State Council report - 22 August 2020
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 125 No 7, 2 October 2020, page no.4
QTU State Council was held on Saturday 22 August under COVID-safe operating guidelines. Limited to delegates and proxies only, it was the first meeting of the new State Council term, so new delegates were welcomed and past delegates farewelled.
While the main focus of Council was on the pay increase deferral, the council also considered matters such as the decision to ballot for the ban on NAPLAN, the progress of the workload reviews and strategy around the state election.
Council received an update on the implementation of the QTU’s Reconciliation Action Plan, with the General Secretary acknowledging the Union’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education committee Gandu Jarjum for its work, its persistence and for pushing the agenda on things like the RAP and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Officer Position. During his speech, the members of Gandu Jarjum who were part of Council were invited to stand, and Council celebrated the committee’s work.
Council was also updated on the work being undertaken to address occupational violence, and members were directed to the QTU webpage www.qtu.asn.au/occupationalviolence for range of resources and training.
Examples of occupational violence include: physical or verbal intimidation and threatening behaviour; spitting, biting, hitting, kicking, punching, malicious damage to an individual’s property; gendered or racial violence; and online/virtual harassment.
The key message is that we need to change the culture, because these behaviours should be seen as unacceptable. It is not acceptable in SEU, it is not acceptable in prep, it is not acceptable in any year. It is simply not acceptable.
Finally a resolution was carried that the QTU ballot members to ban the implementation of the new Student Code of Conduct should the department not agree to extend the timeframes for implementation, provide TRS to support the development of the new school-based procedures, and provide sufficient professional development. QTU State Council was informed that meetings were being conducted with the department to raise members concerns and that a strategy, including the ballot, will be implemented in Term 4.