Submission to the Select Committee on Job Security April 2021
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Submission to the
Select Committee on Job Security
April 2021
Queensland Teachers’ Union
Authorised by Kate Ruttiman – General Secretary
Thalia Edmonds – Industrial Advocate
21 Graham Street, Milton Qld 4064
PO Box 1750, Milton BC QLD 4064
P (07) 3512 9000
F (07) 3520 9050
E qtu@qtu.asn.auAbout the QTU
1. The Queensland Teachers’ Union of Employees (QTU) was founded in 1889 and currently
represents over 48,000 teachers employed in Queensland state schools (including high
schools, special schools and other specialist educational institutions) and TAFE institutes.
Currently the wages and conditions of the vast majority of these members are regulated in the
Queensland jurisdiction through state industrial instruments, legislation, directives and policy.1
In common with many unions of professionals, the QTU represents the interests of its members
in relation to professional, as well as industrial matters. In the context of the QTU, these
professional issues include matters such as curriculum and assessment issues, teacher
registration, professional standards and rights, and school behaviour management. The QTU
is also a strong advocate for state schools and public education generally, including matters
relating to school funding. In the context of government as a model employer, government
agencies can and should do more to support the principles of employment security and merit.
Overview
2. Anecdotally, casual and temporary employment are used as de facto probationary
arrangements; ‘a try before you buy’ approach. Currently, there is a Public Service
Commissioners’ Directive, namely, the Fixed Term Temporary Employment (Directive
09/20)(the Directive) which enables the conversion of temporary employees to permanency
under conditions such as a qualifying period of one year of continuous service in the same
role in an agency, the original appointment following a ‘merit’ process and subject to ongoing
funding for the position. The Directive has recently changed from a qualifying period of two
years continuous service to one year and contemporaneous data from the Public Service
Commission has yet to be more broadly analysed and released. Temporary employment
arrangements provide a safeguard for employees, particularly women returning from
maternity leave and opting for more flexible return to work arrangements. That is a relevant
and important consideration, but it is not the only one. A risk management approach would
1There are a number of QTU TAFE members who are covered by the Central Queensland University Enterprise
Agreement 2017.
Submission by the Queensland Teachers’ Union of Employees to the Select Committee on Job Security
Page 2involve longer term perspectives considering such things as staff turnover in the agency and
the size of the agency’s workforce in that area of expertise. People seeking conversion to
permanent employment may have to be flexible as to their work placement, provided that
travel requirements are not unreasonable. This is certainly the circumstance for Queensland
state school teachers whose service encompassing rural, regional, remote, and high priority
areas in a range of locations across the width and breath of the state.
3. The current Directive facilitates the conversion of temporary employees to permanency under
certain conditions. However, the use of long-term casuals, sometimes also referred to as
‘permanent’ casuals, is increasing. Long-term temporaries and long-term casuals are similar in
all senses, except for the loading which casuals receive in lieu of some types of leave. There is
an avenue for conversion for casuals as the Directive expands the definition of continuous
employment to allow for periods of casual service and breaks in service of up to six weeks in
a one-year period for a one-year review, and up to twelve weeks in the two-year period prior
to the two-year review.
State school teachers in Queensland
4. Although the current figures in line with the recent change to the Directive have not yet been
provided to the QTU, the most recent data analysis indicates that 14 percent of all Queensland
teachers are not permanent employees of the Department of Education (the department). Job
security has featured as one of the most important employment issue for QTU member in
every member survey dating back to 1997.
5. There are masses of contract teachers who, under the current system, can be contracted on
back to back contracts across the state, including rural, regional, remote, and high priority
areas, before being offered a permanent, secure job within the department. In many cases,
this leads to:
• ineligibility for pay over vacation periods;
• broken service, which impacts on salary progression and access to senior teacher, experience
senior teacher, highly accomplished teacher and lead teacher classifications;
Submission by the Queensland Teachers’ Union of Employees to the Select Committee on Job Security
Page 3• limited professional development opportunities;
• a negative impact on the ability to achieve promotion opportunities;
• adverse impacts on the health and wellbeing of beginning teachers in precarious forms of
employment; and
• increased workforce attrition.
