has presented many papers at international conferences on globalisation, higher education and GATS, transnational education, the internet and new technology in education, and universities and business partnerships, as well as numerous papers on Australian higher education issues. In addition to playing a leading role in the Education International’s Higher Education Caucus, she is also a member of the ACTU Executive.

Indigenous advocacy In the area of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education, employment and social justice advocacy, Carolyn has been and will continue to be a prominent lobbyist on behalf of Indigenous Australian people. Within the NTEU structure, Carolyn has been a driving force to ensure that Indigenous business is NTEU business. Since the amalgamation of the five education Unions in 1993, Indigenous business has held special significance to Carolyn, resulting in numerous achievements and developments during her tenure as National President. These achievements include: • Ensuring the development of the ten point plan for a post treaty Union. • Established the Indigenous Policy Committee (formerly the ITEPC). • Established the Indigenous Unit in the National Office. • Ensuring the appointment of Indigenous staff in the National Office. • Advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members across the sector. • Ensuring Indigenous business is Union business across all levels of the NTEU. • Lobbying for the development and implementation of the Indigenous clauses in all University Collective Agreements. • Advocacy at all levels of Government and internationally to uphold the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. • Under the previous Government, developing and instituting the Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

(IHEAC). The Council is the preeminent advisory body on Indigenous higher education to the Federal Government. This overview of Carolyn’s achievements in the area of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business does not provide adequate justice to the amount of work undertaken to ensure better employment, education and social justice outcomes for Indigenous Australian communities, academic and professional staff. To further demonstrate this point, the number of Indigenous academic and professional staff has almost doubled since the introduction of Indigenous clauses in university Collective Agreements. In 2000, the total number of Indigenous staff working in the higher education sector was 517 (487 FTE), in 2008 the total Indigenous staff was 961 (887 FTE). The total Indigenous staff cohort in 2000 comprised 0.7% of all staff in the higher education sector; today, the total Indigenous academic and professional staff comprises 1.1% of the total academic and professional staff cohort. To ensure that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff cohort in universities across Australia reaches the population parity figure of 2.5%, there is more work to be done to reach this goal, although in part, this achievement would not have been possible without the dedication and tireless work of Carolyn and the NTEU. The Indigenous Policy Committee (IPC) is pleased to provide our unqualified gratitude and appreciation for the leadership and support Carolyn has given to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during her tenure as National President of the NTEU. A

Speakers at Carolyn Allport’s Farewell Dinner (from top): Meredith Burgmann, former President of the NSW Legislative Council; Ian Chubb, ANU Vice Chancellor; Chris Game, former NTEU NSW State Secretary. Below right: Carolyn at the end of the Farewell Dinner. Below left: Carolyn in 1994.

YOUR UNION

Ted Murphy farewelled NTEU National Assistant Secretary 1997–2010 T

ed Murphy is retiring as NTEU National Assistant Secretary after a career spanning three decades with NTEU and one of its predecessor unions. General Secretary Grahame McCulloch gave the following Life Membership notation for Ted at National Council.

Ted commenced work with the Council of Academic Staff Associations (CASA) – the Victorian affiliate of the Federation of College Academics – as Research Officer (1982), Industrial Officer (1984) and Secretary (1986-93). With the formation of NTEU in 1993, Ted became the foundation secretary of the Victorian Division and subsequently assumed the post of National Assistant Secretary in 1997. Ted’s personal capacities and capabilities are well known to his many friends and colleagues not only in NTEU but also in the wider labour movement – exceptional intellectual and analytical ability, sharp political and negotiating skills, integrity and moral rigour and a highly refined rhetorical ability. Using these skills he has been a leading industrial and policy advocate in the Australian university and college systems, in the Labor Party at local Victorian and National levels, and in the trade union movement nationally and internationally. His achievements are extensive and of enduring value to NTEU members throughout Australia, and include: • The establishment of an industrial agreement dealing with the use and abuse of fixed term contracts in Victorian colleges (1985) - the first ever such industrial instrument which laid the foundations for the extensive regulation of contract employment across Australia. • Protections against ill-health termination of academic staff (including preservation of disability pension standards) in the first national academic awards (1988). • One of the principal architects of NTEU’s national coordinated bargaining strategy and the key negotiator in establishing initial Collective Agreements in Victoria (1992 -96) and subsequently in many other parts of the country. • Successful interventions on behalf of NTEU at ALP National Conferences to protect and enhance key elements of Labor’s higher education policies including public investment, regulatory principles and academic freedom. • A critical role in the merger of SSAU and TESS to form UniSuper and his subsequent emergence as Deputy Chair of the Fund. As 36

a leading member of the UniSuper Board he has protected the 17% employer superannuation contribution and used his superior negotiating skills to prevent the erosion of superannuation standards by employer representatives advocating so called flexibility. • Ensuring the maintenance of NTEU’s high industrial standards in all Collective Agreements through his role as “gate keeper” of the mandatory settlement points - leading to the epithet Dr No. • Representation of NTEU, EI and the ACTU in international bodies (WTO and ILO) on trade policy and labour standards. Ted Murphy will continue his links with NTEU as Deputy Chair of UniSuper. A Above: Ted at his Farewell Dinner. Left: A portrait of Ted in the 80s, from his farewell slideshow. Below: Grahame McCulloch presenting Ted with his Life Membership and gift at National Council.

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

YOUR UNION

Life Members 2010 T

his year, in addition to retiring national officers, Carolyn Allport and Ted Murphy, National Council conferred ten Life Memberships, including one posthumous award for Charles Sturt University member, Bill Robbins (see p. 41).

Jan O’Reilly University of Sydney Jan has been a long term, active and committed trade unionist. Jan held many leadership positions with the Health and Research Employees Association Branches at The University of Sydney throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Jan was in the forefront of the general staff move into the NTEU and has remained a NTEU activist. During this time the industrial landscape for general staff in NSW has changed in a way we could never have imagined. We went from State Awards to the Federal arena. We went from a state based general staff union to an industry union. Enterprise Bargaining is now the norm for establishing working conditions and entitlements. Jan played an important role in Award Restructuring negotiations, the introduction of the common ten level classification system for general staff and the first rounds of Enterprise Bargaining. Jan’s demonstrated commitment was important in getting good outcomes for general staff in a time where we did much of our union work on a ‘do it yourself basis’. At The University of Sydney the new Higher Education Officer classification system involved bringing together almost two hundred general staff positions into a ten level structure. To achieve a fair and good outcome involved many hours of discussions across the union committees and with members at the University and many more hours of negotiations with the University management. Round two of Enterprise Bargaining was a huge exercise. It involved working closely with our academic comrades in the NTEU and involved getting common conditions into our Agreements as well as joint industrial action. From 1991 to 1995 Jan was a general staff elected Fellow of the Senate of The UniverNOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

sity of Sydney. This was at the time following the Dawkins ‘reforms’ and a testing time for all university staff and unions as our university grew rapidly. Jan was one of the prominent HREA members who campaigned for NTEU coverage of general staff in NSW and at The University of Sydney. Jan’s role in this campaign helps explain why we have a large general staff membership in our Branch. Jan is more than a union activist. Her wide range of friends value her comradeship and warmth. Jan will be missed by the Branch.

