No. 06-21, 12 March 2021 | DOWNLOAD PDF

To QTU Members,
 

Last chance to have your say in the NAPLAN survey

NAPLAN survey

QTU members have until Sunday to have their say in the NAPLAN survey. The survey asks members to provide input into the QTU’s campaign to abolish NAPLAN in its current form. The survey closes at midnight on Sunday 14 March and should take less than five-minutes to complete. As a member-focussed organisation we value the input of members as we shape the next steps in the campaign. Please don’t forget to have your say here. 

Q-Learn – Say “No” to unresourced systemic changes!

QTU delegates at the first meeting of State Council held on 6 March, received a report on the Department of Education's planned replacement of a new learning management system (LMS) called Q-Learn, which has the potential to increase workload for all employees, including school leaders, heads of program and teachers. 

To date, the QTU has sought guarantees that:

• any trials of the replacement LMS would be on an opt-in basis; and 
• all teaching and learning materials that have been created on existing platforms by Queensland’s state school teachers, heads of program and school leaders will be able to migrate to the new Q-Learn platform. 

The QTU considers Q-Learn (the replacement LMS) to meet the definition of ‘systemic change’ and therefore the union has also sought guarantees from the department that: 

• QTU members will be able to access training specific to the new learning management system during rostered duty time; and 
• the department will centrally allocate funds to schools to ensure training occurs during rostered duty time and without disadvantage to school’s budgets.

The department holds the view that professional development can be allocated at the school level, using school funds, however, this might also include teachers and school leaders attending training outside of rostered duty time.

The QTU rejects this position.

The introduction of Q-Learn cannot be yet another one of the master’s tools that add incremental workload creeping into schools. This is a systemic change that requires a central allocation of funding for professional development and training. QTU members, including teachers, heads of program, and school leaders, should not be required to familiarise themselves with the functions of Q-Learn outside of rostered duty time, and no school budget should be required to reprioritise local needs to accommodate systems change.

QTU State Council unanimously voted to escalate this matter through the dispute resolution procedures. 

Temp to perm – Term 1 invites released

The Term 1 invitations into the temp to perm conversion process were emailed (to their work email account) by the department to eligible teachers on Friday 12 March. Teachers with two years’ continuous service are eligible for an invitation into the conversion process. Members who are unable to accept state-wide offers of permanency have until 21 March to submit their exceptional hardship evidence to the department, for consideration by the compassionate panel. More information about the temp to perm conversion process can be found here. 

Medibank Private / Teachers Union Health (TUH)

Recently the QTU has become aware that Medibank Private has been writing to schools promoting their fund and requesting to visit and talk to staff.   

I thought it was timely to remind everyone of our long-standing partnership with TUH fund which was founded by the QTU close to 50 years ago.  

TUH is YOUR not-for-profit, member-owned health fund. Their priority will always be to deliver great value, affordable and quality healthcare cover to the teaching community.

They are part of the QTU family! More importantly, being a not-for-profit health fund, their profits go directly back to members in the way of competitive benefits and pricing, unlike the “for profit” health funds like Medibank that pay dividends to shareholders.

Please spread the word within your workplace to ensure you are working with a health fund that looks after QTU members and their families not shareholders.

Queensland Teachers Union – the only registered organisation for Queensland state school teachers and school leaders

Do not forget you have until 31 March to pay your dues and remain a financial member of the QTU.

The QTU is committed to being the most democratic, representative, and powerful voice of the teaching profession in Queensland on industrial and professional matters, and in support of public education.

We have recently been asked why it is so important for a union to be a registered organisation. The QTU is proud to be a registered organisation under the Queensland Industrial Relations Act (IR Act). 

As a registered organisation certain rights are conferred to QTU officers, that do not apply to non-registered organisations.

These rights include:

• the power to enter workplaces 
• the power to request or inspect documents under the Industrial Relations (IR) Act
• the power to make certified agreements 
• the ability to become permit holders under the Queensland Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act. 

Only, officers and employees of an ‘organisation’ pursuant to the IR Act can be authorised. The IR Act defines these organisations as those registered by the commission under the IR Act and governed by Chapter 12 of the Act. While other organisations may claim to be industrial associations, they are not an organisation as defined by the Queensland IR Act. 

We look forward to continuing to work with and win with members in 2021.

 Authorised by Kate Ruttiman, General Secretary, Queensland Teachers' Union
21 Graham Street, Milton, QLD, Australia, 4064