6. In addition to this, there is a large body of research which suggests that job insecurity can also
have implications on an employee’s wellbeing, attitude and behaviour, as well as the wellbeing
of their dependants. Job security for teachers translates into stability for schools and for
students. Evidence suggests that stability in staffing is linked to positive impacts on the quality
and equity of educational experiences for students.
7. Evidence shows that employees who believe that their employment is insecure are often more
dissatisfied with their job. This can be attributed to temporary workers having less autonomy
in their roles and having less of an influence on decisions made in their workplace. As such,
the practices of repeatedly extending teachers’ contracts needs to stop. The QTUs view is that
temporary positions within schools should be limited and only exist in circumstances of a
short-term vacancy. Further to this, the QTU supports the position that when teachers are on
contracts which are less than one year, they should be paid pro-rata of their annual pay
increment (not just for the summer vacation period). They should also be entitled to paid
parental leave.
8. The QTU submits that significant improvements need to be made in the areas of teacher
transfers and promotional position relocation processes. The QTU receives a plethora of
anecdotal evidence in relation to teachers who relinquish positions or take leave without pay
from regional, rural and remote schools simply because they have had enough of sitting on a
relocation list or have missed out on a transfer to a preferred location. If QTU members have
taught in these isolated and complex areas, it is only fair that there are adequate processes to
transfer or relocate them. Under the current system, some of these teachers and school
leaders are being forced to choose job insecurity as they are tired of waiting for the
department to manage staff equitably.
Submission by the Queensland Teachers’ Union of Employees to the Select Committee on Job Security
Page 49. In addition, it is the view of the QTU that more district relieving teacher and local relieving
teacher positions need to be made permanent.2 Given the prevalence of “super schools” in
Queensland with a number of schools easily reaching over 3,000 students, it is a logical
proposition to include a pool of local relieving teachers who cater for a single school.3 The
QTU supports the view that these positions should be fully funded by regions, providing
staffing flexibility while maximising permanency, increasing job security for members and
maintain a healthy transfer process.
10. Furthermore, the tyranny of distance in Queensland means that there are schools which are
difficult to staff. The result is low availability of a supply teacher workforce. In some isolated
communities in which COVID vaccines were rolled out, the entire teacher workforce was
experiencing side effects of the vaccine like headaches, nausea and dizziness, but were unable
to access sick leave provisions. Expanding the number of permanent district relief teachers
would have greatly assisted the management of this issue.
11. This is particularly significant in light of the predicted teacher shortage in Queensland. The
QTU notes that departmental modelling indicates that approximately 8000 additional students
will join Queensland state schools annually every year until 2026. This figure is on top of the
usual intake of students.4
Classification structure issues - supply and temporary teachers
12. The last round of enterprise bargaining achieved significant gains for teachers in terms of
gender pay equity and salary progression. However, due to the bureaucratic position of the
2 District relief teachers (DRT) and local relief teachers (LRT) provide a valuable service by relieving for teachers
who are on leave. A DRT is appointed at a base school and may work across multiple schools within a region to
cover unexpected and/or planned short-term absences. An LRT is appointed at one school to cover unexpected
short-term absences at that location. DRT or LRT roles can be filled by permanent or temporary teachers.
3 Department of Education (Qld), Day 8 FTE enrolments by school (2021).
4 Queensland Government Statistician’s Office, Population projections (22 February 2019).
Submission by the Queensland Teachers’ Union of Employees to the Select Committee on Job Security
Page 5department, this was not applied to supply teachers, 5 temporary teachers6 or to teachers who
are currently within the classification structure as senior teachers. Quite simply, periods of
supply teaching do not count towards classification purposes. Temporary teachers are entitled
to a salary increment after the completion of 200 days of teaching. In the case of three-year
trained teachers within Band 3, increments are paid on completion of 400 school days unless
in-service progression hours are completed and approved.
Classification structure issues – senior teacher
13. Again, the department has determined that incremental progression does not apply to senior
teachers, in spite of this being clearly articulated in the Department of Education State School
Teachers’ Certified Agreement 2019.7 Instead, the department have chosen to rely on clause
12.6.1(c )(i) of the Teaching in State Education Award – State 2016, namely, that a senior teacher
must complete nine years full-time teaching (amongst other criteria) to access the
classification. This, in turn, impacts on a teacher’s ability to access other pay points within the
classification structure such as experienced senior teacher 1 and experienced senior teacher
2;8 both classifications rely on the successful attainment of the senior teacher classification.