Margaret Chandler University of South Australia The University of South Australia Branch takes great pride in nominating Margaret Chandler for Life Membership. Margaret has been a union member since she was first employed in higher education over four decades ago. As an early academic employed on a contract Margaret gained a personal appreciation of the insecurity now being experienced by contract and casual staff at UniSA. The gaps in employment which made Christmas a time of poverty, and the uncertainty of getting the next contract are things she remembers well. Margaret has made a valuable and sustained contribution to the NTEU with time, energy and expertise. Margaret has held various positions at the Branch, Division and National levels. She has been an activist on the Branch and Division Executives for many terms, was a member of the National Executive for two terms and was elected to the National Education Committee for two terms. Margaret has participated formally and informally in all bargaining rounds at UniSA since the inception of Enterprise Bargaining. She recently held the position as Lead Negotiator in Round 6 until her retirement from

the University of South Australia in December 2009. Margaret believes that her most significant contribution to the staff of the University of South Australia was her deterred and successful effort to ensure that all tutors/ senior tutors and level 3 lecturing positions were transferred to the Level A and B classification structure developed in the Dawkins era. Her attention to issues such as this as an NTEU representative on the university council was invaluable. The branch believes that this is just one in a list of achievements. Margaret has been stalwart in her advocacy and defence of staff rights at work which has often made her the focus of management ire. Margaret has demonstrated again and again that “Our Universities Matter”. Her retirement has left an enormous gap in the Branch Committee. Her thorough investigation of issues to develop an effective strategy, ability to “discover” vital information, and her calm wisdom are sorely missed. Fortunately, she is willing to offer advice and support to the branch and to her colleagues in the School of Education from “retirement”.

Glenis Davey Australian Catholic University To describe the place that Glenis’ departure leaves the Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a difficult task. Others may speak of her outstanding contribution to ACU and the predecessor colleges, as well as the wider community. We acknowledge and wholeheartedly support those comments – and rather speak of her as passing, will emphasise her effects in the present tense. She is a fine teacher and fine unionist – with a long and conspicuous record of service to the profession. Her sense of social justice, equity and fairness is unquestioned. It is visible in her dedication to the basic prin37

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Life Members 2010 ciples of teaching children, and particularly children who were not ‘meant’ to be part of the system, through peers in distress and in need of succour. While Glenis was making the significant contributions so generously, to many aspects of ACU already mentioned she was also active in various leadership roles in the relevant unions, most recently NTEU. Her role as Divisional Assistant Secretary to the Victorian Division is testament to that and others from that Division may choose to elaborate on this. At the NTEU 2010 National Council the ACU Branch of NTEU nominates Glenis for Life membership in recognition for her outstanding contributions. We made this nomination in the full and certain knowledge that we had the support of the Victorian Division in our actions. As mentioned in the nomination to Council the establishment of ACU brought many challenges, not the least was the representation of general and academic staff across 4 states and territories to ensure justice, equity and inclusion. Glenis is a ferocious advocate for those who are in need, a skilled and insightful negotiator whose capacity to develop a just outcome, against the designs of Managements (whether School, Faculty or institution), that oscillated between the inept and the quite vicious as the mood chose itself. Glenis’ vision, focus and dignity, while not marginalising her advocacy role, have been an outstanding gift to the ACU community and the wider union movement. The award of Life Membership of NTEU is a small token of our gratitude.

Anne Maureen Scarff University of Western Sydney Anne Maureen Scarff retired from her position as Associate Head of School, School of Economics and Finance at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) in January 2009. She joined the Union in 1981 when it was the Federation of College Academics (FCA). As a Law graduate and articulate and incisive speaker, she almost immediately took on the 38

position of Branch Secretary at the Nepean CAE (an earlier component campus of UWS). She has served on the branch committees of Nepean CAE and UWS since that time. Since 1998 she has been an active member of the NTEU, UWS Branch, serving as an Ordinary Member, Branch Secretary, Academic Vice President and Branch President. Her service to the Branch over that time included membership of the cases committee where she handled large numbers of complex cases and was a respected and successful negotiator and advocate for the rights of members. Anne Maureen never gave up; management did. Anne Maureen was an elected member of the NTEU UWS bargaining teams for the 2002/3 and 2005 negotiations. She was always prepared and used her legal expertise and long and accurate memory to push through the Union’s positions. She served for 5 years on the implementation committees of UWS (more than any human being should have to endure), upholding the EA and its translation into practice. NTEU members at UWS are the poorer for her absence from the Branch but she is still maintaining the rage and still connected to the NTEU as an auxiliary member.

Michael Barry University of Melbourne Michael Barry worked at the University of Melbourne for over twenty years and during that time was a member of the SPSF and also held the position of convenor of that union branch for some time before moving over to the NTEU in 1995. • Positions held from 1996 – 2010 • 1996 elected to Branch Committee • 2000 elected to National Council and Victorian Division Executive • 2000 elected as Branch Secretary • Retired from University July 2010. During the many years of Michael’s participation in the University of Melbourne Branch his involvement with individual member cases, enterprise bargaining, staff classification issues, and attending numer-

ous University and Union meetings he has always put the interests of the members above all else. His contribution to the NTEU at the branch, state and national level will be greatly missed.

Margaret Buckridge Griffith University Almost everybody who has worked at Griffith University over the past few decades knows Margaret Buckridge and her determined advocacy for staff and the NTEU. In part, this is because of Margaret’s role in presenting induction seminars to staff, during which she unfailingly promotes the NTEU (and distributes membership forms!). Many of us remember how Margaret explained staff rights and the Union’s role between the obligatory discussions of university mission and administration. Her respectful but insistent use of her position to integrate Union membership with commencing at Griffith means she has probably done more than any other single person to advance the NTEU’s position within Griffith University. Just as important have been Margaret’s many formal roles within the Griffith Branch, including repeated terms as Branch President, membership of the Branch executive, consultative committees, Griffith University Council, with all of the numerous activities these have entailed over the years. And then, there is her work as a Divisional and National Councillor, member of the National Education Committee, or her Emma Miller award for services to women members in particular — more evidence of her exceptional energy. Margaret’s advocacy of staff and union interests in multiple rounds of bargaining as well as other meetings has been resolute. It is impressive to watch her fearlessly skewer an illogical, self-serving argument. At times, Margaret’s steadfastness has not won friends in management, when she has elegantly and articulately forced them to face up to some arbitrary, misguided decision about staff. The Griffith Branch of the NTEU, however, has long been grateful to have had MargaNTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

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Life Members 2010 ret fighting on the side of the angels on our behalf. Guiding her resolve is Margaret’s talent for dissecting issues and crafting messages to suit. Whether it be a call-to-arms for industrial campaigning or notifying members of a victory, a challenge to senior management to right an injustice or a gracious acknowledgement of a management backdown, her ability to write the right thing in the right way has been peerless. Likewise, the care and insight of her advocacy in negotiation complements her steadfastness. As a friend to the Branch, Margaret’s thoughtful listening and wise counsel has been relied upon by many, whether directly or indirectly. In sum, Margaret Buckridge has been greatly valued within Griffith Branch and the NTEU more broadly. The quality of her contributions over the years means that her decision to step back from the Griffith Branch President’s role has left a hole that won’t be filled. As a Branch, we wish her well and want her to know clearly how much we and the rest of the Union think of her.

Caroline Wright-Neville La Trobe University

In a long and varied career in English language teaching and as a committed unionist, initially with FAUSA and eventually with the NTEU, Caroline Wright-Neville has served her colleagues and students magnificently.

In that time she has served two terms as a Branch Committee member, as well being a trusted local delegate for many years. Caroline has fought long and hard for job security and the rights of members and has never been daunted by the challenges she has faced. Her steady, practical and no-nonsense approach to unionism is an example to all union members. In 1992 most staff at the Language Centre worked in 10-week blocks as casuals with no pay during school holidays. Over the sixweek Christmas period many were forced to obtain separation certificates and apply for the dole. Caroline, together with another staff representative, Loretta Breheny, lobbied for fixed term contracts. These contracts NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

were eventually won and although they fluctuated from 6 weeks to 10 weeks, to 12 weeks and then back to 6 weeks, they represented a genuine improvement for staff. In 1998, due to a fall in student numbers, all of the jobs at the Language Centre were readvertised which resulted in excessive cuts to staffing levels. NTEU insisted that Caroline and her colleagues be brought back to continuing positions. In early 2000, casual staff were outsourced to Drake labour hire, but when they were insourced again Caroline worked hard and persuaded many to rejoin the Union. Caroline’s efforts in building union membership leading up to and during the 2002 negotiations for a new enterprise agreement were rewarded when not only were previous conditions of employment reinstated, but new entitlements were gained for language teachers. Her efforts to engage and mobilise colleagues was the reason that management committed during bargaining to a significant increase in ongoing positions and 12 month fixed term positions, as well as closing the door on the use of day-to-day labour hire casuals. This structural shift to improved job security for teachers only came about because of her great work on the ground. Caroline dealt with many individual issues and policy matters affecting the English language teachers over the period 2006-2009. For example, she challenged the proposed performance appraisal system to ensure that student satisfaction would not be used as the sole measure for hiring and firing teaching staff. When staff in ‘positions of responsibility’ were told that they would not be allowed to reapply for their positions Caroline successfully lobbied to get this decision overturned. Caroline together with other delegates worked effectively on the successful 2007 Collective Agreement for the newly amalgamated La Trobe University International College. This Agreement introduced 16 weeks paid maternity leave, further improvements to job security and also led to a review of curriculum aimed at challenging the heavy marking workloads in the English for Further Studies course. In 2009 fixed-term contract staff in the College were told that they would have to reapply for their own positions. Caroline

led the successful campaign to get these contracts rolled over. Caroline also assisted with getting around a half dozen casual staff members converted to fixed term contracts despite stonewalling by management. In 2010 La Trobe University announced that it would be selling the College to Navitas and that staff would have to compete with external applicants for their own jobs. Caroline became the focal point for coordination of the campaign for job security during the transfer. She dealt with an extraordinary range of individual inquires, helped coordinate feedback on the organisational change statement, and organised weekly Union meetings of members. NTEU became the only trusted source of information on the privatisation process, and Union membership rocketed to 114 members. The campaign achieved internal advertisement of most positions with Navitas, an extended Collective Agreement with two additional pay rises, and an increased number of contracts offered in the Foundation Studies area of the College. After so many years of upheaval it is unsurprising that Caroline has decided to take a significant change in direction by studying archaeology rather than continue with yet another iteration of the College. We deeply regret her loss and can only hope that there will be further opportunities for her involvement with the NTEU in the future.

Peter Gill University of Adelaide At the end of this year, Peter Gill will retire as an academic at the University of Adelaide. This brings to a close over thirty years of service as a Branch Committee member of the NTEU and its predecessor FAUSA. Peter also served on the SA Division from its inception until the last round, and was a familiar figure at National Council. Peter had a habit of being consistently re-elected to positions in the Union and the University. He was an elected academic on the University Council for 16 years until the University Act was changed to limit terms on Council to 12 years unless Council granted an 39

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Life Members 2010 exemption: to its everlasting shame, Council refused to grant Peter an exemption. Peter served as elected Head of Department, also for 16 years. And when WorkChoices came, Peter was the NTEU’s natural candidate to head our overwhelmingly successful ticket to elect staff representatives and stop management getting any of their lot up. Peter’s electability arose from his understanding of what matters to our members. He was the Branch barometer who would carefully check that our newsletters would address members’ concerns accurately and clearly. He was also the voice of reason that senior management could not ignore; they knew that he spoke with the members’ interests at heart, and that it would be unreasonable to disagree with him. Whenever something had to be done, you would always find Peter holding his hand up. Often he would represent members in personal cases or represent the NTEU on an important committee or forum. In particular, the Branch would like to record its appreciation of Peter’s efforts as a negotiator in the last two rounds of Enterprise Bargaining, where he was just brilliant.

