QTAD Q&A
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 126 No 7, 8 October 2021, page no.30
Can you confirm whether Union Reps should have time allocated (eg. a spare lesson) to enable them to carry out their role?
Clause 2.21.1 of the 2019 certified agreement states that additional release time should be made available to local consultative committee (LCC) members. The parties agree that LCC members should be provided with reasonable release time to enable them to conduct consultation related to significant workplace reform initiatives that require it. Any additional non-contact time for Union
Representatives would need to be negotiated and provided at discretion of the principal.
We have heard that there is an increase to NCT for primary teachers from 2022. Is this true?
From the start of the 2022 school year, primary classroom teachers will receive an additional 30 minutes of non-contact time (NCT). This includes teachers working in special schools, special education programs (SEPs) and specific purpose sites.
This increase in NCT is the first for more than 20 years and will take the provision of NCT for a full-time classroom teacher to no less than 150 minutes per week (pro-rata for fractional teachers).
Calculations for part-time fractions are as follows:
- 0.8 fraction = 80 per cent of 150 = 120 min/week
- 0.6 fraction = 60 per cent of 150 = 90 min/week
- 0.5 fraction = 50 per cent of 150 = 75 min/week
- 0.4 fraction = 40 per cent of 150 = 60 min/week
- 0.2 fraction = 20 per cent of 150 = 30 min/week.
NCT still has to be provided in useable blocks of time of no less than 30 minutes, and it should be used at the discretion of the teacher.
Specialist teachers will not be entitled to any additional NCT.
Further to the additional 30 minutes NCT for all primary classroom teachers, in accordance with clause 2.4.1 of the 2019 certified agreement, a permanent or temporary classroom teacher in their first 12 months of teaching (a beginning teacher) will receive an additional 60 minutes of NCT per week, i.e. a total of 210 minutes if working in a full-time capacity (pro-rata for fractional teachers).
For further information, refer to the new QTU brochure “Additional primary and special school non-contact time” (https://www.qtu.asn.au/bra-addnct).