NSW teachers payrise as state faces major shortage of educators

NSW teachers could soon join Australia’s highest paid teachers after the state government and union struck a deal in principle for a significant pay rise.

After an increasingly acrimonious pay dispute, the NSW Teachers Federation recommends that members accept an offer, including a large first-year pay raise.

All teachers will receive an initial pay raise of up to $10,000 a year under the proposed deal, which will be presented to the union’s state board on Saturday.

As of October, the starting salary for first-year teachers will increase from $75,791 to $85,000 — an increase of more than 12 percent.

Salaries for teachers at the top of the scale will rise from $113,042 to $122,100, an increase of eight percent.

Informal rates for teachers and school counselors will also be lifted, while a controversial 2.5 percent cap on pay increases over the subsequent three years of a four-year agreement has been suspended.

Union leaders will recommend that the state council approve the deal at the upcoming meeting.

NSW Teachers Federation acting president Henry Rajendra said the proposed increase was a “once in a generation” with children being the ultimate beneficiaries if approved.

“The teacher shortage is a crisis that has been going on for twelve years. It can only be addressed by paying teachers what they are worth,” he said.

“We will attract and retain more hard-working teachers and prevent them from drifting into other professions or states.”

Catholic school teachers can also expect a pay rise as an interim settlement between the Independent Education Union and the NSW dioceses requires the latter to pass on salary increases to teachers in the public system.

Mark Northam, secretary of the union’s NSW chapter, said the marked wage increases were unprecedented and would help rebuild the profession.

If the latest offer is accepted, pay for public school teachers will be varied and extended until October 2024, while negotiations for pay increases for later years will continue.

Mr Rajendra said the union would take into account the state of the economy and collect information from its members ahead of further award negotiations in September next year.

Education Secretary Prue Car (pictured) said the deal would mean the state’s teachers would grow from the nation’s lowest-paid classroom leaders to the highest-paid teachers.

Education Secretary Prue Car said the deal would mean the state’s teachers would move from being the nation’s lowest-paid classroom leaders to the highest-paid.

She hoped the deal would be accepted, so teachers would see more money on their pay packages.

But opposition leader Mark Speakman accused the government of “succumbing to union pressure” and agreeing to a deal that would send the state budget into further crisis.

He said the government has yet to reveal where cuts will be made to fund the wage increase.

Talks will continue over what pay increases teachers can expect for the remainder of the four-year period after the government withdraws its 2.5 percent offer.

The union effectively rejected the fact that it would hang on to this figure, saying it reflected the former coalition government’s pay cap in the public sector and would again lead to a wider teacher shortage.