Katherine teacher cash incentives offered to keep staff in town

A suite of incentives will be offered to retain essential staff ’doing it tough’ in one Territory town. Here’s what’s on offer and who will get the money.

A suite of incentives will be offered to teachers in Katherine, which aim to simultaneously keep existing staff there and bring new educators to the town.

Teachers in one Territory town will get cash incentives in a bid to keep them in classrooms.

Katherine teachers are set to get an annual $3500 retention payment from next year, which will be delivered in two instalments after each semester.

Teachers in the regional centre will also see an increase to their relocation allowance from 10 to 15 fortnights.

Educators currently on the grandfathered subsidy will continue under their current arrangements.

“We value our teachers and we have heard their concerns,” Education Minister Eva Lawler said.

“This support will make a considerable difference to those experiencing difficulties securing affordable housing and will help us to attract and retain high quality teachers in Katherine.”

Education Minister Eva Lawler said the incentives for Katherine teachers will be reviewed in three years. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

The government is also adding lower-tiered teachers to a list of staff eligible for rental assistance.

While the average price of rent in Katherine is near an all-time high, the town has a rental vacancy rate of 1.0 per cent according to the latest SQM Research data.

The average rent of a two-bed unit is currently $414 in Katherine, while $531 is the average rent for houses.

The announcement comes after a series of strikes in August and September, which saw Katherine teachers and other public sector workers across the Territory push for an end to the wage freeze.

The Fyles government ended the freeze earlier this month and committed to a two per cent compounding pay increase.

United Workers Union NT representatives have said they would continue to negotiate for a higher increase.

Opposition education spokeswoman Jo Hersey said the incentives were a win advocates had long been pushing for.

“We have been calling on more support from this Fyles Labor government for years, and they’ve finally heard the struggles of our teachers here in this town,” Ms Hersey said.

Teachers across the Territory went on strike this year in protest of the wage freeze, which the government has now committed to ending. Picture: Bethany Griffiths

“Every time I come to parliament I talk about these concerns, I fronted the union meeting in Darwin and Katherine in support of the teachers not only with the pay freeze but also the housing situation.

“I am so pleased that teachers in our town finally get what they deserve.

“We know teachers work hard, and they’re doing it tough with cost of living and housing affordability and availability in this town so this is a step in the right direction.”

The Australian Education Union NT has been contacted for comment.

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Originally published as Katherine teacher cash incentives offered to keep staff in town