Mike Donaldson NSW Division and University of Wollongong On behalf of the Branch I would like to nominate Mike Donaldson for life membership of our union. I will keep this relatively brief and try to avoid turning it into raging hagiography. As I write this I have in front of me an A3 size copy of the front page of Wollongong’s ‘journal of record’ the (ill)famed Illawarra Mercury. It is dated October 18, 1990. Overwhelming almost the entire page is a picture of Mike holding up a sign that reads ‘A clever country looks after its academics’. The beaming smile, the academic garb, the ‘Underbelly’ sunglasses frame a paragon of virtue and a repository of all common sense. The photo caption reads: Sociology lecturer Dr Mike Donaldson was among striking Wollongong University academic staff who manned a picket line at the main entrance to the campus yesterday. 40

The story further relates that staff had held the first 24 hour strike in the University’s history and that further action was threatened. When I first arrived at the University in 1991 I attended the ‘new staff’ induction day and that was the first time I met Mike. He had organised a 30 minute session for we ‘newbies’, on the virtues of union membership. It was back in the days when the Academics union was being replaced by the University of Wollongong Academic Staff Association. The NTEU didn’t exist back then. He must have been a thoroughly competent organiser and recruiter because he managed to corral me and many others into the fold by making crystal clear what the benefits and obligations that all good activist members were expected to demonstrate. He has been doing that year-in yearout before and since then. Mike first arrived at UOW in 1979 from his birth place in New Zealand and following on from a four year teaching stint in PNG. He was a union activist from the start. Getting involved was his way of getting involved. He has served as President of the Wollongong Branch and has been very active in the union movement in the Illawarra. Life member Henri Jeanjean remembers when Mike served as President but through circumstances beyond his control had to ask Henri to act in his stead for a while. I can’t claim that Henri has ever forgiven Mike for that but we can say that Mike enjoyed seeing yet another typical UOW firebrand activist take on the bosses. Mike clearly understood and cherished the fact that the Illawarra proudly claims over 130 years of union activism across so many trade unions and he was never about to let his comrades or the wider community down. Mike has been active in creating networks across the region to bring unions of all traditions together here. Being a sociologist by profession Mike understands how institutional power needs to be constantly questioned and monitored. More so, he creates and supports the mechanisms for that vigilant surveillance, As a key player in the Gramsci Society here at UOW, he has helped engineer meetings and projects that bring union and community activists together to fight for our rights at work and in the community.

Mike decided that he had more to give and sought out the role of NSW Division Secretary in 2000. He served loyally and in a most committed way in that role, during some turbulent times in the Division and National history of our Union. It is fair to say that these were tough (and perhaps, lonely) times for Mike as he fought to meet the needs of divisional staff, the Branches and the demands of the National structure of our Union. I reckon they were 4 years in the wilderness, but they are my words not his. He got the job done. We ought not to ask more than that. When our lovely VC, Professor Gerard Sutton allowed Mike to proceed on and then return from his period of leave, as Divisional Secretary, Mike was back into the fray. He had been involved in the first round of enterprise bargaining and returned for machinations in play. One day a pain in the side became so acute that a visit to the doctor left him with a diagnosis of bladder cancer. It was a long distressing and painful battle to retain life but he managed to do that and all the time his support for Branch activities and recruitment never faltered. Last Thursday I had the honour to hear his parting shots across the bow of the University and its senior executive. In a speech that was at its best didactic Mike began by outlining to the omnipresent VC and his deputies all of their administrative and leadership failings. Seventy five minutes later he was still going but they were gone. One of the most important parts of his address centred on the importance of the NTEU and being an active, collegiate and committed member. A real live recruiting poster if there ever was one. May we as a Branch ask for your support to recognise Michael Donaldson’s longstanding work, effort and commitment to our Union by granting life membership to our comrade? A

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

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Bill Robbins Charles Sturt University Bill Robbins was a long-standing member of the NTEU Charles Sturt University Branch, active on the Branch Committee and on NSW Division Executive. The following obituary was published in Labour History, Number 98, May 2010. Dr William (Bill) Robbins died on Christmas Eve 2009 at his home with his family, his wife Karen and daughters Zoe, Madelaine and Odette, by his side. He had been battling a series of minor illnesses which suddenly became fatal, with the end coming rather quickly. Bill was born in Scotland in 1954, but emigrated with his family at a young age and lived most of his younger years in Melbourne where he was educated. He obtained his Economics degree from Monash University and went on to do his Masters there. From an early age, Bill had shown a keen interest in history and this was reflected in his Masters thesis which dealt with the Wages Boards of the Victorian railways. Bill’s other love was politics and therefore it was not surprising that labour history later became his preferred topic of research. After graduating from Monash University, Bill worked for some time with the Bank Employees Union in Melbourne but his scholarly reputation and his work in the union movement became known beyond Melbourne. In 1984 a future colleague of Bill’s took a special trip from Albury to Melbourne to persuade Bill to come to Albury as a lecturer in Industrial Relations at that city’s relatively new campus of the Riverina College of Advanced Education (a forerunner of Charles Sturt University). This institution had one of the first courses in Industrial Relations by Distance Education in Australia. The course began at the undergraduate level but the recruitment of Bill, with his experience and expertise, facilitated the establishment of postgraduate courses which encompassed a Graduate Certificate, a Graduate Diploma and a Masters – all by Distance education which

NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

Jane Battersby with Bill Robbin’s daughter Zoe, who travelled to National Council to accept her father’s Life Membership. made them unique in Australia. The success of these courses over the next 25 years was testament to Bill’s enthusiasm for learning and his academic prowess. Many past students who went on to become IR and HRM practitioners owe their success in part to Bill’s effective teaching. Another outstanding part of these courses was a one-week residential course offered twice a year which dealt with the practical skills of negotiation and advocacy using initially, practising Commissioners, from either the Australian Industrial Relations Commission or the NSW Commission. This residential school was so successful that Bill (along with a colleague) produced a 30-minute training video titled Advocacy: On Your Feet in the Commission which was sold to students, universities, employer associations and even the various Commissions. Throughout his career at Charles Sturt University, Bill taught Industrial Relations, Human Resource Management and Management subjects both face to face and by Distance Education at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. This enabled him to pursue his love of labour history which he managed to intertwine into the subject matter of most of his subjects. During his early years at Charles Sturt University, Bill wrote a book on family businesses which combined his research into labour history, history and management. More recently Bill undertook a wide range of research (with colleagues) on industrial relations topics such as Austral-

ian Workplace Agreements and unfair dismissal legislation, the latter receiving a significant mention in Hansard and being heavily quoted in a Senate Enquiry report. However, his love of labour history reached a pinnacle when Bill enrolled in his PhD and chose the Australian convicts as his topic. The resultant thesis and various offshoot articles rewrote the early history of convicts and in particular their industrial relations history. It gave us genuinely new and important insights into life and work in this formative period of Australian industrial history. It suggested that Australia’s industrial relations history began with, and was influenced for years to come, by the experiences of the early convicts. Bill’s most recent research involved revisiting and analysing the original transcript of the famous Harvester decision by Justice Higgins in 1907. Bill was a prolific reader, particularly in history and labour history, but he was also interested in poetry and fiction. This resulted in Bill editing a local publication called Codswallop which was published for some years in the Albury-Wodonga region. His love of the arts and his management skills were combined when Bill became the Chairperson of the Hothouse Theatre Company. Under Bill’s leadership this theatre company flourished and became one of the leading regional theatre companies in Australia. His community involvement meant that Bill was extremely popular and highly valued in the Albury-Wodonga region and it is not surprising that a huge crowd attended his memorial service held at the Hothouse Theatre in early 2010. Bill Robbins was a highly respected academic in the fields of industrial relations and labour history and widely known through his attendance at almost all of the annual AIRAANZ conferences held in various locations in Australia and New Zealand. Bill was an active and important member of the Executive of AIRAANZ over the last few years. Bill will be sorely missed by his colleagues at CSU, particularly those in the Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management departments, and his passing will leave a gaping hole in academia more generally. His legacy will live on in his community and in his publications, particularly in Labour History. A

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Vale Peter Davidson

t is with very heavy hearts that we write with the news that our friend, comrade and colleague, Peter Davidson, died early on the morning of 29th October 2010 from liver failure, a complication of the cancer he has been fighting since early this year.

