TAFE cuts leading to soaring workloads

TAFE TAFE cuts leading to soaring workloads

Early analysis of the Australian Education Union’s (AEU) State of Our TAFE 2020 survey has revealed that, on average, TAFE teachers are working an additional day per week over and above their paid work, resulting in soaring teacher workloads at all levels. AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe highlighted the findings and the additional workload impact on TAFE teachers at this year’s annual AEU Federal Conference in Melbourne. According to the survey: • TAFE teachers are working on average one additional day per week over and above their paid work. • Seventy-two per cent of respondents say that their working hours have increased over the past three years. • Ninety-three per cent of respondents said that the pace or intensity of their work has increased over the last three years. • Only two per cent say their workload is always manageable, due to excessive administration and management demands. Ms Haythorpe said that years of federal government funding cuts were now exacerbating Australia’s skills shortage. She said funding for vocational education had been cut by more than 15 per cent in the 10 years to 2016, while the Morrison Government had cut TAFE funding by 10.6 per cent ($326 million) in 2018 alone. 1 “Funding cuts to vocational education have seen apprentice numbers decline by 140,000 across the country, exacerbating our current skills shortage,” Ms Haythorpe said.

“Australia’s TAFE system offers a clear solution to this situation. It offers the highest standard of vocational education at all levels, with nationally accredited programs and a highly qualified and experienced workforce of professional teachers.

General Agreement 2019 TAFE

On Wednesday 22 April 2020 the SSTUWA Executive endorsed a recommendation from the TAFE Committee to provide in-principle agreement to the offer from DTWD on the understanding that: 1. Changes to Clause 80 – Training and Lecturing Qualifications, in terms of industry currency, not be included. 2. The pilot project referred to under development of learning resources and guides, not be included. 3. The calculation of casual rates of pay be clarified and resolved. The above matters have been raised with DTWD and it is agreed that items 1 and 2 will not form part of the new Agreement. We are awaiting further information concerning item 3. Wording for the draft clauses will continue to be negotiated. Once the final wording of the draft Agreement has been finalised members will be able to vote on the agreement via electronic ballot. “However, privatisation policies, resulting in course and campus closures, have caused incalculable damage to TAFE and led to significant job losses across the sector.” According to the most recent Commonwealth Report on Government Services (RoGS): • In 2017-18 total government expenditure on vocational education fell to a total of $6.02 billion. This was the lowest spend in real terms of any year over the last decade. • This is an expenditure decline of $1.6 billion (21.3 per cent) from the 2012 peak of $7.65 billion. • Total annual hours provided by government expenditure continued to fall to 36.4 million, a decline of 6.4 per cent from last year and of 30.6 per cent from the 2012 peak. “Half the new jobs in the future will require a vocational education qualification,” Ms Haythorpe said. “We have a nationwide skills shortage and a youth unemployment rate that runs twice the rate of the national average. This is the devastating reality of privatisation, marketisation, and the billions of dollars of funding cuts for TAFE. “Without a strong and properly funded TAFE sector, how can we hope to train the people we need to deliver the infrastructure essential for our future, to drive our transition to renewable energy and to limit the already catastrophic impact of climate change? “It is crystal clear there is an urgent need to invest in a strong TAFE. It is going to be vital for Australia’s future and for tackling the big challenges of our future. “Only TAFE provides a highly-qualified workforce and a trusted, world-leading education that will give Australians the skills they need for the future.”

1

National Centre for Vocational Education Research. 2019. “Government Funding of VET 2018.” bit.ly/3cqBKkZ.