14. In the case of a temporary teacher, it is nearly impossible to access the classification as the
requirement includes satisfying all of the conditions of clause 12.6(c)(i) as well as receiving an
engagement at the one school location for a period of at least three school terms.
Departmental engagement rarely occurs for periods over a term, even when the position is to
replace a person on maternity leave who has notified the department of their intention to take
extended leave.
15. Gender pay equity is informed by the fundamental principle that gender should not have an
impact on the income, opportunities and financial wellbeing of employees and, as such, must
5 A supply teacher is a registered teacher who fills a temporary position in a school on a short-term basis for a
period less than five consecutive days.
6 A temporary teacher is a registered teacher who is employed for a fixed period (temporary engagement) to
replace a teacher who is absent for five days or more.
7 See clause 5.9 of the Department of Education State School Teachers’ Certified Agreement 2019
8 Ibid at 5.3.3.
Submission by the Queensland Teachers’ Union of Employees to the Select Committee on Job Security
Page 6be minimised. When returning from care roles, women often return part-time, which in turn,
limits the rate of progression through the salary banding; this has resulted in women often
taking twice as long to reach senior teacher and experienced senior teacher. For women who
are either supply or temporary teachers, these salary increments are nearly impossible to
attain.
TAFE educators
16. TAFE Queensland employee data, provided to the QTU during negotiations in April 2019,
demonstrated a clear indication of the size of the problem. More than one third of the educator
workforce were employed as casuals and less than one half of the workforce had permanent
employment. The QTU analysis of the employee data that was provided showed that TAFE
Queensland educators who identify as female make up 57% of the workforce but are more
likely to be in precarious employment including casual (70.7%) and temporary (56.4%). To the
credit of TAFE Queensland, the organisation committed to, and delivered, prior to the
commencement of bargaining for a new certified agreement in 2019, maximisation of
permanency in TAFE Queensland.
17. The Queensland government employment security policy commits agencies to maximising
permanent employment. Where possible and that casual or temporary forms of employment
should only be utilised where permanent employment is not viable or appropriate. However,
Government Owned Corporations (GOC), such as TAFE Queensland are not bound by
directives.
Conclusion
18. Even in a seemingly secure public service profession such as teaching, the job security remains
an ongoing issue for teachers in Queensland. Although the Queensland government has
instituted a sweeping range of reforms, the data from the Public Service Commission, to date,
has not been forthcoming. Investing in public sector workers is vital for the state’s economic
recovery.
Submission by the Queensland Teachers’ Union of Employees to the Select Committee on Job Security
Page 719. As Queensland rebuilds its economy from the crisis of COVID-19, it is vital that secure
employment is supported with secure conditions and appropriate wage growth to ensure that
the result is an economy that will work to support all workers. The QTU calls on the Federal
government to establish objectives specific to creating secure employment, rather than
job creation. Halving the current number of insecure jobs is a starting point. Further, the
increases in wages and living standards will support the workforce and the community as we
rebuild.
20. The QTU believes that notions of restoring the economy to pre-COVID-19 policy settings
ignore the fact that, for many Queenslanders, the economy was not working even before this
crisis. Thirty years of neoliberal trickle-down economics have led to rising inequality, an erosion
of the social safety-net, record low wage growth, and the rise of insecure employment. Trickle-
down economics fails to adequately recognise the basic principle that money in workers’
pockets drives business, creates jobs and lifts living standards. Moreover, the COVID-19 crisis
has revealed the structural weakness of that model of economics and the very real human
costs of such an approach. Excellent policy is required for ordinary outcomes over the period
ahead. Ordinary policies will lead to bad outcomes.9
21. The QTU believes that the Federal government’s economic response to the COVID-19
pandemic must reform the enterprise bargaining system. There is an urgent need to increase
workers’ bargaining power so that wage growth occurs across whole industries and lifts both
domestic demand and living standards. The Federal government has a vital role to play in
ensuring fairness in wage settings. Injecting stimulus into the economy through public sector
employment and wage growth lifts the living standards of workers and market expectations
of wages.
9 Garnaut, R. (2021). Reset: Restoring Australia after the Pandemic Recession. La Trobe University Press 81.
Submission by the Queensland Teachers’ Union of Employees to the Select Committee on Job Security
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