- The Queensland Industrial Relations Commission has certified three enterprise bargaining agreements
- They are for state school teacher aides, cleaners, and support staff employed in schools and corporate offices including the Office of Industrial Relations
- The agreements include cost of living adjustment payments and enhanced conditions
- The agreements are now in operation, with employees receiving lump sum back pay, effective from 1 September 2022, by 30 June 2023
Cost of living relief is on the way for state school teacher aides, cleaners, and Department of Education staff with the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission certifying three new agreements covering more than 40,000 public sector workers.
The enterprise bargaining agreements were overwhelmingly endorsed, with 97% and 98% voting in favour.
Under the new agreements, teacher aides, cleaners, and school and corporate staff will receive pay rises of 4% in year one, 4% in year two and 3% in the final year of the three-year agreements.
There will also be a cost-of-living adjustment payment each year of the agreement (capped at 3%) if CPI in the relevant year is higher than the base wage increase.
The agreements cover around 22,000 teacher aides, 7,600 cleaners, and 14,000 school support staff, staff in corporate offices, and the Office of Industrial Relations.
Teacher aides will see greater job security through the simplification and standardisation of working hours, be entitled to three dedicated professional development days per year, and increased payments for those providing interpretation services in languages other than English.
School cleaners will also benefit from greater job security provisions, along with a $25 fortnightly allowance for experienced cleaners, and improved accrued day off arrangements including equity between part time and full time workers.
The agreement for support staff includes a new professional development allowance of $1,800 for health practitioners and social workers working in schools, and the existing school-based administration allowance will be increased in line with headline wage increases.
Staff in the Office of Industrial Relations will also benefit from enhancements to on call arrangements, development of rostering guidelines, and commitments in relation to workload management and work health and safety.
Quotes attributable to Education Minister Grace Grace:
"The Palaszczuk Government is delivering improved pay and conditions for workers at a time that many are the feeling the pinch.
"Teacher aides, cleaners, and school support staff, along with our corporate office staff play an absolutely vital role in our schools and the department more broadly, and they deserve to get some of the best pay and conditions in the country.
"Certification of these agreements means that now all five of the Department of Education's certified agreements have been finalised in this round of enterprise bargaining.
"I'd like to acknowledge the hard work of the United Workers' Union and Together Queensland throughout the negotiations which resulted in making these excellent bargaining agreements possible."
