NSW teachers secure biggest pay increase in 30 years

NSW teachers are now the highest-paid public school educators in the country, voting “yes” to the biggest pay increase in three decades.

NSW teachers are now the highest-paid public school educators in the country.

NSW teachers gave themselves a gold star on Saturday, with the NSW Teachers Federation voting “yes” to the biggest pay increase in three decades.

High schoolteacher and union representative Alice Leung said the change was groundbreaking.

“This is the first step towards restoring public education. It’s the first step towards the beginning of the end of minimal supervision,” Ms Leung said.

“It’s the first time teacher’s pay has been competitive in a very, very long time.

NSW Education Minister Prue Car announces the new deal on Saturday. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“We are hoping it will make teachers’ salaries competitive again and attract and retain teachers so that our students can have an appropriately subject-qualified teacher in front of them every single lesson.”

Under the freshly approved four-year agreement, the starting salary for a NSW teacher will jump from $75,791 to $85,000 and the salary for top-of-the-scale teachers will increase from $113,042 to $122,100.

Previously, NSW’s teachers were some of the worst paid in the country. Now, they will be earning anywhere between four and 20 per cent more.

School counsellors will also benefit from a heavier wallet, with the most experienced counsellors set to earn as much as principals.

School counsellor and union representative Michael Sciffer said the decision will save lives.

“This is our first real chance to start to address the huge counsellor shortages in school,” he said.

“We have so much mental distress and crisis among teenagers, we are failing them. We are stretched so thin we are having to prioritise the most at-risk students.

Teachers Michael Sciffer and Alice Leung say NSW’s education system will benefit. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Instead of being able to work with students who are at high risk of self-harm, we are only working with kids who are actively self-harming.

“This is the first time in more than a decade that teachers have been given more than a thanks,” he said.

Acting Teachers Federation president Henry Rajendra said Saturday’s decision was “one of the most significant moments in the history of our (school) system”.

NSW Teachers Federation deputy president Henry Rajendra. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Education Minister Prue Car speaks. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“The other important thing to come out of this deal is that there is a commitment from both the government and union to address issues related to teacher workload,” he said.

The deal, set to come into effect on October 9, comes after months of tense negotiations between the NSW Labor government and state teacher’s union, with the federation at one point accusing Education Minister Prue Car of an “act of betrayal”.

Speaking on Saturday, Ms Car said there is “no bad blood”.

“This has been a momentous agreement between the government and the Teachers Federation. I want to thank the Teachers Federation for accepting the offer …. This has landed us in a historic moment,” she said.

Under the move, teachers will become among some of the highest-earning graduates in Australia, set to earn more than an entry-level accountant, engineer, lawyer and registered nurse.

Teachers who work for the Catholic school system will also receive the same pay rise in accordance with a deal struck with the Fair Work Commission earlier this year.

There’s hope the deal will combat the state’s critical teacher shortage, with the government hoping the decision will attract new educators to the profession.

“We will remember this as the day we began the work of improving the working conditions of our teachers in our schools, to break the back of our teacher shortage,” said Ms Car.