NSW teachers set to pocket bigger pay rise amid poaching concerns

Inflation is “really hurting’’ teachers, says NSW Education Minister Prue Car as union demands inflation-busting pay rise.

Striking teachers marched on NSW Parliament House in Sydney last year. Photo: John Grainger

Teachers are demanding inflation-busting pay rises pegged to spiralling home loan rates, as the NSW Government agrees to boost wages for the nation’s biggest teaching workforce.

NSW Education Minister Prue Car said teachers deserve a pay rise, revealing that public schools in Queanbeyan are struggling to retain teachers lured by higher wages in the ACT.

Ms Car said she “100 per cent agrees’’ with teachers that wages are failing to keep up with the rising cost of living, especially in Sydney where teachers can struggle to pay rent or buy a house.

“Inflationary pressure on teachers is really hurting – we have to fix it,’’ she told The Australian.

“We’re seeing record levels of resignations, even outstripping retirements.

“Maybe for teachers who are more experienced, it’s not so much about pay, it’s about working conditions.

“But for young teachers, trying to find somewhere to rent or buy a home or start a family, then it is about pay.’’

Ms Car refused to speculate on the size of the pay rise, but the NSW Teachers’ Federation has been pushing for wage increases of at least 15 per cent over two years.

Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said an average house in the western Sydney suburb of Bankstown now cost 15 times the salary of a beginner teacher, compared to four times their salary in the mid-1980s.

“When teachers can be employed elsewhere on higher pay, this contributes to the teacher shortage,’’ he said.

Mr Gavrielatos said 47 per cent of teachers in NSW are younger than 40.

“That means a large number of teachers are experiencing significant housing crisis due to an overheated rental market and a housing market many can’t get into,’’ he said.

An independent inquiry into the NSW teaching profession, chaired by former WA Premier Dr Geoff Gallop in 2021, had recommended pay rises of between 10 and 15 per cent for public school teachers in 2022 and 2023.

But Mr Gavrielatos said the pay rises were proposed “before the inflation spike, and 11 interest rate rises’’.

After months of rolling strikes last year, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission granted teachers a pay rise of 2.75 per cent in 2022 and another 3 per cent this year.

But the union is now renegotiating with the NSW Education Department for an even bigger pay rise for teachers, who have fallen behind the ACT and Queensland.

Mr Gavrielatos said teacher pay should be pegged to comparable professions such as engineering, accounting and pharmacy.

“Pay matters,’’ he said.

“Pay is a measure of the respect teachers are held in and it’s at the centre of a teacher shortage.

“The government’s got to get a move on.’’

Teachers in NSW public schools now earn $75,791 straight from university, rising to $120,322 for an experienced teacher and $200,244 for an executive principal.

Queensland pays the highest wages to teachers, ranging from $78,490 to $133,277, and is planning a recruitment drive to poach more teachers from interstate.

The ACT Government plans to boost teachers’ starting wage from $76,575 this year to $91,936 by 2026.