Media
News release
12/2/2020
Unions support victims of natural disasters
Union members are playing a vital role in the recovery process of bushfire affected communities.
Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey said unions were offering their members support to cope with the trauma they had experienced, as well as providing practical support rebuilding communities.
“This work will be needed not just for a few weeks but for a few years. It’s up to the union movement to make sure affected workers and their communities remain at the forefront of everyone’s mind,” Morey said.
Morey launched the innovative online professional development carried out by the IEUA NSW/ACT Branch to provide online trauma advice to 480 teachers and support staff, 350 of whom actively participated. Many were from the south coast of NSW, which was severely impacted by fires.
“This is a model for the type of support unions can offer their members. This initiative is bringing people together in an innovative way through a huge online union meeting. These innovative strategies enable workers to form connections and network with each other.” Morey said.
“It’s particularly important that teachers and school support staff, who are central to the recovery process moving forward, are offered this type of assistance.”
The course, Responding to Bushfire Trauma, was conducted (free of charge for non government school staff who are members of the IEU) by Professor Lisa Gibbs and Jane Nursey of the University of Melbourne, authors of the study Delayed Disaster Impacts on Academic Performance of Primary School Children (2019).
IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Mark Northam said it was important for school staff to attend to their own wellbeing so they could provide the best possible support and education for their students.
“Schools and early childhood services are important community hubs during crisis, and we are doing our best to make sure teachers and support staff are supported and can continue to provide a safe haven for children,” Northam said.
IEUA NSW/ACT Branch is also claiming up to five days paid leave per year for employees, unable to attend work due to a natural disaster, in its current negotiations for the NSW and ACT Catholic Systemic Schools Enterprise Agreement 2020-2022.
Morey said all future awards and enterprise agreement negotiations should include considerations of our changing climate, with flexible arrangements to allow employees to deal with emergency situations such as the recent bushfires.
New guidelines on how to deal with hazards such as poor air quality are also required, he said. The ACTU is now examining all these issues.
“Unions will take a holistic approach to dealing with all aspects of climate change. Our members are at the front line when it comes to tackling natural disasters,” Morey said.
Further comment:
Mark Northam, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary m: 0427 667 061
Carol Matthews, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Assistant Secretary m: 0418 272 902
Media contacts: Sue Osborne (02) 8202 8900 sue@ieu.asn.au , Bronwyn Ridgway (a/h) 0433 373 109 bronwyn@ieu.asn.au
The IEUA NSW/ACT Branch represents over 30,000 teachers, principals and support staff in Catholic and independent schools, early childhood centres and post secondary colleges.
Authorised by Mark Northam, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary
News release
4/2/2020
Helping teachers teach and students learn after bushfire trauma
Non government school teachers, early childhood teachers and support staff who have experienced bushfire trauma or are teaching students who have been through bushfire trauma, will get extra support through an innovative online course provided by their union, the Independent Education Union of Australia (IEUA).
The IEUA has taken a proactive approach by designing the online professional development to respond to an urgent need for members to address their own wellbeing, but also assist their students or their own children to recover after a bushfire.
The course, Responding to Bushfire Trauma, will be conducted by Professor Lisa Gibbs and Jane Nursey of the University of Melbourne, authors of the study Delayed Disaster Impacts on Academic Performance of Primary School Children (2019).
Recent studies into those affected by Victoria’s Black Saturday catastrophic fires have shown that children suffering bushfire trauma demonstrate outcomes one to five years below their age group norm. Staff affected by bushfires are more anxious and have poorer overall wellbeing than staff in comparative settings.
“Through this online course, teachers and support staff will learn how to take care of themselves and each other as well as their students, to help communities get back to normal routines and learning as quickly as possible,” IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Mark Northam said.
“Delaying acknowledgement of trauma can only lead to more long term problems down the track, and this union has taken responsibility for its members’ wellbeing to try and provide whatever help it can,” Northam said.
