Teacher Recruitment

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (15:08): I rise today to highlight a change in one of the Department for Education's policies that I hope will encourage more teachers to move from interstate to our regional areas. As we know, there is a chronic teacher shortage in South Australia. The state government and the education union are in the middle of protracted negotiations to improve the pay and conditions of our vitally important educators. We know that our teachers are working longer hours and dealing with more complex behavioural issues that can be extremely disruptive in the classroom and require more resources. No-one disputes that, and I am hopeful that a resolution can be reached soon.

We are told that if things do not improve, half of the state's teachers plan to leave in the next five years due to stress and poor working conditions. This would be a crisis, especially for those living in regional areas where schools already struggle to fill the gaps. I know that in my electorate there are a growing number of unqualified teachers who are being given special permissions to teach in regional areas just to fill vacancies. This is not good for students or these student teachers. These young teachers are having to sink or swim. They do not have the mentors to help them deal with the behavioural issues of some students which takes them away from doing what they are, ironically, not quite trained to do, which is teach.

Late last year, my office was contacted by a teacher from Victoria, Ms Kelly Myors. She and her partner were planning to move to South Australia to work in our beautiful Limestone Coast region. Kelly has been a teacher in Victoria for around 18 years. She has taught at numerous schools and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. She obviously would be an asset to the teaching profession here in South Australia.

When Kelly began what she explained was a complicated and long process to register as a teacher in South Australia, she was told that her entitlements such as sick leave and annual leave which she had accrued while teaching in Victoria could not be transferred to the South Australian system. This was a huge blow to Kelly, who over time accrued more than 266 hours of sick leave, which equates to 35 days. She currently has about a week's annual leave that she would also lose if she moved to South Australia.

Kelly contacted my office for assistance and, understanding what a barrier to employment this was, I then committed to contact the education minister, the Hon. Blair Boyer, to highlight this inadequacy. In my letter I asked for a change in policy that would allow reciprocal arrangements between states which would enable all leave accrued by teachers to be transferable. I received a response from the minister, and I will read part of this letter:

I understand Ms Myors' concerns, and I expect all teachers transferring from interstate would share them. As such, I asked the department to reconsider this important matter.

I am pleased to advise that the Department is now implementing a change in policy that will allow interstate entitlements to be transferred to South Australia.

This is a huge win for teachers wishing to move to South Australia from other states. This is a change in policy that will allow teachers who may have accrued many thousands of hours—and therefore dollars—in sick leave or annual leave to move to South Australia and to not lose those hard-earned entitlements.

This gives an added incentive to come to our state and take up teaching positions, and we know there are many available. I am pleased that the education department has a range of additional incentives underway to attract and retain high-quality candidates, including the Country Incentive Zone Allowance for teachers who relocate. I look forward to this being taken up by teachers from other states.

High-quality teaching staff are imperative to a child's education. They inspire, motivate and influence. The impression a teacher leaves on an individual in the classroom can continue on to the next generation. I thank Kelly Myors for bringing this matter to my attention. I am so pleased and proud that my advocacy has brought about a change that will benefit our education system. I thank the current government for listening and for implementing this. I hope this change will play a small part in paving the way for increasing the number of teachers who choose to move and live in South Australia, especially in regional South Australia.