The NSW Government welcomes the decision by the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) to put more money into the pockets of the state’s teachers.
The IRC granted a six per cent increase in remuneration to teachers over 2022 and 2023.
Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell welcomed the pay deal for the state’s more than 90,000 teachers and urged the teacher unions to work constructively with the Government following this decision.
“Making sure our teachers receive the maximum increases they are eligible for has been a focus for me and the NSW Government,” Ms Mitchell said.
“I hope the Teachers Federation will now begin working with us on improving outcomes for our students.
“We are committed to a program of significant reform including new, streamlined curriculum and giving teachers back time to teach, and have guaranteed additional release time for all teachers to enable effective implementation of these reforms.”
Under the pay deal secured in the IRC, over 2022 and 2023 teachers will receive:
- an additional 0.25 per cent increase from 1 July 2022 (back dated) on top of the 2.5 per cent increase received on 1 January 2022; and
- a 3 per cent increase from 1 January 2023.
Teachers will also receive an additional one-off payment outside the Award, amounting to 0.25 per cent of their annual salary as at 30 June 2022. This will be paid as a lump sum once the award is finalised, and means teachers will effectively receive 3 per cent from July.
Over the last 11 years, the NSW Government has streamlined the wages policy and locked in pay increases for teachers ensuring stability whilst reducing NSW’s budget deficit and responsibly managing the economy. Under this sensible approach, teachers have received an almost 30 per cent pay increase since 2011.
Minister for Finance and Employee Relations Damien Tudehope said this was a fair deal for teachers in line with the Government’s new wages policy that provides for higher pay alongside productivity-enhancing reforms.
“Our wages policy provides amongst the highest public sector wages growth in the country and I’m pleased we can deliver our teachers a pay rise well above the 2 per cent per annum increase recently made by the Victorian Government,” Mr Tudehope said.
The NSW Wages Policy provides for a further 0.5 per cent increase in 2023-24 pending agreement on productivity enhancing reforms.
Teacher salaries in NSW have grown nearly 2.5 times faster than the OECD average over the past two decades.
The NSW Government’s Quality Time Program is on track to deliver a 20 per cent reduction in workload and admin burden faced by teachers by the end of 2022, having already met our targets for principals and school admin staff.