“Schools and early childhood services often provide a lighthouse to communities under stress, and we want to ensure our members have the best chances supporting their community by looking after their own welfare too.”
IEUA is also claiming up to five days paid leave per year for employees unable to attend work due to a natural disaster in its current negotiations for the NSW and ACT Catholic Systemic Schools Enterprise Agreement 2020-2022.
Further comment:
Mark Northam, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Acting Secretary m: 0427 667 061
Carol Matthews, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Assistant Secretary m: 0418 272 902
Media contacts: Sue Osborne (02) 8202 8900 sue@ieu.asn.au , Bronwyn Ridgway (a/h) 0433 373 109 bronwyn@ieu.asn.au
The IEUA NSW/ACT Branch represents over 30,000 teachers, principals and support staff in Catholic and independent schools, early childhood centres and post secondary colleges.
Authorised by Mark Northam, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary
News release
22/10/2019
Curriculum Review: Give teachers the chance to teach, not prepare for tests
The IEUA NSW/ACT Branch has welcomed the interim report from Professor Geoff Masters for the NSW Curriculum Review.
The Review presents a unique opportunity to press the pause button and reconsider matters after some 25 years.
Professor Masters seems to have taken into consideration the views of teachers in his report. Many teachers, particularly those teaching in primary schools, find the existing curriculum overcrowded and inflexible.
“Teachers feel they lose the opportunity to seize the teaching moment, due to this overcrowded curriculum” NSW/ACT Branch Secretary John Quessy said.
For secondary school teachers, the curriculum is too focused on final exams, especially the HSC. The IEU welcomes the report’s consideration of a review the ATAR and would encourage ongoing consultation with the teaching profession.
“The voice of teachers must be heard in whatever future steps are taken,” Quessy said.
“The curriculum is the tool with which teachers do their work. You would not design a tool without a lot of input from those who were going to use that tool.”
The IEUA NSW/ACT Branch represents over 30,000 teachers, principals and support staff in Catholic and independent schools, early childhood centres and post secondary colleges.
Authorised by John Quessy, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary
9/09/2019
Religious schools don’t need Federal Government’s draft Religious Discrimination Bill
The Independent Education Union of Australia (IEUA) expresses its serious concerns with the Federal Government’s draft Religious Discrimination Bill.
The IEUA is disappointed at the continuing practice of governments to polarize, disenfranchise and make a ‘whipping post’ of the rights of our members who work in faith-based education.
Yet again proposed legislation completely exempts religious schools from allowing their employees the same rights that all other Australians enjoy. Here it is not the freedom to love and marry who they wish but the freedom of religion and belief itself.
Religious schools don’t need this Bill. The IEUA believes that the vast majority of employers in faith-based schools have no difficulty in employing staff of other faiths and in fact are not threatened by their staff or students expressing diverse views.
The IEUA has and will continue to lobby governments and politicians to remove the unreasonable and harmful exemptions from discrimination law enjoyed by employers in our industry.
As the IEUA has made abundantly clear in our recent submissions and appearances before Senate inquiries, we believe that these exemptions are not required by employers. Current contractual law obligations and legislation more than adequately provide for employers to manage their workforces consistent with their beliefs.
The IEUA will call upon the Parliament of Australia to reject this current Bill as it not only fails to improve the current undermining of rights of our members but is an untidy and problematic drafting of legislation that will cause further confusion.
The IEUA will continue to carefully examine the Bill, seek expert advice and engage with stakeholders to ensure that IEUA members’ interests are paramount.
Further comment:
Mark Northam, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Acting Secretary m: 0427 667 061
Carol Matthews, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Assistant Secretary m: 0418 272 902
Media contacts: Sue Osborne (02) 8202 8900 sue@ieu.asn.au , Bronwyn Ridgway (a/h) 0433 373 109 bronwyn@ieu.asn.au
The IEUA NSW/ACT Branch represents over 30,000 teachers, principals and support staff in Catholic and independent schools, early childhood centres and post secondary colleges.
Authorised by John Quessy, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary