Teachers (Archdiocese of Sydney and Dioceses of Broken Bay and Parramatta) (State) Award 2004 and other awards [2004] NSWIRComm 159 - NSWIRComm 2004 case summary — Zoe

NSWNSWIRComm

Teachers (Archdiocese of Sydney and Dioceses of Broken Bay and Parramatta) (State) Award 2004 and other awards [2004] NSWIRComm 159

[2004] NSWIRComm 159

Industrial Relations Commission (NSW)|2004-07-01|Before: Walton J, Sams DP, Mr J

View original source

At a glance

Source facts

Court

Industrial Relations Commission (NSW)

Decision date

2004-07-01

Before

Walton J, Sams DP, Mr J

Catchwords

09/16/2003
09/17/2003
09/18/2003
09/19/2003

Source

Original judgment source is linked above.

Catchwords

09/16/200309/17/200309/18/200309/19/200311/10/200311/11/200312/12/2003 DATE OF JUDGMENT: 06/10/2004

Judgment (196 paragraphs)

[1]

CITATION : Teachers (Archdiocese of Sydney and Dioceses of Broken Bay and Parramatta) (State) Award 2004 and other awards [2004] NSWIRComm 159 APPLICANT: PARTIES : New South Wales Independant Education Union RESPONDENT: Catholic Commission for Employment Relations (on behalf of various schools and colleges) FILE NUMBER: IRC2911, 3543 and 3544 of 2003 CORAM: Walton J Vice-President; Sams DP; Redman C Applications for new awards - Catholic school teachers and related classifications - wage fixation - work value changes - special case considerations - increased salaries and new classifications - agreed statement of facts - extensive uncontested evidence - significant degree of agreement between the parties - history of increases - parity with Government schools sector - application for increases in salaries and allowances - interim increase granted - further salary increases. CATCHWORDS : Held, special case demonstrated - significant changes in work value - interim salary increase granted - further salary increases justified - parity with government schools sector - extensive uncontested evidence - new classifications - further increases in salaries and allowances - new awards to be made - settlement of final awards. Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 Child Protection (Prohibited Employment) Act 1998 Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998 Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) Crimes Amendment (School Protection) Act 2002 Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) LEGISLATION CITED : Education Act 1990 Inclosed Lands Protection Act 1901 Industrial Relations Act 1996 Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001 Ombudsman Amendment (Child Protection and Community Services) Act 1998 Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (as amended by the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 (Cth)) Crown Employees (Teachers in Schools and TAFE and Related Employees) Salaries and Conditions Award [2004] NSWIRComm 114 Re Crown Employees (Teachers - Department of Education Award) [1970] AR 345 Re Crown Employees (Teachers) Awards [1980] AR 127 Operational Ambulance Officers (State) Award 2001 113 IR 384 Re Pastoral Industry Award (2000) 104 IR 168 CASES CITED : Re Public Hospital Nurses (State) Award (2002) 118 IR 336 Re Public Hospital Nurses (State) Award (No 3) [2003] NSWIRComm 325 Re Social and Community Services Employees (State) Award (2001) 113 IR 119 State Wage Case (2003) 121 IR 446 Teachers (Archdiocese of Sydney and Dioceses of Broken Bay and Parramatta)(State) Award 2004 and other awards [2003] NSWIRComm 476 Re Teachers (Non Government Schools) (State) and Other Awards (Industrial Commission of New South Wales in Court Session unreported, 17 August 1990) HEARING DATES: 06/17/2003; 09/16/2003; 09/17/2003; 09/18/2003; 09/19/2003; 11/10/2003; 11/11/2003; 12/12/2003 DATE OF JUDGMENT: 06/10/2004

[33]

