Month: September 2023

The Minns Labor Government is on track to make the state’s 95,000 public school teachers the best paid in the country which will help tackle the teacher shortage crisis after positive discussions with the teachers’ union.

The NSW Teachers Federation is now considering an offer made by the Minns Labor Government.

If agreed to, the offer will see teachers jump from being among the worst paid, to being the best paid in the country, and restore competitiveness. 

The 4 year agreement will see the starting salary for a NSW teacher increase from $75,791 to $85,000 and the salary for top of the scale teachers increase from $113,042 to $122,100. 

All teachers will benefit from a restructuring of the pay scale. 

Wages in the following 3 years will continue to rise in line with the Minns Labor Government’s wages policy. 

This offer recognises the value of the work that NSW teachers do and was informed by findings of the Gallop Report. 

Previously, teachers in NSW were constrained by the former Liberal National government’s now defunct wages cap, degrading their pay to among the worst in the nation and creating a teacher shortage crisis. 

In fact, under the former Government, for the first time in recent memory, teacher resignations outstripped retirements in NSW. 

The offer will require the agreement of the Teachers Federation Council on Saturday.  

The Minns Labor Government was elected with a mandate to improve the pay and conditions of teachers in NSW, and to fix serious issues in our education system. 

The Minns Labor Government is setting out a long-term plan to repair the budget in a sustainable way, to rebuild the essential services we all rely on and to reinvest in our essential workers. 

There is nothing more important than educating the future generations of kids and ensuring there are teachers in front of classrooms.   

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said: 

“The Minns Labor Government is hopeful this agreement will be made, so NSW teachers can get the pay rise they so urgently deserve. 

“Negotiating an outcome that demonstrates respect to teachers has always been my highest priority. 

“In order to tackle the teacher shortage crisis we must restore respect to the teaching profession, so teachers are free to do their jobs without additional stress.” 

“While there is much more to do, today marks an important step forward as we continue working to rebuild our state’s education system.” 

With the cost of living on the rise, around 6% of the general population are struggling to access enough nutritious food to support a healthy lifestyle. For Aboriginal communities, however, this figure rises to an alarming 33%. This is known as ‘food insecurity’.

Leaders from across government, academia, industry and the community sector have come together to tackle the issue of food insecurity in Aboriginal communities at the first ever Food Equity Symposium in NSW.

Aboriginal peoples continue to experience health inequalities and a life expectancy of almost 10 years lower compared with non-Indigenous Australians.

Improving nutrition and food security along with community support is essential for addressing these health disparities and Closing the Gap.

The NSW Government is committed to finding new ways of working with Aboriginal communities to enact positive and lasting solutions.

The idea of a food equity symposium evolved from Aboriginal Affairs NSW’s pandemic food relief work, which identified and addressed major service gaps in Aboriginal communities.

Food projects were established, resulting in the equivalent of 1.6 million meals delivered directly to Aboriginal households over 2 years.

Read more about the Food Equity Symposiumlaunch.

Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty David Harris, who opened the symposium said:

“Food insecurity is an issue that disproportionately affects Aboriginal communities but requires a whole-of-community solution to resolve.

“That is why this symposium is important. This is the first time we have brought all the experts together to test ideas and find solutions to give our communities the food security they need and deserve.

“The health gap between Aboriginal people and the rest of the community will continue to widen unless action is taken to address availability and affordability of nutritious food.

“The NSW Government is committed to Closing the Gap and that means thinking and acting differently and working with Aboriginal communities on solutions.

“We know when we work with Aboriginal people on issues that affect them, we get better outcomes. That is what I am looking forward to out of this symposium.”

Transport for NSW has been working with the new operator In Region 10, U-Go Mobility on a stabilisation plan, after the department was forced to step in when the operator failed to deliver the expected level of service for the community.

While there is still much more to be done before services in Region 10 return to normal, this has resulted in reduced unplanned service cancellations, reduced complaints, and increased levels of community engagement, particularly with local school communities.

There are dedicated Transport for NSW resources on the ground at U-Go Mobility depots to improve reliability, safety and action taken to improve service delivery, including prioritisation of key services.

Since the adjusted temporary timetable was put in place in Region 10 on 31 July 2023, unplanned service cancellations are down from an average of 400 per week-day to an average of 86 per weekday.

Bus marshals are deployed at key interchanges, including Hurstville, Bankstown, Sutherland and Miranda to assist passengers.

Transport for NSW is also working with U-Go Mobility to ensure robust recruitment plans are in place to manage driver shortages and a recruitment pipeline, to assist in service delivery.

The operator has prioritised dedicated school services to reduce impacts on school students. Public service routes used by large numbers of local school students have also been identified and prioritised.

U-Go Mobility now has a dedicated school’s liaison officer working with local schools to provide regular communication, capture feedback and proactively manage school issues, including real-time contact regarding impacted school services.

From 17 August 2023, Transit Systems has temporarily taken over the operation of 18 dedicated school bus services, to improve their reliability. 

Nightride services are being supported by other contracted operators’ buses when needed. 

Transport for NSW is also working on providing additional support for elderly or vulnerable passengers, or those without access to travel apps. Hard copies of timetables have been issued to MP Electorate Offices to provide to constituents.

Transport Management Centre Commanders will also patrol back routes to provide greater visibility/presence and ensure passengers are not left waiting for long periods at bus stops due to cancellations.

Transport for NSW has worked with the operator to put a cure plan in place that will bring the region back to required performance later this year.

Quotes attributable to NSW Minister for Transport Jo Haylen:

“We still aren’t satisfied with the level of service in Region 10, but we are seeing some significant improvements for passengers.”

