Union guides for school leaders
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 123 No 3, 13 April 2018, p25
This semester the Queensland Teachers’ Union will be releasing two publications to assist education leader members.
The first will be “A QTU guide: Education leaders”. This touches on some legal issues, as well as a diverse range of topics in support of education leader members, including:
- student disciplinary absences
- managing unsatisfactory performance
- managing human resources
- promotion and selection processes
- workplace bullying.
This guide is being developed to provide assistance and guidance on a range of industrial issues and should prove valuable in assisting school leaders as they navigate the industrial landscape, containing information in relation to the professional, industrial and legal issues that school leaders address on a regular basis.
The second publication, which should be used in conjunction with the first, will be the “Queensland Teachers’ Union Education Leaders and the Law Guide”. This legal guide will be focused on legal issues that impact on education leaders specifically, such as:
- student protection reporting
- financial accountability
- conflict of interest
- school leaders’ right to safety and reputation
- disability standards in education and discipline.
The publication of this guide reflects the QTU’s commitment to the protection of the legal rights of its members, which remains one of its main objectives. It will draw on the unmatched knowledge and experience of its lawyers and industrial officers, who know the demands of school leadership and are accustomed to working within Queensland public service frameworks. We have an instinctive understanding of the concerns faced by education leaders. We know schools. We know the pressure placed on education leaders. The QTU’s lawyers have been involved in every piece of legislation and every change to legislation in education, public sector, workers’ compensation, teacher registration, QCAT and child protection legislation in the past 40 years, advising the Union, drafting submissions to Parliament and making appearances at Parliamentary inquiries.
The guide will complement the QTU’s legal assistance scheme, which exists to help protect the rights of education leaders against any legal issue they may face during the course of their duties. In accordance with the Union’s Constitution and Rules and procedures endorsed by Council and Conference, the QTU’s legal assistance team work with members to provide a legal solution that fits the reality of school leadership. Practical and strategic recommendations and representation are provided.
Paige Bousen Assistant Secretary-Education Leaders