A new agreement will help improve conditions for CIT teachers and address the issue of high workloads. Photo: File.
Teachers at the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) have voted in favour of an “unprecedented” pay rise, which will mean some staff receive an increase of more than 33 per cent by the end of 2025.
Under the pay deal negotiated by the Australian Education Union (AEU), the current starting pay for a teacher at CIT will rise from $80,673 to $107,501 by December 2025.
Top-level teacher salaries will increase from $107,642 to $123,449 over the same period.
The pay deal is significantly higher than what CIT had initially proposed, meaning teachers would have earned up to $16,000 a year less than what the union negotiated in the new agreement.
AEU ACT branch secretary Patrick Judge said the deal for some members would mean an increase of more than $600 a fortnight in their pay packet by the end of 2025.
“That’s the sort of outcome that we need to see if we are to address cost of living pressures and high inflation,” he said.
The new agreement will also improve conditions for CIT staff, including overtime entitlements for experienced teachers and flextime for TAFE college directors. It will introduce a new two-year teacher support program, reducing teaching hours for those who undertake mentoring activities.
The new deal also promises a review of administrative support in consultation with the union by 30 November 2024 and the introduction of a ‘right to disconnect’ clause that entitles employees to disconnect from all work-related ICT and communications beyond their agreed hours of work.
CIT teachers will also receive the same improved conditions offered to other ACT public sector workers, such as the increase in birth leave from 18 weeks to 24 weeks.
Mr Judge said the agreement contained crucial provisions to address teacher workloads and that CIT was engaged in genuine consultation with the union over workload reduction measures.
“We welcome CIT’s commitment to working with the union on fixing teacher workloads over the course of this agreement. We are already working with CIT on pilot programs that we think hold considerable promise,” he said.
Mr Judge said the salary increase was well deserved and recognised the high standard of teaching, but there was still more to be done to attract and retain teachers at CIT.
“Our CIT teachers have done an incredible job over the last few years, including winning local and national awards for the quality education they deliver.
“This pay increase recognises the contribution that teachers have made and continue to make in ensuring our community has the skills it needs.”
He said this was a “big step forward” for CIT teachers, but their remuneration still lagged behind school teachers at the top of the scale.
“Our union won’t rest until every teacher in the ACT is paid the same.
“We don’t think there is any reason TAFE teachers should be worth less than their school-based counterparts.”
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