Ongoing negotiations with NSW Teachers Federation

Raising the pay and conditions of NSW public school teachers would go a long way to helping solve the teacher shortage crisis that was left by the former Liberal National Government.

One of my first acts as Minister was to instruct the Secretary of the Department of Education to begin negotiations with NSW Teachers Federation into pay and conditions, well ahead of the end of the current agreement on 31 December.

We began this process with the Federation both wanting the same thing: to value and respect our teaching workforce. Our shared goal is to make new teachers the best paid in the country.  

That remains the case.

I have been engaged in active and productive negotiations with the Federation, and I have not walked away from them.

Productivity improvements need to be identified and agreed, and we know that teachers have ideas about how to do this while enhancing learning outcomes for students in the classroom.

I am committed to this process and serious about improving teachers’ pay and conditions.

I urge the Federation to come back to the table and continue working towards an agreement.