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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-09-13 Daily Xml
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Australian Education Union

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (16:06): I move:

That this council—

1. Notes that the Australian Education Union (AEU) (SA Branch) took industrial action on 1 September 2023 in response to the Malinauskas government's enterprise bargaining offer.

2. Acknowledges that 80 per cent of AEU members who voted in the ballot to take industrial action voted in favour of doing so.

3. Calls on the Malinauskas government to commit to supporting South Australian public education by making an offer that meets the AEU's requests for—

(a) reducing face-to-face teaching by 20 per cent to eliminate excessive and unsustainable workloads;

(b) an additional school services officer in every classroom to provide school students with necessary learning support; and

(c) a salary rise of 20 per cent over three years to attract and retain public school educators.

This motion notes that the Australian Education Union (SA Branch) took industrial action on 1 September 2023 in response to the Malinauskas government's enterprise bargaining offer. It acknowledges that 80 per cent of our new members who voted in the ballot to take that industrial action voted in favour of the strike.

The motion calls on the Malinauskas government to commit to supporting South Australian public education by making an offer that meets the AEU's requests for reducing face-to-face teaching by 20 per cent to eliminate excessive, unsustainable workloads; provides for an additional school services officer in every classroom to provide school students with necessary learning support; and a salary rise of 20 per cent over three years to attract and retain public school educators.

It is important for this parliament to discuss the industrial action that was recently taken by public schoolteachers and the state of the ongoing enterprise bargaining negotiations between the state government and the Australian Education Union, because teachers and educators were forced to take that action, as the pressure on our teachers is higher than ever and they are facing growing bureaucratic requirements that reduce time for the core work of teaching. Whilst this is happening, they must manage increasing complex needs from students, and we are seeing this right across our education system.

It is worth highlighting a UniSA report, which was released earlier this year, which surveyed 1,600 South Australian teachers and found that our teachers work above and beyond the hours for which they are paid. On average, they are working over 50 hours a week, including just over 20 hours of face-to-face teaching and 30 hours of additional tasks. Shockingly, almost half of all respondents stated that they intended to leave teaching within five years. Almost half of all respondents said that they intend to leave the profession within five years. Imagine what impact that could have on our public education system, particularly when one considers the crisis it is already facing.

It is clear that there is a crisis affecting our schools and preschools right across the state and that our school leaders and support staff are doing their best just to keep the education system running. Indeed, recent Department for Education data indicates that over 35,000 SA students are without a consistent teacher due to staffing shortages.

In the ongoing enterprise bargaining negotiations, the Australian Education Union put forward solutions to fix the crisis. These included a reduction in face-to-face teaching by 20 per cent to eliminate excessive and unsustainable workloads, an additional school services officer in every classroom to provide school students with necessary learning support, and a salary increase. But the offer they received from the state government ignored almost every proposal put forward by teachers and their union to fix the education system.

It was hardly surprising, then, that the AEU's statewide ballot to take industrial action saw an extraordinary 80 per cent of its members vote in support. Teachers were simply no longer willing to accept an offer that would have seen this crisis continue. The Greens stood in solidarity with thousands of public school educators when they took industrial action on 1 September, and it was an honour to address the crowd outside the front of Parliament House. We will continue to support them in their struggle for better pay and work conditions.

Although I understand the state government has come back to the table with a revised offer to avert this Friday's planned strike action, it is clear there is still a long way to go between the AEU's asks and the government's new offer. The revised salary increase of just 3 per cent per year is still below the AEU demands for between 5 and 8.6 per cent per year for three years and below inflation before the last strike.

It is especially concerning that some teachers in some schools will not receive a reduction in their workloads until 2030. Teachers are already working above and beyond the hours for which they are paid, and seven years is simply far too long for them to wait. It is the responsibility of governments to adequately invest in and provide a quality public education for all. It must provide working conditions that ensure that our educators can deliver the best outcomes for South Australian students irrespective of where they live and whatever their postcode may be. The government needs to sit down in good faith, listen to our teachers and support South Australian public education by putting an offer on the table that actually meets their needs.

I think it is worth reflecting on the journey we have been on during these COVID years. If I look at the focus on healthcare workers, there has been an appropriate focus on the contribution they have made, and I think their contribution has been celebrated and rightly so. They were working at the frontline in terms of keeping our communities safe.

But what about our teachers? What about our teachers, who were also working through those really challenging conditions, trying to negotiate online teaching, or who were accommodating students back into the classroom, keeping our children safe in the middle of a pandemic? Where has been the recognition from government for their work? Where has been the recognition from the former Liberal government and now the Malinauskas Labor government for their work?

It is not acceptable in my mind for the government to say, 'We can't afford it. We don't have the money to make this happen.' Budgets are about choices, and this is a government that was willing to throw half a billion dollars at a university merger without even reading the business case. They were happy to do that, yet they expect the community to believe that they cannot find the money to pay teachers what they are worth.

We have a government in Canberra that is going to be spending $250 billion on tax cuts for the megarich, yet we cannot afford to pay teachers what they are worth. We are going to be seeing $360 billion being spent on war machines that are going to be made in South Australia, but, again, we cannot afford to pay teachers what they are worth.

This is a government in South Australia that is shelling out $15 billion on a road project that has blown out. Talk about tunnel vision—quite literally tunnel vision. What are they going to do about the teacher crisis? They cannot keep saying they cannot afford it. It does not wash. The government needs to do something about it.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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