Penny named QCU Women’s Officer
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 127 No 6, 12 August 2022, page no. 6
The QTU is very pleased to advise that QTU Women’s Officer, Penny Spalding, has been appointed Women’s Officer of the state's peak union body, the Queensland Council of Unions.
Penny has taken leave from her QTU position for 12 months, with Executive member Natalie Montague-Clarke replacing her until the end of 2022.
Penny is a cis woman who has two primary school-aged children. She is passionate about gender equity, public education, workplace rights and being an ally to the LGBTIQ+ community.
Penny has been the Women’s Officer at the Queensland Teachers' Union since 2012. Before this, she was the QTU’s Gold Coast Organiser. Penny started her teaching career as a secondary art teacher in the mid-1990s at Rosedale P-12 Campus in the Wide Bay, and before leaving the classroom to work for the QTU was a secondary arts HOD in Logan.
In her new role as QCU Women’s officer, Penny will be working with QCU affiliated unions, will be secretary to the QCU Women’s Committee, and will coordinate the Anna Stewart Memorial Project, the Emma Miller Awards, and the QCU Women’s Conference. She will also provide secretarial support to the newly formed Union Pride group.
Her new role includes an industrial component - the QCU lobbied the state government for the introduction of the new code of practice for the prevention of sexual harassment, and Penny will be responsible for training around the new provisions when legislation is passed later this year.
Penny has a long and proud track record of fighting for equitable working conditions for women teachers, including most recently successfully challenging the barrier that prevented part-time women accessing senior teacher and EST classifications.
As a passionate ally of the LGBTIQ+ community, Penny worked with members to establish the QTU Pride Committee and advocated strongly for students and members. She introduced the ground-breaking menopause project at the QTU and conducted the Expect Respect survey as part of the Expect Respect campaign into gendered violence and sexual harassment in schools. She also assisted countless QTU members to access their legitimate entitlements to parental leave, long service leave, adoption leave etc.
We wish Penny all the best in her new role and look forward to working with her at the QCU. She will be an asset to the statewide union movement and will take every advantage of the opportunity to address gender inequality on a larger scale, on behalf of all women union members in this state.