2024 News

Game changing reforms in 2024: IEU gender & equity wins Gender and equity reforms, driven by union campaigns in 2024, will benefit over 50,000 women workers who make up 72% of IEU members. Read here about these important wins for women workers: IEU Speaks on gender equality in 2024 Rights to fairer working conditions and gender safety, and reforms to build a sustainable and equitable teacher workforce, have been historic [...]

Parliament’s Final Week Delivers for Quality Education & IEU Members The final week of parliament has secured important education reforms and big wins for IEU members and their students. Read here about these important changes: IEU Speaks on end of year wins for IEU members The federal government’s move to slash HECS debts for student teachers, combined with government funding for a 15% pay rise for early childhood education workers, [...]

School Funding Reforms: Steps Forward, Opportunities Missed Federal parliament has passed the Better and Fairer Schools (Funding Reform) Act following years of research and consultation with the education sector. These laws aim to reduce educational inequality and student disadvantage. While the government is to be commended for increasing their investment in education, the funding reforms fall short of full funding for all public schools, and fail to require meaningful employer [...]

The recent Sexual Harassment of Teachers Report has found harmful sexual behaviours are increasing in Australian schools, and that women teachers often don’t feel safe at work. The IEU calls for urgent action to end such harassment and we support the report’s six recommendations seeking immediate intervention from governments and school employers. Read here about the concerns raised by IEU members and the action needed to end harassment: IEU Speaks [...]

The Australian Professional Experience Guidelines offer the opportunity for a renewed focus on the components of effective high quality professional teacher experience. The Guidelines, developed by AITSL after consultation with stakeholders including the IEU, provide an appropriate focus on all aspects of successful teacher practicum placements. Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers and school employers have a shared responsibility to better support both graduate teachers and supervising teachers. Read more about [...]

World Teachers' Day on Friday, 25 October is an opportunity to celebrate and thank our amazing teachers. We think every day should actually be teacher appreciation day, because every day teachers play a vital role inspiring and educating our children and young people. World Teachers' Day is a valuable reminder that teachers deserve professional respect and support all year round - from governments, school employers, parents and the broader community. [...]

The latest wages and collective bargaining report from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations provides yet another stark example of the difference union membership makes. Pay rises have hit a 12-year high with union negotiated agreements once again exceeding non-union wage deals. The IEU has an outstanding record of collective bargaining success negotiating over 800 separate collective agreements delivering better pay and conditions. Read here about the growth in [...]

The federal government’s latest response to the issue of AI in education is badly needed to help guide the safe and ethical use of generative AI (GenAI) in classrooms. The voice of IEU members was essential to inform the report and provided first-hand accounts of how GenAI is impacting teachers and students. Read here about the Parliamentary Report: IEU Speaks on AI in education The reality is that the technology [...]

Superannuation contributions have been legally mandated for over 30 years, yet millions of workers are still being denied their entitlements. New analysis has highlighted the reality of unpaid super for 2.8 million workers. Urgent legislative protections and tougher compliance laws are needed to bring an end to the widespread underpayment of vital retirement savings. Read more here: IEU Speaks on the need to protect employee super  The union movement has [...]

Like all workers, school staff need a break from work and deserve much needed down time. Right to disconnect laws that commence operation today (Monday, 26 August 2024) are another clear example of the difference union membership makes for thousands of education workers across the country. The current teacher recruitment and retention crisis is directly linked to unsustainable workloads and career burnout. A legislated right to disconnect from work is [...]

In an effort to clarify what is, and is not, required for compliance, the IEU has recently engaged with the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) and the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, (ACECQA) to develop fact sheets that clarify the policy intentions of the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework in schools, (the ATPDF) and the Educational Program documentation needed to satisfy the requirements of [...]

The announcement by the federal Labor government of a 15% pay rise for workers in long day care is rightly being celebrated across the community. This historic recognition of early childhood education professionals wouldn’t be possible without years of union members fighting for fairer workplace laws. The IEU joined the United Workers Union and the Australian Education Union in seeking the nation's first Supported Bargaining Agreement which has lead to [...]

