Qld relief teacher program struggling to fill absences

Queensland’s relief teacher system is struggling to meet demand, with some refusing to work at certain schools because of violence and other poor behaviour.

• Full list: Qld’s worst behaved students

Casual relief teachers say out-of-control classroom behaviour is driving them out of Queensland schools.

Some schools are scrambling to replace teachers taking short-term leave and sick days, with the state’s teachers’ union saying the pool of relief teachers was unable to meet the schools’ demands.

Some relief teachers say they refuse to work at certain schools because of violence and poor behaviour.

A teacher based in Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast, who has been using the state’s Teacher Relief and Contract Employment Register (TRACER) system for 10 years, said students at some schools were so unmanageable that some casual educators declined requests through the register to work there.

“I’m based in Mudgeeraba, I rarely go to schools too far north, I rarely take TRACER calls (if ever) because the schools are out of control,” she said.

“I have done a bit of work at Foxwell — great facilities but shocking student behaviours.

“Schools and students are a huge issue, teachers aren’t supported, teachers won’t go back to schools where it’s too difficult to manage behaviours.”

The teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, said students came to class boasting about being involved in police incidents over the weekend.

“I’ve had students bragging about car theft, house breaking, throwing things across the room, a student had another girl in a headlock with scissors to her head,” she said.

The teacher said there were multiple issues around why there was a shortage of teachers accepting TRACER requests.

“A lot of teachers left during Covid too — I was deregistered as I didn’t follow the mandates so I was off work for a couple years,” she said.

Brisbane state schools was left unable to fill two critical vacancies after the state’s system failed to fill the request.

On July 19, Jindalee State School, in Brisbane’s southwest, was unable to fill two relief teaching roles. The school needed a total of four fill-in teachers that day but the state’s TRACER was able to fill only two of the vacancies.

Each day the casual relief service fills more than 1500 short-term absences across the state and has more than 6000 casual and temporary relief teachers registered and available through the TRACER relief pool.

During term two this year, 89 per cent of all relief teacher requests were filled by the service.

Teachers Professional Association Queensland president Scott Stanford said that due to the shortage of teachers, many were able to pick and choose which schools they accepted, to leading to a shortfall of staff at some schools.

“It’s very hard to get casual teachers in places like Logan, Beenleigh and Inala … because of the behavioural issues,” Mr Stanford said.

“So therefore casual teachers are saying they are not putting up with that, and I will go where they’re perceived to be more well-behaved,” Mr Stanford said.

Mr Stanford said while there was a pool of 6000 teachers on the register, some also worked only one day a week.

“That’s the problem. So they’re trying to encourage more teachers who have retired back into the system to cover that, but then again the fact of the matter is there is not being done to look after teachers and that’s why they are leaving in droves.”

He said the state government’s Great Future election commitment to deliver more than 6100 full-time-equivalent new teachers and more than 1100 FTE new teacher aides over four years did not totally solve the casuals crisis.

“It’s a bigger problem than just saying, oh we’re going to create 6100 new teachers, because where are we going to get that from when the numbers in universities are falling, and the people who make it through the degree are only lasting 12 to 24 months,” Mr Stanford said.

Teachers are picking and choosing where they are wanting to go leaving some schools without replacement teachers. Picture: Getty Images

In January, the Department of Education released the 2023 School Opinion Survey and revealed more than a third of Queensland students and more than a quarter of staff believed their school did not manage student behaviour well.

Almost 94 per cent of teachers agreed that Jindalee State School was a safe place to work in 2022 — down from 100 per cent in 2021.

A department of education spokesman said the provision of relief teachers was one of many options available to schools to cover short-term classroom teacher absences.

“Given the unplanned nature of many teacher absences, TRACER does not fill every relief request for every school,” a Department of Education spokesman said.

The spokesman said vacancies were normal in any workforce due to retirements, internal transfers, promotions and resignations.

They said illness tended to peak during terms two and three.

“With a workforce of over 55,000 teachers these results indicate a sustainable balance between employee separations and necessary replacements required by the department,” a spokesman said.

“At just over three-quarters of the commitment period at 81 per cent as at 22 March 2024 the department has hired more than 5900 FTE new teachers and in excess of 2300 FTE new teacher aides.”

The department said it was on track to meet the commitment, with 96 per cent of new teachers and 203 per cent of new teacher aides having been delivered.

“The department offers a very competitive casual relief teacher rate of $460.97 per day. The rate increases by 3 per cent on 1 July 2024 to $474.79,” a spokesman said.