(m) The Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Educational Training Report "Boys: Getting It Right" published in October 2002, being a comprehensive inquiry into the educational needs of boys. 14 These documents reflect governments' and ultimately society's recognition of the increasingly complex educational environment in which teachers work. The documents also provide policy support and direction for this educational agenda and, in so doing, support for teachers in meeting the challenges of today's world. They are demonstrative of the changes in teaching and the substantial improvements in the quality of education to which Catholic school teachers have made a significant contribution. 15 We shall refer to some aspects of the evidence revealing the significant change in the value of the work of teachers (amply satisfying the work value principle). The Director of Catholic Schools for Wollongong, Mr Greg Whitby said: Schooling has undergone a rapid and dramatic shift in the last decade. Schools of the later twentieth century operated much as they had for over the one hundred years since public education commenced in the mid 1800s. To this extent they reflected an industrial model of schooling. The defining hallmark of this model of schooling was the mass production of education. Education was equated to the transmission of a distinct and defined set of content, which was packaged and compartmentalised for schools. The focus for delivery was on standardisation and the centralisation of the control of learning. In this 'industrial' model the teacher was the source of the content, the student the mere recipient of that content. The teacher played the active role and the learner a passive role or in other words the teacher taught and the student learned. There was little regard paid to the diversity of the student population and all students were exposed to the same education process and the same outcomes were expected for each student. Developments elsewhere indicate that as learning continues to move beyond the physical environs of the classroom and the traditional school day, teachers are called on to be creative and innovative in meeting this change. In the one-size fits all model teachers had greater control over their environment and the educational process. In today's schools this is not necessarily the case. The demands of a world shaped by the continual merging of information and communication technologies (ICT) have seen a reshaping of the model for schooling. Knowledge, not manufacturing now shape and drive the economic agenda. The acquisition, application and management of knowledge is central to society and therefore to schooling. The contemporary model for schooling therefore is the development of Learning Communities. The defining hallmark of this model is the individualisation of learning. Education is about negotiating learning and blurring the boundaries between the learner and the teacher. Modern schooling demands diversity and differentiation and the capacity to provide a responsive and flexible method of delivery. To be a teacher in today's schools is to be both a learner and a teacher. This requires teachers to not only acquire additional but also different skill sets over the lifetime of their career. The pace of this change is more than in previous times. There is greater responsibility on teachers for shaping the learning experiences for students since this has to be individualised and negotiated. Most teachers adapt to and adopt new technologies with some ease and recognise they do this because they recognise how today's technologies are more central to the lives of their students. Teachers explore ways of working more cooperatively and collegially than maybe before, as they seek to provide appropriate learning experiences for the full range of young people in their care. The broad teaching population have experienced continuous learning on their part as a teacher and as part of a school based learning community.

[62]