Monday, 1 July 2024 will bring much needed cost-of-living relief from the federal government for all workers, as well as union won wage increases for tens of thousands of IEU members across the country. Read more here: IEU Speaks on cost of living relief for IEU members Teachers, early childhood education and school support staff will be some of the main beneficiaries of the federal government’s ‘stage 3 tax cuts’ [...]

The IEU welcomes consultation with education stakeholders by the Federal Education Minister and Minister for Home Affairs about significant reforms to international education. It’s vital the government collaborates with the teaching profession and their unions, as well as education providers, to ensure that quality education providers are not adversely impacted by regulatory responses intended to deal with unscrupulous operators. Read here about the safeguards needed in international education: IEU Speaks [...]

The 2024 federal budget continues repairs to the nation’s education system and delivers much needed relief to IEU members and their families struggling with cost-of-living pressures. Read more here: IEU Speaks on the 2024 federal budget The crucial work undertaken in our schools and early childhood education centres deserve our nation’s complete support.  While many complex challenges remain, the budget delivers important changes in many areas of need in our [...]

Next Tuesday’s federal budget can help restore education at the centre of our nation’s policy focus. Pre-budget announcements of more support for student teachers is a great start in helping repair record low teacher recruitment rates. The federal government is well placed to build on these positive initiatives by taking action on the full range of challenges in the education sector. Read full details here: IEU Speaks on priorities needed [...]

Unsustainable workloads and work intensification in schools remain the primary reasons behind record low levels of teacher recruitment and retention. The finalisation of a new National School Reform Agreement (NSRA) workload assessment tool is an important part of the larger plan needed to begin to tackle workload. Read here how policy makers can better support school staff dealing with workload pressures: IEU Speaks on new teacher workload assessment tool The [...]

The ALRC Report to the Federal Government lays out common-sense updates to the special discriminatory privileges afforded to faith-based school employers. The Federal Government must act on their clear election commitment and deliver these basic discrimination protections for school staff. Read more here: Faith-based schools have nothing to fear from community standards In the midst of a school staffing crisis, parents simply want the best school staff and best teachers [...]

All workers, including every IEU member, are entitled to work free from discrimination. The recommendations from the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) tabled today in the Federal Parliament are long overdue and an essential step to modernise anti-discrimination laws. Read here why the Federal Government must act now to deliver on their clear election commitment: IEU Speaks on how faith schools can prosper without discriminating Our school staff and students [...]

International Women’s Day 2024 75,000 IEU members and their families will be celebrating International Women's Day this Friday, 8 March 2024. International Women's Day is an opportunity to reflect on the incredible achievements of women fighting for greater equity, fairness and social inclusion; while we also recommit to taking the action needed to hasten the rate of change for women and girls around the world. Read here about the gains [...]

The IEU commends the strong emphasis on tackling education inequality and improving learning opportunities for all students as recommended in the National School Reform Agreement (NSRA) Expert Panel’s report to the Federal Government. Unfortunately, a failure to deploy a complementary strategy to address excessive teacher workloads may doom many of the proposed reforms to fail. Read here how the next NSRA can help ease workload pressures: IEU Speaks on NSRA [...]

The ongoing war between Hamas and Israel has had a disastrous impact on the safety of children and educators. The education and school system has been plunged into chaos as schools remain closed and vital infrastructure destroyed. Read here about the urgent support needed and the vital diplomatic role Australia must play: IEU Letter to Minister Wong 9 Feb 2024  The safety and well-being of 600,000 students and 22,500 teachers [...]

IEU members across Australia welcome the further improvements to workplace laws passed by the Senate last night. These new laws, the Closing Loopholes Bill #2, build on the significant changes already made by the federal government over the last 18 months and go a long way to restoring fairness and a level playing field for employees. A new 'right to disconnect' is especially relevant to school staff drowning under unrelenting [...]

The Australian Framework for Generative AI in schools commences operation this week with the beginning of a new school year across the country. While the Framework provides an important starting point for the use of AI in schools, a number of gaps remain that will need to be addressed to ensure a comprehensive response to the growth of AI in education. Read more here: IEU Speaks on new AI framework [...]