The Better and Fairer Schools (Funding Reform) Act passed by Federal Parliament last night (26 November) fails to compel meaningful employer action on excessive teacher workloads, according to the union representing 17,000 teachers and support staff in Queensland and Northern Territory non-government schools.
Independent Education Union – Queensland and Northern Territory (IEU-QNT) Branch Secretary Terry Burke said while the new arrangements acknowledge teacher workload and staff wellbeing, they fail to require specific and enforceable workload interventions at the school or system level.
"Employers must also be held to account for spiralling workloads in their schools," Mr Burke said.
"While the Act includes a workload impact assessment to ensure overworked school staff are not burdened by even more administrative tasks, we are calling on non-government school employers to genuinely engage with our union and IEU members on the issues of workload and work intensification.
"Simply acknowledging the problem or offering vague reports on existing (and often inadequate) workload responses isn't enough.
"Reforms need to mandate specific new workload measures supported by a stricter reporting regime and employers should be held to account by having to demonstrate workload reductions in their schools," he said.
Mr Burke said the Act also missed the opportunity to resolve long-standing funding shortfalls for all schools.
"Full funding of public schools is essential to complement the work of IEU members and schools in the non-government sector and our union believes that funding must centre on student need.
"Needs-based funding is the cornerstone of an equitable system - it's vital to close achievement gaps for students from diverse backgrounds.
"The work of our members and schools in the non-government sector must be complemented by a world-class public education system accessible to all children in all communities.
"While these laws, and accompanying bilateral agreements, aim to reduce educational inequality and student disadvantage – a majority of public schools will still fall short of full funding.
"We commend the federal government for increasing their investment in education but the truth is the new funding arrangements simply don't go far enough.
"While the federal government has increased their contribution from 20% of the Schooling Resource Standard to 22.5%, this still fails to deliver full funding for the vast majority of Australia's public schools," Mr Burke said.