42 Mr Bernard Ryan, a primary teacher for 10 years, summarised the impact of technology in the following terms: 7. In my teaching career information communication technology (ICT) has dramatically changed and revolutionised the nature of teaching and has led to a tremendous increase in teacher workloads. When I began teaching ICT was extremely ad-hoc in nature and implementation. It existed in some schools and not in others, or it existed within some classrooms in schools but not other classrooms in the same school. ICT was seen as word processing, enrichment activities, games and simple graphics programs. ICT was not mandatory within Board of Studies curriculum syllabi. There was no agreed standard platform, no coherent skill development, no accountability within syllabi, and there was little pressure placed on teachers' expectations or workload. ICT is now a stated element of all Board of Studies syllabi and therefore is mandatory. In teaching ICT to children there are two components, skill acquisition (learning about ICT), and skill application (learning to use ICT in context). To achieve this teachers have been required to be skilled in the required technologies and have had to learn how to integrate this technology into the curriculum. This has made planning and implementing curriculum a much more complex and demanding task. This is all being done with limited resources, hardware and time. ICT impacts on all classroom teachers irrespective of their class level and/or position in the school. Planning of teaching units now involves searching the internet for resources and websites, as well as libraries for books. Critical literacy of internet sites now needs to be taught. As well as adding to teachers' workloads it is also another new skill that teachers must acquire. We now have to skill children in sorting out reliable from unreliable internet sources. This is a whole new set of skills imposed on top of teaching the more traditional research skills. ICT has not replaced but expanded this area of a teacher's work. An example of a unit I planned integrating ICT is attached . This unit was a HSIE unit on China. It incorporated an Asian perspective and ICT. The ICT component consists of a website I made that supported the children's learning. ICT reference teachers in primary schools have a great demand placed on their time. Depending on the size of the school this teacher receives little or no release from their classroom teaching position to fulfil their duties. These duties include maintenance of the network e.g. a computer not being seen by the network, computers not printing, computers running out of ink, computers freezing, network going down, curriculum integration, curriculum planning, forward planning in relation to hardware, software and curriculum, being the contact person for all computer queries and questions, and being the contact person within the school for arranging computer technicians and liaising with technicians. Not only is this an addition to the teacher's teaching load, the teacher is also required to acquire new skills to fill this position. If the school is not large enough to receive co-ordinator points this job is done for no financial reward. Not only does ICT put pressure on the ICT reference teacher, it greatly increases the workload of all staff members. All teachers are grappling with ICT as evidenced by the fact that teachers are continually having problems with hardware, software and curriculum integration. The integration of ICT into all curriculum documents has greatly added to the complexity of the work of primary classroom teachers. Attached are examples of NSW Board of Studies syllabi where ICT is stated in the outcomes and indicators.

[66]

46 The Catholic sector has responded positively to the integration of students with disabilities as shown by the increase in numbers of such students enrolled in Catholic schools in New South Wales in the period 1996 to 2001. That is, there has been a 43 per cent increase in that period, namely from 4,551 to 6,507 students with disabilities in the Catholic school system. 47 The extent of the obligations now imposed on schools and hence on teachers with respect to properly accommodating the special needs of disabled students is reflected in the recently released Draft Disability Standards for Education 2003. 48 The range of needs includes cognitive, sensory and intellectual disabilities and students with oppositional behavioural disorders. This places an increasing demand on the abilities and skills of classroom teachers to meet the educational and pastoral needs of all students. The integration of students with disabilities has involved classroom and specialist teachers in the development of special Individual Education Programs, liaison and work with Clinical Specialists and supervision of teacher assistants. In an earlier period many of these students would have been placed in separate "special schools". The number of dedicated Special Education teachers and Clinical Specialists has been increased to respond to this change. 49 There are also new social and legal requirements that schools meet the needs of all students. Integration programs place new demands on teachers. There are accordingly significant new challenges on teachers' professional expertise and significant demands on the resources of systems and schools. They have required a great enhancement in skills and a significant increase in responsibilities for catholic teachers. 50 While, over the past decade, schools have been provided with additional staff to assist with the education of SWD students, the case for further resources is strong. The Catholic sector has campaigned for extra assistance for SWD students at recent elections and will continue to campaign.

[69]

Vocational Training in Schools 53 As a result of the McGaw Review into the HSC in 1996 and the subsequent Government Report "Securing Their Future" in 1997, there was a major re-think by the Board of Studies of the role, purpose and delivery of vocational education and training (VET) courses. The changes that resulted had an impact on the skills, and work of teachers with responsibility for VET in that: (a) The courses were henceforth to be taught as part of the student's HSC. (b) The Board of Studies developed 8 industry curriculum frameworks in tourism and hospitality, retail, metal and engineering, construction, information technology, business services, entertainment and primary industries and all those courses, being competency based, had to be taught by teachers who were appropriately credentialed to teach them. (c) To meet the Australian Qualifications Framework standards, 30% of course time is to be undertaken in the workplace under supervision with their performance being monitored in situ and logged in a log book. (d) Each competency needs to be demonstrated to an acceptable level of performance and assessed by the teacher who is required to hold a Certificate IV Workplace Training and Assessment Certificate. (e) Fulfilment of the requirements in (c) and (d) above often involves teachers in after hours visits to workplaces, as well as during holidays and over weekends. (f) In addition to the specialist qualification, VET Teachers are usually required to acquire and maintain industry competence. This requires professional development in accordance with industry standards and work placements in industry. (g) Teachers need to construct and maintain new courses and develop, set up and monitor workplace learning and assessment opportunities and sustain new relations with VET partners, all of which require efforts undertaken well beyond the normal hours of work and general workload of teachers. (h) The demands of such courses exacerbated the already pressing need for teachers to understand, utilise and teach ICT to students in both primary and secondary schools. 54 We refer particularly to Ms Jones' evidence in support of the above propositions.

