Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment

Bulletin 3 - negotiations update - issued 27 May 2024

It is important that you are kept informed on the progress of bargaining and I am pleased to report that negotiations have been productive.

Bargaining commenced in February this year with the parties meeting weekly to progress the Australian Education Union (AEU) claims, and the employer proposals, for a new enterprise agreement.

During bargaining I have supported a number of key improvements to conditions, subject to further discussions and some final matters yet to be discussed with the AEU.

These improvements will assist in addressing your workload concerns. They will also provide a more comprehensive set of entitlements for all employees.

They include:

  • average class sizes of 25 students for:
    • transition classes in primary schools
    • year 11 and 12 classes in secondary schools
  • increased non-contact time from 3 hours, to 5 hours and 20 minutes for primary school teachers, providing them with the same non-contact time as secondary teachers
  • improvements to relief teacher provisions, including:
    • half and full day payment rates
    • a reduction of the number of days required to complete one year of full time employment from 195 to 180 days
  • compensation for teachers when they are unable to access non-contact time due to taking on extra classes or a relief teacher not being available
  • clarification of stand down and non-term time provisions
  • provision of special leave with pay over Christmas and New Years for employees in their first year of employment
  • reduction of teacher probation for ongoing employment from 12 to 6 months
  • electricity subsidies for all employees in remote locations (including increases for employees in Borroloola)
  • remote based employees:
    • based in Laynhapuy, working in a homeland learning centre to be eligible for remote category 3 entitlements
    • based in Tennant Creek, working in Mungkarta homelands to be eligible for remote category 2 entitlements
  • improvement of union rights provisions to include:
    • communication rights
    • payments of union dues
  • new authority to teach provisions to cover commencement salaries, mentoring and practicum entitlements
  • increased emergency leave entitlements from 2 to 3 days per annum
  • insertion of a new clause providing confirmation of natural justice provisions, and the legislative basis for any discipline or unsatisfactory performance proceedings, and for employees to be regularly updated on any proceedings
  • inclusion of the Principals Determination and conditions in the agreement
  • inclusion of the Teacher Responsibility Guide provisions including face-to-face teaching time, professional duties, and flexible approaches to working hours
  • inclusion of the following Determinations into the new agreement:
    • attraction and retention allowances for Katherine and Central Region Urban schools of up to $3,500 per annum
    • Higher Education Loan Program payments of up to $3,000 for new recruits
    • household insurance costs for employees in remote locations
    • lost holiday time provided when catching flights (where employee is disadvantaged in having to catch connecting flights out of remote communities)
  • incorporation of the new Fair Work Act 2009 provisions on fixed period employment, where employees are to be offered ongoing employment after 2 years, or 2 fixed period contracts (whichever is the lesser)
  • a commitment that any improvements to NTPS common conditions introduced in the 2025 NTPS General Agreement, will be passed on to employees including:
    • parental and special maternity leave
    • reproductive leave
    • menstruation (including premenstrual issues, menopause (including perimenopause)
    • cultural and ceremonial leave
    • fare out in lieu (FOIL fares)
    • infectious diseases leave
    • community language allowance.

Improvements to workloads

In addition to the proposed improvements outlined above, the parties have acknowledged the reforms to move to enrolment-based funding from 2025. These, combined with the additional investment by the Australian and Northern Territory governments to move to full funding in all Northern Territory Government schools, will enable schools to employ additional resources to support teachers.

A commitment under the current agreement was to review teacher workloads with the focus to be on reducing administrative burden and optimise time to teach. Following the feedback provided, the Department of Education, in consultation with the AEU, and the Northern Territory Principals’ Association and Professional Teachers’ Association NT, developed a workload reduction action plan (WRAP).

This plan outlines 18 actions that will assist in reducing administrative workloads, streamline processes, and explore new initiatives to support teachers to maximise their focus on teaching and learning.

Implementation of the teacher workload reduction action plan will commence from semester 2, 2024.

Next steps

The parties are continuing to meet weekly to progress some final outstanding matters, including the salary and allowance increases.

Once all the bargaining matters have been discussed and considered by the parties, I will make a formal offer for a new agreement. I will keep you informed of progress through further bulletins.

Have your say - your feedback is important

Should you wish to express a view on the proposals or make a suggestion, you can provide your feedback to me by emailing enquiries.ocpe@nt.gov.au.

More information

Regular bargaining updates will be posted at NTPS non-contract principals, teachers and assistant teachers enterprise agreement negotiations.