“Thanks to Transport’s intervention in Region 10, we’re seeing fewer service cancellations and fewer complaints but bus services still haven’t returned to normal.”

“We now have a cure plan in place to bring back the level of bus services that the community expects and the government will continue to hold the operator to account until that happens.”

The NSW Government today released its strategy to secure the reliable supply of clean and affordable renewable energy for NSW.
 

The government’s response to the Electricity Supply and Reliability Check Up conducted by Cameron O’Reilly from Marsden Jacob Associates commits to a whole-of-government effort to deliver the energy transition for NSW households, businesses and communities.

The check up makes 54 recommendations to keep the Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap on track. The government has accepted 50 recommendations; 44 in full, 3 in part and 3 are already underway or complete.

The NSW Government will take action in 3 key areas.

Firstly, the Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap has been endorsed as a strategic priority of the government. This means there will be a whole-of-government effort to make sure that as coal-fired power retires, NSW households and businesses have enough renewable energy, transmission and storage to replace it as quickly as possible.

Secondly, a new Energy Security Target Monitor will actively scrutinise the plans of NSW’s remaining private coal-fired power stations as they approach retirement to ensure ongoing reliability at the lowest cost.

The check up finds there will be reliability challenges for NSW in the next couple of years. The government will engage with Origin on its plans for Eraring, at the same time as pursuing all alternative solutions to deliver the renewable generation, transmission and storage solutions that NSW needs.

Finally, the NSW Government will streamline renewables approvals in the planning system as well as enhance and coordinate community benefit sharing. It will unlock opportunities to connect new renewables to the existing grid outside Renewable Energy Zones. A Consumer Energy Strategy will be developed to unleash the potential of households and businesses to further embrace small-scale renewables like solar in the short-term, without shifting focus and momentum from the delivery of large-scale projects.

The whole-of-government approach will also address housing, transport, skills and workforce and supply constraints in the Renewable Energy Zones.

The Energy Corporation of NSW (EnergyCo) will continue as the lead agency to deliver the Renewable Energy Zones that will power NSW into the future. EnergyCo will be enhanced with a statement of priorities and a reformed governance framework.

Read the Electricity Supply and Reliability Check Uplaunch and the NSW Government response.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said:

“One of the biggest challenges facing NSW is ensuring we can keep the lights on while managing the biggest change in energy mix and consumption in the shortest period of time in our nation’s history.

“This challenge is made worse by privatisation, cost overruns and delays under the previous government.

“NSW is committed to meeting its net zero ambition and transforming our electricity system to renewables as soon as possible.

“This report and the government’s response rescues the renewables mission and puts the transition back on track.”

Minister for Energy Penny Sharpe said:

“NSW has no time to waste as coal-fired power retires and needs to be replaced by renewable energy generation, transmission and storage.

“The check up by Cameron O’Reilly and his team is a clear-sighted assessment that has kicked the tires of energy policy in NSW.

“It provides the practical and achievable next steps to rescue the Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap, and let NSW get on with it.

“I want to thank Cameron O’Reilly and his team for their work on the check up and those who have provided their insights to both Cameron and the NSW Government as we have been finalising our response.”

The health system is showing signs of improvement as NSW public hospitals continue to face major pressures, according to the latest release of Bureau of Health Information (BHI) data.

Across the state, the number of surgical patients waiting longer than clinically recommended have decreased from 14,067 to 9142 between the end of March and the end of June.

Just days after being sworn in, Health Minister Ryan Park established the NSW Surgical Care Taskforce dedicated to improving the delivery of surgical services and reducing the state’s planned surgery wait list.

The taskforce has brought together some of the state’s leading clinical experts, working in both the public and private health sectors.

It continues to examine a range of best-practice models, including safely increasing day-only surgery, boosting virtual care and remote monitoring of patients, enhancing systems of referrals and assessment of patients by multidisciplinary teams, and maximising the efficiency of operating theatres for planned surgery.

The latest BHI data shows continuing high levels of demand for emergency care, including record NSW Ambulance activity.

Throughout the second quarter of 2023, there were 117,949 triage category 2 (emergency) presentations to NSW public hospitals, the highest number on record.

Despite the increase in more complex presentations, the majority of patients, 65.8%, started their treatment on time, an improvement on the same quarter last year.

Throughout the quarter, more than 7 in 10 patients (74.1%) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time, also an improvement on the same quarter of last year.

The newly elected Minns Labor Government is undertaking a comprehensive suite of structural reforms to rebuild the state’s health system, including:

• Building an engaged, capable and supported workforce, beginning with implementing safe staffing levels, with a memorandum of understanding signed with nurses just last week.
• Improving health workforce conditions, including with the abolition of the wages cap and the rollout of study subsidies.
• Enhancing the accessibility and delivery of healthcare across rural and regional NSW, including with a boost to regional paramedics; doubling rural health incentives and expanding the single employer model.
• Safely delivering the essential health services our community deserves, including through a special commission of inquiry into health spending.
• Reducing surgery wait times with the establishment of a surgical care taskforce.
• Providing the health infrastructure and technology for communities across NSW, including by embracing urgent care and virtual care, relieving pressure on our hospitals.

The Minns Labor Government remains committed to improving the essential health services our community deserve and building an engaged, capable and supported workforce.

Minister for Health Ryan Park said:

“We’ve inherited a health system facing great pressure and significant strain. I’ve always said there are no quick fixes and it will take time to address these challenges.

“I want to thank our health workforce and NSW Health for their tireless efforts and persistence, in delivering essential services across our community.

“We are determined to begin rebuilding our state’s health system with a comprehensive and ambitious agenda.

“I want to make sure all people in NSW receive the right level of healthcare, service and access and have confidence in their hospital and health system.”