New staff in NTEU offices S

ince the last Advocate, a number of new faces have popped up in our Branch and Division offices. To help you to get to know your local NTEU contact a bit better, we are pleased to present these brief profiles.

Anne O’Brien

Lachlan Hurse

Branch Organiser UNSW

Branch Organiser University of Queensland

Anne O’Brien recently moved back to Sydney to take up the UNSW Organiser posiPeter faced his illness with the same tion, from Canberra, where she was a federal toughness, wry humour and grace that public servant, researching public transport many of you will have seen him bring in the Department of Infrastructure. to the fights he fought on our behalf For the last ten years she has been actively as union members. Peter died in South involved in environmental community Australia where he and his wife Tanya groups, convening and establishing Climate were visiting his family. Action Canberra. The Canberra Loves Forty Peter a Senior Industrial Officer with Percent Coalition which she was involved the ACT Division has been a longstandin celebrated a win recently when the ACT ing and respected NTEU member of Government legislated an unprecedented staff. He came to the union in the early target to reduce carbon emissions 40% by days following the amalgamation that 2020. formed the NTEU. He proved to be a capable and passionate advocate for the working rights of general and academic staff alike. Peter had good working class credentials, raised in the Sydney Western suburbs, followed by employment at the Port Kembla Steel Works where he developed a firsthand knowledge of union dynamics and activism. After earning a degree from ANU Peter first entered union employment with the technical staff union ADSTE in Canberra, later to become AMWU. Peter joined the NTEU following his in-principle stand against AMWU management over states’ rights and has since served the NTEU with dedication and distinction, displaying his absolute commitment and zeal for social justice, workers’ rights and an all-round ‘fair go’. He has rightly earned the respect of members and university managements alike, leaving the legacy of a more rewarding work experience for members in the ACT. Peter’s commitment to the broader union movement was considerable and included a continuing leadership role in UnionsACT, ensuring the NTEU remained at the forefront of the local activity. His concerns for addressing the inequities of the Palestinian issue led him to undertaking, not without personal risk, a working visit to Palestine with APHEDA and remained an ongoing concern and interest. A

Before joining the NTEU at UQ, Lachlan was a very active union delegate in the Queensland Public Service, working in Environmental Science, and committed to grass-roots organising. There he represented members in negotiations with senior management over workplace issues and enterprise bargaining; helped develop a Reconciliation Action Plan for his union, and campaigned around climate change, particularly exploring its significance to unionists. Lachlan has also been active in linking unionism at the workplace to wider international issues, supporting the work of APHEDA (Union Aid Abroad). He is particularly looking forward to working for the NTEU at UQ, where he spent many years as both a student and employee. Previous UQ Branch Organiser, Michael McNally, is now an Industrial Officer in the NTEU Qld Division Office.

Kobie Howe Industrial Officer NSW Division Kobie Howe has recently taken up an Industrial Officer position in the NSW Division. Kobie has previously worked as an Industrial Organiser with the Community and Public Sector Union (Victorian Division) and in student unions. She is excited to be returning to the university sector. Kobie comes from a diverse academic background. She completed an Arts degree at the University of Wollongong, a Physical Education degree at the University of Canberra and is now completing a Masters Degree in Employment Relations at Griffith University. Originally from Wollongong, Kobie is enjoying living back in NSW. NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

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Athan McCaw

Patrick Bates

Sonia Uthuppu

Branch Organiser RMIT University

Branch Organiser University of Sydney

Finance Officer National Office

Athan has come back to the NTEU after previously working at both the Monash and Swinburne Branches. For the past two years, Athan has been working as a state organiser for the Health and Community Services Union covering Western Victoria. Athanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earlier career path was in the building industry and it is while working in this field that he choose a path to become more active in the union movement, since leaving the building industry Athan has completed the Organising Works program run by the ACTU and is also studying Marketing. Outside of work, Athan enjoys spending time with his children, watching his beloved Richmond Tigers, motor sports and the odd game of cricket.

Pat has recently started working at the Sydney Branch. He has previously held NTEU Branch Organising positions at Notre Dame, UTS and UNSW and is looking forward to supporting and assisting the strong and active union culture at Sydney. He has also recently completed an Honours thesis in History on BUGA UP, commodification and the control of public space. He remains passionate about striving for the working conditions of NTEU members and the state of higher education sector, partly because theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll probably be his conditions somewhere down the track. Previous USyd Branch Organiser, Andrew Rivett, is now an Industrial Officer in the NTEU NSW Division Office.

Simon Kempton

Jayne van Dalen

Industrial Officer NSW Division

Branch Organiser Edith Cowan University As the new Branch Organiser at Edith Cowan University Jayne is enjoying the challenge of a new role with the NTEU. She was previously a Finance Officer in the NTEU National Office in Melbourne and has recently relocated back to her home town of Perth. Jayne is pleased to have the opportunity to be more directly involved in the work of the NTEU by being able to assist members and contributing to the campaigning at Branch level to ensure our NTEU ECU members are treated with the respect that they deserve. Jayne has enjoyed the opportunity to engage with a number of staff at ECU already and looks forward to meeting all members.

Simon comes to the NTEU after 12 years of working for the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia. In his most recent position at APESMA Simon spent nine years employed as an Industrial Officer, where he was responsible for managing individual cases and undertaking collective negotiations. Prior to this he was employed as their student development officer where he spent his time working with engineering students at a number of NSW universities explaining to them working life, industrial regulations and unionism. He also spent his formative union years employed as a security guard and union delegate at the University of NSW.

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fits all commercial coffee machines buy online now @ www.nteu.org.au/shop NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

Sonia Uthuppu is recently appointed as a Finance Officer in National Office. This is her first permanent role in Australia and she is really happy about it. She is a Qualified Accountant from India and is a member of CPA Australia. She lives in Melbourne and likes to travel around in leisure times. She worked in Papua New Guinea on a short term project and memories of these days have special place in her heart. She easily adapts to new environments and believes this helped her in getting along with NTEU team so easily.

Arnold Lee Division Industrial Organiser WA Division Arnold was born, which is normal for most people, and he grew up under the influence of many things: Chinese cooking, muscle car culture, British radio plays, documentaries about bonobos and visits from a number of mythological creatures. In particular, leprechauns would come and taunt Arnold and it is from this early experience that he gained the ability to deal with people from all walks with the patience and grace not seen since Dame Nellie Melba. In the past Arnold has worked in all kinds of jobs including service station night attendant, door to door sales, student guilds and theatres. From these he has taken away what he can and is currently applying these skills to ensure that the interests of members are defended in whatever way he thinks he can get away with while maintaining his sense of humour. It is his desire to build a machine called the Amusematron which will feature a dial that goes all the way up to 11 and a low interest light that will blink rapidly in the face of boredom and administrivia. Arnold was not present at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games but does have one of the commemorative 50 cent pieces somewhere in his spare change jar. A 43

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Recent human rights actions by NTEU N

TEU National Office regularly sends letters to foreign governments and companies in support of imprisoned or victimised educators and workers, upon the request of education and human rights organisations. For more information, please visit the organisations’ websites: Amnesty International  www.amnesty.org Scholars at Risk  scholarsatrisk.nyu.edu Education International  www.ei-ie.org Search Foundation  www.search.org.au

Iran Action request: Scholars at Risk

South Korea

Addressee: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Action request: Education International Addressee: President Lee Myung-bak

Action: Emadeddin Baghi, Iranian scholar, journalist and recent recipient of Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders – facing new prison sentence for his professional journalism activities.

Action: Letter re dismissal of 183 members of the Korean Teachers Union for making donations to an Opposition party.

IRAN

SOUTH KOREA

BAHRAIN CAMBODIA

HONDURAS

Uganda Honduras Action request: Search Foundation Action: Letter of support for trade unionists on extended hunger strike, an call for the reinstatement of 186 illegally dismissed cleaning and security staff of the Autonomous University of Honduras.

Bahrain Action request: Scholars at Risk Addressees: His Majesty Shaikh Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa and His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Action: Letter re arrest and detention of Professor Abdul Jalil Al-Singace (University of Bahrain and Director of Human Rights Bureau of the Haq Movement for Civil Liberties and Democracy) on 13 August 2010 after return from UK where he addressed the House of Lords on the human rights situation in Bahrain.

VIETNAM

UGANDA

Action request: UNATU Uganda Addressee: President Museveni Action: Letter of congratulations to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni regarding his decision to designate World Teachers’ Day as a National Public Holiday in Uganda (from 2011), and his decision to preside over the national celebrations UNATU.

Cambodia Action request: Amnesty International Addressee: Deputy Prime Minister/Minister for the Interior Action: Letter re safety of union leaders Ath Thorn, President of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, Morn Nhim, President of the Cambodian National Confederation and Tola Moeun, Head of the Labour Rights Programme at CLEC) who are facing possible arrest and legal action for organising a nationwide strike of garment workers.

INDONESIA

Vietnam Action request: Scholars at Risk Addresses:President Nguyen Minh Triet Action: Letter re arrest and detention of Professor Pham Minh Hoang (Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute) on 13 August 2010 for participating in a banned political group (Viet Tan).

Indonesia Action request: Amnesty International Addressee: Minister for Justice and Human Rights Action: Letter re refusal of Lowokwaru prison authorities to allow prisoner of conscience, Johan Teterissa, (who is seriously ill) access to medical attention, adequate food and clean drinking water. He has been imprisoned since 2007, and is serving a 15 year sentence for leading a peaceful demonstration.

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

YOUR UNION

NTEU elections now complete E

very two years, most positions in the NTEU come up for election by members. This year our State and Territory Division Secretary positions were up for election (except in NSW) as well as elections for the three full-time National Officers.

National Officers The three National Officers are President, General Secretary and National Assistant Secretary. Day-to-day conduct of Union business is conducted by the National Officers and staff in association with National Executive. Taking office on 1 October were new National President Jeannie Rea, and new National Assistant Secretary Matthew McGowan. Jeannie Rea was leected unopposed to the position held since 1994 by Carolyn Allport. Jeannie was previously a Deputy Dean at Victoria University (VU), and has previously been VU Branch President, Victorian Division President and a member of National Executive. For the last eight year, Matt McGowan has been Victorian Division Secretary. He won a contensted election among member for the position of National Assistant Secretary, replacing Ted Murphy.

National Executive At the National Council meeting in October, Greg McCarthy (Adelaide) was re-elected as the Vice-President (Academic Staff ) and Gabe Gooding (UWA) was elected as VicePresident (General Staff ). In addition to Greg and Gabe, National Council also elected members to the NTEU National Executive: • Michael Thomson (Sydney) • Susan Price (UNSW) • Derek Corrigan (ANU) • Andrew Bonnell (UQ) • Helen Masterman-Smith (CSU) • Terry Mason (UWS) • Virginia Mansel-Lees (La Trobe) • John Fitzsimmons (CQU) A number of designated Indigenous positions were also filled at the National Division and Branch level, including the election of Jillian Miller as Chair of the NTEU Indigenous NOVEMBER 2010 www.nteu.org.au

Policy Committee and Indigenous National Executive Member (see p.15).

Division Secretaries The Division Secretaries play a key role in overseeing the Union’s staff and its work in each State/Territory. They are directly elected by all members in each Division. Newly elected or re-elected Division Secretaries are: • Victoria: Colin Long (newly elected, from Deakin) • Queensland: Margaret Lee (re-elected) • Tasmania: John Kenny (re-elected) • WA: Lyn Bloom (re-elected) • ACT: Deb Veness (re-elected)

Branch Committees New Branch Officers and Branch Committees have been elected at all Branches. For information about new office-bearers and contacts for your Branch go to your Branch homepage. If you are interested in getting involved with the Union, it’s never too late! Just contact the local Branch Organiser at your campus. A Below: Outgoing National Executive members, Len Palmer, Jo Hibbert and Susan Bandias

New NT Division President

avid Wise is the newly elected Division President for the Northern Territory. David works at Charels Darwin University (CDU) as the manager of an Indigenous Natural Resource Management program about Traditional Knowledge that is administered through a group called NAILSMA. David has been a member of several unions in a variety of past jobs including the CPSU while a ranger at CSIRO; AEU while a VET lecturer; and CDU Students Union as Office holder, Part time students representative and student newspaper editor 2003–2005. He was CDU Branch Vice-President 2008–2010, and is also currently Branch President. David says he has ‘always had a strong belief in, and commitment to, the principles of unionism, particularly industrial democracy and the rights of workers.’ He is ‘very pleased to be able to take up the position of Division President in the NT and hopes to keep the NT Division on the forefront of negotiations and progress in Indigenous education and resource management rights. Ongoing bargaining at Batchelor Institute and Charles Darwin Uni are big challenges at present and we are working toward the best outcomes that can be negotiated for members.’ David has particular interests in land management, cross cultural communications and Indigenous knowledge. ‘I play guitar and sing (badly) but don’t really care much what anyone else thinks of that. I am also a member of Darwin based amateur Balinese style Gamelan group Tunas Mekar.’ A

YOUR UNION

Looking up your Agreement on the new NTEU website I

n the new NTEU website, all Collective Agreements are stored in the online Library. Members can easily access them in a variety of ways.

