New Educators Network (NEN) 2025
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 130 No 4, 20 June 2025, page no 18.
The QTU has a long-standing tradition of supporting and investing in new educators. The QTU NEN program first began in 2012 — since then more than 175 new educators have participated and benefited.
Our NEN alumni are classroom teachers, heads of programs, principals, elected branch officers, elected members of State Council and Executive, QTU standing committee members, and QTU Officers.
In 2025, the QTU welcomed 19 members into our New Educators Network. The program consisted of an online training session, a full day of training in our Milton office, and then an opportunity to attend State Council.
Some of this year’s NENs recount their experiences below.
“NEN provided an opportunity for me to meet with like-minded peers — beginning career teachers and passionate unionists. It has allowed me to reframe challenges my workplace is facing as a symptom of systemic issues of a Queensland public education system in crisis. NEN challenged me to see myself as a developing leader and equipped me with skills to advocate for teachers in my workplace, particularly relating to funding, workload, and occupational violence and aggression. I took away a renewed sense of hope for public education, both for my students and teachers in my workplace.” Elizabeth Gee, Pine Rivers Special School
“As part of the introductory session, NENs got to know a little bit about each other, including the project, or 'campaign' each NEN delegate will undertake. While some campaigns are still at the research and development stage, others are fully fleshed out. Some of our campaigns aim to address issues found in specific workplaces, while others aim to create change right across the state of Queensland. Three key themes emerged: focus of the campaigns: EB11, membership recruitment and retention, and OVA/WHS.” Josephine Comegna, Redbank Plains State High School
“As a more experienced teacher but a new Rep, I felt immediately welcomed and supported by the group. It was incredibly refreshing to collaborate with such passionate and like-minded educators on new directions and campaigns for the Union. I especially appreciated the focused time we spent planning presentations that we can now take back and use in our own schools. That practical, shared purpose made the experience all the more meaningful. I’ve come away from the program with new friends and contacts, a renewed energy and a stronger sense of direction in my role.” Kim Lang, Woodford State School
“The completion of the NEN25 training has taught me about the Snowflake model, to continually reflect and implement a distributed approach to leadership, to accept responsibility, and also allow others to work together to achieve our goals. A goal that was commonly discussed during our training focus was our campaign — a large focus on support, intervention and ideas to highlight the increase in occupational violence and aggression in our workplace. The training provided me with the opportunity to research and provide more information to our members regarding the admin follow up process with the MyHr data.” Shayal Kumar, Mango Hill State Secondary College
“We had a presentation on public speaking from Brent Brown, Deputy Principal of Bribie Island State High School and self-proclaimed NEN President. Brent began by challenging us to deliver a 30-second improvised speech on an unknown topic, which duly terrified most of us. It’s funny how we teachers can confidently teach a classroom full of students but freeze when speaking to a room full of adults. Brent reminded us of how important it is to be able to hold confident, purposeful conversations as Union Reps and activists. He pushed us to think about how we might present EB11 campaign points in different settings — tailoring our message to suit the audience and context.” Kate See, Hughenden State School