2024 in review: Education support staff

In 2024, support staff continued their valuable work assisting students and colleagues and the IEU continued to fight for improvements to their working conditions.

We’re glad to report that we are on target to sign more than 360 new support staff members this year. Given advancements in conditions we’ve negotiated in recent times, we intend to build on that momentum. Support staff are an essential and expanding group in our schools, and they need to know that their union needs them, and they need us.

Sam Wallman’s take on ES.

Catholic sector changes

In 2023, the signing of new Agreements in Victorian Catholic schools brought big changes for support staff, eliminating the Level 1 classification, meaning Learning Support Officers had to be employed at a minimum of Level 2, which better reflects their roles and ensures fairer pay.

After that huge step forward, the next challenge in the Catholic sector was the implementation of time in lieu (TIL) for teachers, after some schools incorrectly conflated TIL arrangements with support staff entitlements.

We will continue working to make sure every schools gets it right for support staff. Our letter to all principals in September reminded every school leader how the ‘Workload Agreement’ should work.

Fixed term fix

A perennial issue for support staff is the misuse of fixed term contracts. Thankfully, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 strengthened protections around such employment practices.

This is a significant piece of legislation directly attacking the scourge of perennial fixed term contracts, which destroy any sense of job security for employees. From 6 December 2023, fixed term contracts for two years or more (whether through a single contract or renewal) are prohibited unless specific exceptions apply.

Despite this, some schools still have staff who have been on a fixed term contract for more than a decade.

We are working hard to ensure that support staff and school services officers are not subjected to rolling fixed term contracts. Every staff member in every school needs to know that this type of employment situation is unlawful.

It takes union support for staff members to fix their situation when an employer refuses to do the right thing. In most cases, if the fixed term contracts limitations are breached by a school then the contract will be deemed to be ongoing. The IEU will pursue every reported breach with all our vigour.

Reportable Conduct Schemozzle

The IEU has expressed disappointment that many of its recommendations for reforming the Reportable Conduct Scheme (RCS) were overlooked during the review.

This is concerning for support staff, many of whom work closely with challenging students, as 24% of allegations in the education sector are made against them.

The RCS process is often harrowing, usually lengthy, and often denies an accused worker natural justice. It is beset by cynical and vexatious reports and still lacks an appeal process. The union will continue its advocacy for improvements to the scheme, and to support affected members.

Independent sector

Independent schools offer major challenges and big opportunities for the union. In some Award-based schools the first step is to improve our member base so we can get Enterprise Agreements in place.

Our preference is for whole-school Agreements, with common conditions covering all staff and specific sections governing the conditions of teaching staff and non-teaching staff.

An example of the need for this is the fact that there are still some Award-based schools offering support staff a Long Service Leave accrual rate of just 0.86 weeks per year of service, while teachers are entitled to the industry-standard 1.3 weeks. The union is working hard to eliminate such inequities.

Tasmania

What a great win by our Catholic school members in Tasmania! Tasmanian education support staff members told us that the employers’ claim for forced transfer of staff was a non-negotiable, and it was duly defeated.

There will be low income payments and improvements to first aid allowances, better leave clauses and many other improvements. This is what can be achieved by working together and using our members’ passion and righteous anger to enact change.

Violence against staff

A worrying trend for all support staff in both states is the rise of student and parental violence against educators. Support staff encounter more dangerous situations because they interact more with students who have behavioural issues.

We are educating schools in risk assessment protocols to eliminate hazards in their workplace and make staff safety a priority. Every worker is entitled to a safe and healthy workplace.

We will keep building our ability to connect with support staff to improve their experience at work and strengthen our union.