Through your Branch homepage The most direct way to find your Agreement is via your Branch homepage. Links to all Branch homepages can be found in the ‘Go Local’ pulldowns located at the top of the homepage, as well as in the right hand sidebar. The address structure for Branches is www.nteu.org.au/uni (i.e. ANU Branch is www.nteu.org.au/anu). Each Branch site has a section called ‘Agreements’; this is where you’ll find all the Agreements relevant to your institution.

Sites without a Branch If your workplace is not part of a Branch, you still have a homepage to go to. Choose

your area from ‘Other Sector’ pulldown in ‘Go Local’, or simply find your workplace in the sidebar ‘Go Local’ pulldown list. On each of the homepages for Adult and Community Education, ELICOS/TESOL, Indigenous Education Providers and Other Tertiary Education Providers (AFTRS, College of Law, RACGP, Turning Point, TVET) you’ll find an ‘Agreements’ section with all relevant Agreements listed. Members at Student Unions should refer to the Branch page of their institution.

State and Sector searches Using the Rights & Agreements area allows users to view all the Agreements for universities in one State, or all the Agreements for

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

one particular sector. Go to www.nteu.org.au/ rights/agreements for these listings.

Direct Library search Finally, members can search through our extensive online Library for Agreements (or any NTEU publication). Got to www.nteu.org.au/library, search for Agreements tagged with your workplace or sector. For further website assistance, please contact your Branch. c www.nteu.org.au

How to check your membership details or download your tax statement online

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: Tamara Labadze, Finance Officer ph (03) 9254 1910 email tlabadze@nteu.org.au

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

1: Click on ‘Member Login’ 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. 46

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

NATIONAL TERTIARY EDUCATION UNION – MEMBERSHIP FORM

I hereby apply for membership of NTEU, any Branch and any associated body established at my workplace.

Surname

 parT Time

 Full Time

 conTinuing/permanenT  Fixed Term conTracT DATE OF ExPIRY

WHaT iS your employmenT caTegory?

WHaT iS your employmenT Term?

➔ uSe paymenT opTion 1, 2 or 3

hRS PER WK

F (03) 9254 1915

E www.nteu.org.au

T (03) 9254 1910

E national@nteu.org.au

NTEU National Office, Po Box 1323, South Melbourne VIc 3205

Please post or fax this form to NTEU National Office

Office use only: Membership no.

You may resign by written notice to the Division or Branch Secretary. Where you cease to be eligible to become a member, resignation shall take effect on the date the notice is received or on the day specified in your notice, whichever is later. In any other case, you must give at least two weeks notice. Members are required to pay dues and levies as set by the Union from time to time in accordance with NTEU rules. Further information on financial obligations, including a copy of the rules, is available from your Branch.

SignaTure

 general

 academic

WHaT iS your employmenT group?

➔ uSe paymenT opTion 4

rEcrUITEd BY:

‡associated bodies: NTEU (NSW); University of Queensland Academic Staff Association (Union of Employees) at University of Queensland; Union of Australian College Academics (WA Branch) Industrial Union of Workers at Edith Cowan University & Curtin University; Curtin University Staff Association (Inc.) at Curtin University; Staff Association of Edith Cowan University (Inc.) at Edith Cowan University.

daTe

general STaFF caSual

SeSSional academic

MoNTH, If kNoWN

nexT incremenT due

PlEASE NOTE OUR SPECIAl RATES FOR CASUAl/SESSIONAl STAFF.

 

If kNoWN

E.g. lEcTB, HEW4

 oTHer:

annual Salary

claSSiFicaTion level STep/incremenT

poSiTion

daTe oF birTH

mail/bldg code

PlEASE USE MY hOME ADDRESS FOR All MAIlING

mobile pHone

poSTcode



 male  Female

depT/ScHool

campuS

 yeS: aT WHicH inSTiTuTion?

given nameS

FaculTy

currenT inSTiTuTion/employer

Have you previouSly been an nTeu member?

 yeS

WorK pHone INclUdE arEa codE

are you an auSTralian aboriginal or TorreS STraiT iSlander?

email addreSS

Home pHone INclUdE arEa codE

Home addreSS

TiTle

The information on this form is needed for a number of areas of NTEU’s work and will be treated as confidential.

 I am currently a member and wish to update my details

INSERT YOUR NAME

Councils and Committees. You will be notified, in writing, of any changes at least fourteen (14) days prior to their implementation. 3. For all matters relating to the Direct Debit arrangements, including deferments and alterations, you will need to send written correspondence to PO Box 1323, Sth Melbourne VIC 3205 and allow 10 days for the amendments to take effect. 4. You may stop any Debit item or cancel a DDR with NTEU at any time in writing. All correspondence is to be addressed to NTEU General Secretary, PO Box 1323, Sth Melbourne VIC

 $27.50  $55  $38.50  $77  $55  $110

annual fEE

Description of goods/services: NTEU Membership Dues. To: NTEU, PO Box 1323, South Melbourne VIC 3205

pay by cHeque, money order or crediT card

over $20,000

$10,001 – $20,000

$10,000 and under

EstimatEd salary rangE 6 month fEE

pleaSe deTermine your Fee amounT and TicK THe appropriaTe box:

daTe

all types of accounts; and account details should be checked against a recent statement from your financial institution. If uncertain, check with your ledger financial institution before completing the DDR. 8. NTEU does not use your financial records and account details for any purpose except the collection of union dues and the information is only available to a small number of NTEU employees. The details may be provided to your financial institution if a claim was made against that institution of an alleged incorrect or wrongful debit.

