No. 2-24, 8 February 2024 | Open PDF 

TO: QTU MEMBERS

Working for members

The QTU works for members by negotiating outcomes to complex industrial and professional issues and by representing the profession on numerous committees and key stakeholder groups.

Since reopening our offices in January, we have looked after members whose school resources have been negatively impacted by natural disasters. We have also provided ongoing advice to our school leaders, as they manage mould outbreaks in teacher accommodation, classrooms and learning spaces caused by the extreme weather events impacting much of Queensland.

Protecting and enhancing member working conditions is something we have done for 135 years, and it is reflected in the QTU priorities for 2024. In establishing the priorities, QTU Executive considered the issues impacting on members, including the need for safe and healthy workplaces, the teacher shortage, and ensuring that the department meets its obligations to provide agreed working conditions, as well as QTU campaigns. The QTU also continues to focus on protecting and enhancing member working conditions, while engaging in activities to address the teacher shortage and secure improved funding (and resourcing) for state schools.

During recent planning days, we have focussed on members’ wins in 2023 and the further development of Union campaigns and strategies for this year to underpin the QTU priorities and deliver for members.

Addressing the teacher shortage

Following on from the suspended stop-work action in regional Queensland, the QTU continues to work with members at North Rockhampton SHS, Sarina SHS and Biloela SHS to ensure that those schools are fully staffed. As part of its commitment to fully staff those schools, the department will be holding a key stakeholder forum later this month, at which attraction and retention initiatives will be discussed. Members will then decide whether to reinstitute the suspended strike action.

The QTU will be running a teacher shortage survey later this term. This survey will build on that conducted three years ago and will provide insights into how the teacher shortage has been addressed (or not) over the past three years. Members will also have the opportunity to suggest initiatives that would attract them to undertake rural, remote and regional service, or service in those locations identified as difficult to staff. The survey will also give members the opportunity to outline what initiatives would encourage them to stay in these locations beyond the minimum service requirement. We know that the teacher shortage is not unique to Queensland, but our focus must be on ensuring that schools are fully staffed and that members can access their industrial entitlements. The QTU and the department are also exploring ways of supporting the retention of three-year trained teachers who are eligible for QCT registration but are currently subject to a delayed progression through the salary scale. Additionally, we are working with the department to provide better support for members and schools who are engaged in Permission to Teach and/or Turn to Teaching.

A week of action relating to the teacher shortage will be undertaken later in the year, following the outcome of the member survey.

Keeping in touch (KIT) days

Under the Queensland Industrial Relations Act 2016 (QIRA), KIT days enable the employee to “keep in touch” with their employer, to facilitate a return to work at the end of a period of parental leave. These days are often used to attend planning days, professional development, student-free days, or other agreed activities that will support the employee’s return, in keeping with the purpose of KIT. The days are arranged and agreed to between the employee and the employer.

However, changes to the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 (Cwlth) (the Commonwealth Act) regarding eligibility for Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave (CPPL) have led to some confusion about KIT days.

To be clear, KIT days still exist, they have not disappeared.

The changes just mean that CPPL will be paid differently. An employee cannot receive CPPL on the same day as a KIT day. This does not mean that the employee then loses eligibility for CPPL, it just means their ongoing CPPL payments will be administered differently, i.e. through Services Australia, rather than through the department. Interested members can read more in the updated QTU “Parental leave” advice brochure. (https://www.qtu.asn.au/briparentalleave)

Share your wins

Sharing QTU wins is an important way to showcase the work the Union undertakes with members each and every day. We know that members learn from each other, and that momentum grows when we share and celebrate the wins of members at the local, regional and statewide level. Sometimes, the actions of one group of members in a particular workplace can lead to systemic change and a win for all members across the state.

When QTU members act collectively, we win. That is a pretty powerful reason to choose to belong! Read more and share you own Union win, here: https://www.qtu.asn.au/qtu-wins-for-members

Kate Ruttiman
General Secretary

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