[71]

59 We quote extensively from the evidence of Educational Consultant, Mr David McRae, as we found it particularly illuminating in this respect: 5.3 The impact of social problems and increased responsibility for dealing with them I encountered issues related to the growing impact of social problems most starkly in a study of student support requirements conducted for the Victorian Primary Principals Association in 2002. (Below some data are provided which indicate that these problems must be considered to be general and applicable in schools other than the ones I was studying.) The perceptions of these school leaders (drawn from a survey of just under 500 primary schools), backed up by a certain amount of data, were that their workload in this area had increased significantly during the past five years - 93 percent believed that it had increased during that period, 84 percent believed that it had increased substantially. This is telling data; but even more than workload issues, it was the types and complexity of problems that they were dealing with which was perplexing them. Some typical comments: i. 'Family breakdown and dysfunction seems to be behind the majority of student welfare issues. Schools have become the first port of call for families and children in distress. … The number of children not receiving adequate nutrition, clothing and general care has increased dramatically over the past seven years. We have become the primary care providers for a significant number of children. Issues such as domestic violence, drug use, poverty and housing are falling on the school's administration. ii. 'I've been at this school now for eight years and the problems we are dealing with are more severe and there are more of them. School is the only port of call for so many things. It's an increasingly essential part of this community when so many other resources have been trimmed back or are located somewhere else. iii. [For some time this school had been working hard on instituting flexible learning programs and procedures, a step that the Principal believed had been most successful.] 'Yet we still have inappropriate behaviour in the classroom from kids who just can't cope. It's the complexity of the issues, compound problems. We used to get one-off issues. The kids would come to school distressed because of flare-ups at home or particular incidents, and with a bit of attention and effort you could resolve them. But now, with the kids who are the regulars in this area, things might go dormant for a while, and then trouble, go quiet, then another problem. We have to see these issues as more permanent and far more difficult to resolve.' iv. 'There are just so many families, in our community at least, that are in a state of one sort of crisis or another. I suspect that we are seeing the impact of several generations on welfare with no resources to think about how to live another sort of life. School is the only circuit-breaker because of the amount of time kids spend here, and the fact that it is comparatively stable, and you can talk to adults who will be reasonable and caring. 'It's also the fact that there is nowhere else for them to go. Perhaps the Salvation Army would say the same thing. It might be just our perspective. But we're getting very different sorts of problems. The other day a parent asked me to mediate in a separation. I can't do that. I'm not trained to do something like that, and yet she felt that I was the right person to ask. That might be a silly case but, you should just see that as an example of what is happening on a grander scale and much closer to the needs of kids.' These statements reflect a rising incidence of breakdown at the bottom end of the social scale. They were drawn from Principals working in a wide range of schools, but clearly the matters they refer to are concentrated more in some areas than others. However I suggest that these are symptoms of trends which are more pervasive and which manifest themselves in different ways in differing social groups but are nonetheless present and real. They can be found among the whole range of schools. There are (sic) some data which provide a firm basis for making these observations related to trends in the structure of the basic support unit - the family. Although these issues could be described as relating to social health and well-being, they are most frequently studied under the heading of mental health. The authoritative government report Australia's Children: Their health and well being 2002 suggests that around 15 percent of young people aged 4-12 years currently have some type of mental health problem. The following table describes the nature and incidence of those which are relevant to this statement. It will be noted that the overall figure of 15 percent includes many young people with more than one of these characteristics.