pay by cHeque, money order or crediT card

3205. 5. Should any dispute ever arise between you and the NTEU about your payments you should advise NTEU General Secretary in writing or by email in the first instance and, if necessary, NTEU will take advice from your financial institution. 6. It is your responsibility to have sufficient clear funds to meet the costs of payment under this Agreement. NTEU, however, does not have a policy of recovering any penalty fees from members if debit items are returned unpaid by the ledger financial institution. 7. Direct debiting through BECS is not available on

accounT number

— — — — daTe

SignaTure

expiry

amounT

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

card number

name on card

 pleaSe accepT my cHeque/money order OR crediT card:  maSTercard  viSa

 OPTION 4: CASUAL/SESSIONAL STAFF RATES

direct debit request Service agreement: 1. This is an agreement between you and NTEU. 2. Under this Agreement, you arrange to have deducted from your account, on the 15th day in each calendar month (working day), the appropriate amount of dues and levies, payable under NTEU’s Rules, to NTEU (the debit user). If you are uncertain as to when the debit will be processed please contact NTEU on (03) 9254 1910. These arrangements will not change, although the amount may vary in accordance with decisions of your elected NTEU

SignaTure

bSb number

authorise the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) APCA User ID No.062604 to arrange for funds to be debited from my/our account at the financial institution identified below and in accordance with the terms described in the Direct Debit Request (DDR) Service Agreement.

daTe

I hereby authorise the Merchant to debit my Card account with the amount and at intervals specified above and in the event of any change in the charges for these goods/services to alter the amount from the appropriate date in accordance with such change. This authority shall stand, in respect of the above specified Card and in respect of any Card issued to me in expiry renewal or replacement thereof, until I notify the Merchant in writing of its cancellation. Standing Authority for Recurrent Periodic Payment — — — — by Credit Card.

proceSSed on THe 15TH oF THe monTH or FolloWing WorKing day

paymenT:  monTHly  quarTerly  HalF-yearly  annually* *5% diScounT For annual direcT debiT

accounT name

brancH name & addreSS

Financal inSTiTuTion

 OPTION 3: DIRECT DEBIT

IF KNOWN

or its duly authorised servants and agents to deduct from my salary by regular instalments, dues and levies (as determined from time to time by the Union), to NTEU or its authorised agents. All payments on my behalf and in accordance with this authority shall be deemed to daTe be payments by me personally. This authority shall remain in force until revoked by me in writing. I also consent to my employer supplying NTEU with updated information relating to my employment status.

STaFF payroll number

Fees for this branch = 1% of gross annual salary

Office use only: % of salary deducted

proceSSed on THe 16TH oF THe monTH or FolloWing WorKing day

———— ———— ———— ———— card Type:  maSTercard  viSa SignaTure paymenT:  monTHly  quarTerly  HalF-yearly  annually

card number

name on card

 OPTION 2: CREDIT CARD

SignaTure

Hereby auTHoriSe INSTITUTION

oF YOUR ADDRESS

.0 i INSERT YOUR NAME

 OPTION 1: PAYROLL DEDUCTION AUTHORITY

 I want to join NTEU ‡

...and choose ONE of the following payment options

Please complete your personal details...

Contacting NTEU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

National Office

office phone fax email website

PO Box 1323, South Melbourne, VIC 3205 (03) 9254 1910 (03) 9254 1915 national@nteu.org.au www.nteu.org.au

NT Division

WA Division

1st Fl, 120 Clarendon St, Southbank, VIC 3006

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

PO Box U371, CDU, Darwin, NT 0815 (08) 8946 7231 (08) 8927 9410 nt@nteu.org.au www.nteu.org.au/nt

Queensland Division

4 Briggs Street, Taringa, QLD 4068 (07) 3362 8200 (07) 3371 7817 qld@nteu.org.au www.nteu.org.au/qld

SA Division

Ground Floor, Palais Apartment Complex, 281 North Tce, Adelaide SA 5000 (08) 8227 2384 (08) 8227 0997 sa@nteu.org.au www.nteu.org.au/sa

NSW Division

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

Victorian Division

NATIONAL OFFICE STAFF

1st Fl, 120 Clarendon St, Southbank, VIC 3006 (03) 9254 1930 (03) 9254 1935 office@vic.nteu.org.au www.nteu.org.au/vic

Officers & Central Resources Unit Executive Officer – President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrea Sauvarin 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. . . . . . . . . . . . Renee Veal

Industrial Unit

ACT Division G Block, Old Admin Area, McDonald Place, ANU, Acton, ACT 0200 (02) 6125 2043 ANU/ADFA/ACU (02) 6201 5355 UC (02) 6125 8137 act@nteu.org.au www.nteu.org.au/act

Tasmanian Division

Private Bag 101, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001 (03) 6226 7575 (03) 6226 2172 tas@nteu.org.au www.nteu.org.au/tasmania

NATIONAL EXECUTIVE

Industrial Unit Coordinators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Roberts, Eleanor Floyd Senior Industrial Officer (Strategy & Policy). . . . Ken McAlpine Industrial Officer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michelle Rangott, Peter Summers Industrial Support Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rachel Liebhaber

National President. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeannie Rea

Policy & Research Unit

General Secretary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grahame McCulloch National Assistant Secretary. . . . . . . . . . Matthew McGowan

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

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

Finance Unit Finance Unit Coordinator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jenny Savage Finance Officers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joanne Dunn, Gracia Ho, Alex Ghvaladze, Tamara Labadze, Lee Powell

Vice-President (Academic). . . . . . . . . . . . Gregory McCarthy SA Div Vice-President (General). . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gabe Gooding UWA

Executive Members Lyn Bloom WA Div Margaret Botterill La Trobe John Fitzsimmons CQU John Kenny Tas Div Colin Long Vic Div Terry Mason UWS Neil Mudford ACT Div Michael Thomson Sydney

Andrew Bonnell UQ Derek Corrigan ANU Genevieve Kelly NSW Div Margaret Lee Qld Div Virginia Mansel Lees La Trobe Helen Masterman-Smith CSU Susan Price UNSW David Wise NT Div

Indigenous Executive Member. . . . . . . . . Jillian Miller UniSA

NTEU ADVOCATE vol. 17 no. 4

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vol. 52, no.

Publish ed by

Since 1958, the Australian Universities’ Review has been encouraging debate and discussion about issues in higher education and its contribution to Australian public life.

www.aur.org.au

NTEU

2, 201 0 0818–8

ISSN

068

AUR

Austra lian U nivers ities’R eview

David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education and Research

Want to receive the Australian Universities’ Review? AUR is published by NTEU twice a year. NTEU members are entitled to receive a free subscription on an opt-in basis – so you need to let us know! If you are an NTEU member and would like to receive AUR, please send us an email at aur@nteu.org.au Subscription rates for non-members available at www.aur.org.au

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