[74]

62 Significant change in the student population over the past 13 years has meant that teachers have been required to acquire new skills and assume additional responsibilities. These changes are explored in a range of documents which include, amongst others, "A Class Act". The most notable changes include: (a) the sense of alienation and disinterest in school experienced by some students who feel compelled to remain at school in the post-compulsory years; (b) students are more likely now to manifest and carry out poor behaviour which includes disobedience and in extreme cases bullying and vandalism behavioural problems. (c) The higher incidence of students with some type of "mental health" problem which includes, delinquent behaviour, attention problems, aggressive behaviour, shyness, social isolation, anxiety and depression has increased. 63 In such an environment teachers are more likely to feel threatened or intimidated and are likely to question the value of their work. 64 Associate Professor Geoffrey Riordan, Director Teacher Education, University of Technology, stated: In 2002 the Minister for Education, in response to community concerns over some extremely violent incidents reported in the media, established a joint education and police taskforce (Taskforce VAR) to examine matters of school safety and violence. Taskforce VAR, among other things, commissioned two studies of school student violence, misbehaviour, suspension and expulsion. Both of these studies, the first pertaining to government schools and the second to non-government schools, are now complete and they provide us with a detailed understanding of student behaviour and welfare in NSW schools. The study Suspension and Expulsion of Students from Non-Government Schools in NSW: Current Policies and Practices is attached . These studies found that while incidents of serious violence are rare, most schools are experiencing problems related to general student misbehaviour. Consistent with the findings of the recent NSW Teachers Federation funded inquiry into government schools conducted by Prof Tony Vinson, the majority of schools have reported that this general misbehaviour has increased in the past 10 years. These behaviours include disobedience, indifference, insolence and more seriously, bullying, verbal abuse, vandalism and drug related behaviour. In addition to the increase in these behaviours, schools are being challenged to respond to students who 10 years ago would have been placed in special education settings. Students with physical disabilities, behavioural and learning disorders have been increasingly incorporated into mainstream classes in all schools in NSW.

[97]

88 Union Deputy Secretary, Mr Patrick Lee, discussed the issues and difficulties in this area when he said: As noted in paragraphs 7(d) and 7(f), the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service formed the background to comprehensive new legislation dealing with child protection. A review of the legislation governing the Department of Community Services also implemented sweeping new responsibilities for teachers and Principals in schools, through the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998. In 1987, teachers and Principals were nominated by regulation to be mandatory notifiers to the Department of Community Services of any act of sexual assault on children under 16 years suspected, on reasonable grounds, to have occurred. Considerable professional development of teachers, within the context of employer/system procedures, took place to ensure effective compliance with this requirement. The Children And Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 dramatically expanded the obligation on teachers and Principals. Section 27 establishes teachers and Principals as mandatory notifiers of children (now defined as under 18) if they reasonably consider them to be at "risk of harm". Section 23 defines "risk of harm" as follows: 23 Child or young person at risk of harm For the purposes of this Part and Part 3, a child or young person is at risk of harm if current concerns exist for the safety, welfare or well-being of the child or young person because of the presence of any one or more of the following circumstances: (a) the child's or young person's basic physical or psychological needs are not being met or are at risk of not being met, (b) the parents or other caregivers have not arranged and are unable or unwilling to arrange for the child or young person to receive necessary medical care, (c) the child or young person has been, or is at risk of being, physically or sexually abused or ill-treated, (d) the child or young person is living in a household where there have been incidents of domestic violence and, as a consequence, the child or young person is at risk of serious physical or psychological harm, (e) a parent or other caregiver has behaved in such a way towards the child or young person that the child or young person has suffered or is at risk of suffering serious psychological harm. Note. Physical or sexual abuse may include an assault and can exist despite the fact that consent has been given. Following the promulgation of this section, the Department of Community Services reported dramatically increased numbers of notifications. Teachers across all Catholic schools, as in other schools, were required to attend training in new procedures, to be implemented by Principals within the context of Diocesan system procedures. The law requires consideration by teachers and Principals of potential risk of harm arising from family disputes, divorce, domestic violence, poverty, nutritional needs, emotional deprivation and abuse, neglect, as well as physical and sexual abuse. This is a greatly expanded set of requirements to be sensitive to, and to respond to the social, emotional and welfare needs and circumstances of students, often in circumstances of contestation and abuse from parents or reluctance in students - this latter being a particular difficulty for school counsellors who are not afforded a discretion at law yet can only do their job in circumstances of trust with students. The state of NSW in significantly expanding this set of responsibilities on schools and teachers, did not fund the professional development necessary. Teachers have been under considerable pressure to which they have responded to meet this challenge through more finely honed application of their common sense, judgement and skills. While the above developments are a significant extension of teachers' responsibilities in the public interest, the new laws applying to complaints against teachers, while having central purposes which are strongly supported by teachers in our sector, and their employing authorities, have created confusion and anxiety in quite unfair and distressing ways. All allegations or complaints of "child abuse" against a teacher must be: i) formally reported to the Ombudsman; ii) investigated under rules and procedures which do not distinguish in any essential way between a complaint of grabbing a child or raising one's voice at a child and an allegation of serious sexual assault; iii) reported to the Children's Commission, irrespective of outcome or finding; iv) be acknowledged to a future employer, no matter how trivial, and be assessed formally for risk.

[111]

93 Professor Stephan Dinham, Professor of Teacher Education, University of New England, spoke in detail of teacher stress and dissatisfaction: In preparing this statement, I have specifically drawn on a selection of my published research and, more broadly, drawn upon my academic, research and teaching experience with student teachers, teachers and Principals in various areas of New South Wales and embracing teachers from Catholic and government schools, as well as independent schools. At Annexure 2 there is attached a paper "Teachers Under Stress" published in 1993. The paper is drawn from a study undertaken to explore the human and personal side to teacher resignation. In the particular study, 57 teachers and educational administrators who had resigned from the NSW Department of School Education were investigated as to their reflections on their teaching career and the circumstances leading to their eventual resignation. The study concludes as follows: It was found that in the educational system under study little was being done to prevent teacher resignation or alleviate teacher stress, a significant contributing factor to resignation, and that change in that system since the late 1980s had put increased pressure on those within it. This situation had been exacerbated by societal criticism of teachers and education coupled with increased expectations and responsibilities for schools. The study confirmed various factors identified by the relevant literature on teacher stress, including that lack of control was an important aspect of stress experienced by the teachers in this study; that stress had accumulated for these teachers beyond the point at which the literature suggests a degree of stress is a component of good performance; that factors such as role conflict or ambiguity, work overload, inadequate compensation, inter-personal conflict, and increased administrative responsibilities were all significantly present; that pupils' failure to behave and work was a significant source of stress for less experienced teachers. A further source of stress not generally recognised by the literature which the study revealed was the issue of change and adjustment to change. The study found "what was resoundingly confirmed was the reality of teacher stress and, in some cases, burnout, for those interviewed in the study" While this was a very focussed sample of teachers from the Department of Education, my subsequent research is consistent with the general findings of this study and, in my experience, the factors involved would be true of many schools and teachers operating in a system and resource environment similar to departmental schools, ie Catholic systemic schools. In the period 1993 to 1995, I continued research into factors affecting teacher satisfaction, also focussing upon the impact that pressures on teachers and schools had on teachers' families. Attached as Annexure 3 is my published report on "Teaching and Teachers' Families" (1997) and at Annexure 4 a report analysing the two studies already annexed. In Annexure 4 "Time to focus on teacher satisfaction" I report the very high degree of consensus as to sources of teacher satisfaction, and accomplishment. Most prominent was pupil achievement across the range of student achievement, from mastery of simple tasks or concepts to success in major public examinations; further there is a clear preference for the facilitation of pupil learning, rather than mere instruction or transfer of knowledge. Changed pupil behaviour and attitudes were also significant sources of satisfaction. Teachers appreciate recognition from parents, other teachers or superiors; good relationships with students, parents and other teachers are important, as is the satisfaction that teachers take in the development of their own knowledge and skills. Sources of teacher dissatisfaction tended to be school and system centred, relating more to administration and extraneous factors, as well as dysfunctions in relationships with superiors and education employers and concern of the standing of teachers in society generally. I detail the problems arising from administrative burdens and from the implementation of changes in policies and procedures and in relation to change the study states: The Issue of Change Change was found to be a significant factor contributing to teacher dissatisfaction. If teachers are to be satisfied and retained, then the pace and scope of change needs to be carefully considered by those in positions of authority. Teachers need to understand the reasons for change, to have input to change, to be committed to it, and to be assisted in its implementation. Where change is outside the influence of governments, educational systems or schools, then its impact on teachers and schools needs to be carefully considered and modified or limited if possible. A key aspect of change is communication. In many cases, those interviewed actually agreed with changes occurring within education, but found the manner in which change was implemented to be highly dissatisfying. The report also identifies concern about the greater impact of social problems upon the school, increasing social demands on schools and teachers, the resulting "over-crowded" curriculum. The report states: Not only were schools and teachers expected to solve society's problems while ensuring academic performance increased, but also they were expected to meet the economic and industrial demands of the nation through the production of a trained body of people ready to take their place in the work force and, in turn, to help build a 'clever country'. New methods of accountability introduced to measure and ensure performance, plus the over-crowded curriculum mentioned above, had greatly increased the workload and pressure on teachers and schools, detracting from teaching and learning. At the same time, the esteem with which the public, the private sector and government hold teachers appears to have fallen, with some teachers expressing reluctance to reveal their occupation in public for fear of inviting misinformed criticism about teachers' 'easy' conditions.

[141]

113 The supplementary Agreed Statement of Facts stated: 1. The majority of teachers employed in Catholic schools are Four or Five Year Trained, rather than Three Year Trained. In the largest diocese, the Archdiocese of Sydney, over 85% of teachers are Four or Five Year Trained. In other dioceses the proportion of Four or Five Year Trained teachers is similar. 2. Four Years Trained teachers commence on Step 5 of the incremental salary scale and progress after eight years full-time service, or equivalent, to Step 13. 3. Five Year Trained teachers commence on Step 6 of the incremental salary scale and progress, after seven years full-time service or equivalent, to Step 13. 4. Three Year Trained teachers commence on Step 3 of the incremental scale and progress, after ten years full-time service or equivalent, to step 13. 5. Approximately 57.5% of teachers employed in NSW/ACT Catholic systemic schools are on Step 13 (or classified as Senior Teacher 1, ST1). Set out below is a table showing the distribution of teachers on the incremental salary scale: Teacher Classification Percentage of Teachers Step 1 0.1 Step 2 0.0 Step 3 1.0 Step 4 0.8 Step 5 4.4 Step 6 4.9 Step 7 4.9 Step 8 4.8 Step 9 5.9 Step 10 4.2 Step 11 4.4 Step 12 7.2 Step 13 50.9 Assistant Principals holding ST1 classification and Education Officers holding ST1. 6.6

Teachers (Archdiocese of Sydney and Dioceses of Broken Bay and Parramatta) (State) Award 2004 and other awards [2004] NSWIRComm 159

At a glance

Court

Decision date

Before

Catchwords

Source

Catchwords

Judgment (196 paragraphs)

Legislation Cited (4)

Cases Cited (7)