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Media Mentions
to contact the executive directly email:
hotline@tpaa.asn.au - ATTN: TPAA Secretary
Media Mention Links
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TV Appearances:
Politicisation of Schools - sky news - 25/10/24
Changes to Queensland’s Education Bill all about ‘centralised power’ - Sky News - 02/04/24
Interview with ADH TV - Education System - The Other Side - 08/12/23
Student Behaviour - Sunrise - 13/11/23
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Articles:
‘Ideological’ inclusion policies are driving teachers from the profession - education hq - 20/08/24
QLD education bill set to worsen dysfunctional school system - sky news - 04/04/24
Unions' 'indoctrination' of students has failed millions of young Australians - here's how we can fix our broken centralised school system - sky news - 07/12/23
The rot of bureaucracy: it’s time to ‘go local’ on education - the spectator - 19/10/23
Based on analysis by TPAA, a shift to put teachers in charge of schools can create savings that can be reinvested in higher pay for teachers.
In Australia there are 4 administrators for every 10 teachers. In France and most of Europe, there is 1 administrator for every 10 teachers.
All References and detailed Calculations can be found at the bottom of the page. In summary, by reducing the Administrator to Teacher ratio from 4:10 to 1:10 in Australia would cause a saving of:
- QLD: $1,071,449,375 per year
- NSW: $1,312,943,007 per year
- ACT: $85,466,913 per year
- NT: $64,466,097 per year
- SA: $376,167,482 per year
- VIC: $1,791,667,961 per year
- TAS: $149,415,472 per year
- WA: $1,307,071,371 per year
If these savings were passed on to teachers in the form of a pay rise, the government can afford to pay teachers on average 25% more without increasing the budget.
Sign the Petition:
Australia's education system, much like the country's broader approach to centralisation, is failing—not just for teachers in terms of professional fulfilment and remuneration but also for students and their families.
The system, which once began with simple locally-run, autonomous schools, has evolved into a gargantuan structure that serves the interests of a tribal network of politicians, bureaucrats, and unions rather than focusing on the needs of students, teachers or our communities. The decision about who teaches and what is being taught to their children is denied parents and in the main denied teachers as well. Unless parents withdraw their children from public schools and pay extra to send them to private schools then they have no effective say in their children's education.
Here is the TPAA solution
We say fully empowered School boards, elected by parents, will bring focus, transparency and accountability that public service bureaucracies can never achieve. More importantly, every teacher can be paid at least 25% more from day one from the savings generated by letting the school principal and the local board decide what staff are necessary and hire and fire them from the school itself.
They can also determine the curriculae, disciplinary policy and who can and can't attend. Let us see the end of departmental bureaucratic ideologues bullying our teachers and forcing the indoctrination of our children.
Such a simple change will guarantee the deliverables that parents want for their children and the professional recognition and remuneration teachers deserve in the workplace.
Step one; How the funding works is crucial. Here is how the parents choose what is taught to their own child.
Let’s make our local schools autonomous, with an elected school boards, run by parents.
While anyone, including teachers, can be elected, the power remains with the parents. This places parents in charge of school policy, not teachers. In such a system, teachers would naturally have far more influence over policy decisions than they do now, as parents are more likely to listen to their insights compared to distant bureaucrats.
Step one:
How the funding works is crucial. Here is how the parents choose what is taught to their own child:
Part 1: A School Elected Board
Let’s make our local schools autonomous, with school boards, elected by parents not appointed by politicians or bureaucrats.
While anyone, including teachers, can be elected, the power remains indirectly with the parents. However, in such a system, teachers would naturally have far more influence over policy decisions than they do now, as parents are more likely to listen to their commonsense insights compared to distant bureaucrats. The real power for parents to determine what is taught to their own children is that like Medicare instead of the government funding going directly to the bureaucratic supplier, the government funding goes to the user, the student in this case via a voucher.
This voucher is then cashed by the school that the parent has decided to send their student to. So each parent individually decides where the money goes and what their child is taught by virtue of having the power to move their child and the associated tuition fees to the school of the parent's choice.
Part 2: Empowering Teachers in School Decision-Making
Teachers at the schools would be able to have a much greater level of input into effective policy than under the current system where centralised edicts from bureaucrat often stifle education outcomes.
Schools that wished to succeed would use traditional private sector mechanisms which would allow the school to dramatically reduce the cost of administration which means there will be a minimum extra available to increase teacher pay by 25% plus much more left over. The TPAA is for teachers not bureaucrats. TPAA would make sure that was the end result on pay.
Step TWO:
Pay Teachers 25% more
The current unbelievable ratio of teachers to bureaucrats at about 2-3 for every bureaucrat is counterproductive. In a locally autonomous school environment, barely one administrator for every ten teachers will be needed. The savings from the retrenchment of 80-90% of these bureaucratic parasites will more than fund a 25% pay rise with more than that left over to improve school facilities as well. In fact it is a condition of TPAA teacher support for these reforms that they get this pay rise.
Step THREE:
Let us honour our teachers and abandon the vast majority of teacher university training qualifications. Yes, teachers need a vocational training qualification such as a relevant degree or diploma so that they have a sufficient knowledge base in what they are teaching, but as for learning how to teach, which is more art than science, they should be assessed under an "apprenticeship style" system where they learn the skills and be assessed by their peers whilst on the job.
Promotion should be based mainly on meritorious performance, not academic qualifications.
If you want to help us deliver local teacher-run schools for your communities - Sign the Petition
Introductory Letter to the Green Paper
11 June 2024
TPAQ Media Release on QLD Education Bill 2024
16th April 2024 - Media Release
TPAQ Parliamentary Submission on Education (GP) Bill 2024
Submission to the Education, Employment, Training and Skills Committee
25 March 2024
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Calculations & References
Click to expand the state:
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Australian Capital Territory (ACT):
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Current system: For every 10 teachers, there are 3.90 administrators.
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Go Local system: By reducing to 1 administrator per 10 teachers, Australian Capital Territory would have a reduction of 1013.65 administrative positions, potentially saving $85,466,913.
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This could result in an average pay increase of $24,451 per teacher per year.
References
Administration:
https://www.education.act.gov.au/working-with-us/benefits-and-support/payratesp.193 - as at 07/12/2023
https://www.cmtedd.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/2287633/ACT-Public-Sector-Administrative-and-Related-Classifications-Enterprise-Agreement-2023-2026.pdf -
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New South Wales (NSW):
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Current system: For every 10 teachers, there are 3.90 administrators.
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Go Local system: By reducing to 1 administrator per 10 teachers, NSW would have a reduction of 16,119 administrative positions, potentially saving $1,312,943,007.
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This could result in an average pay increase of $23,612 per teacher per year.
References
Teachers:
http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/irc/IRCGazette.nsf/(PublicationsByTitle)/BF7D011C857027D2CA258A73007CFD8D?OpenDocumentAdministration:
Clauses 8.1.1-3
Schedule 1
https://psa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Crown-Employees-School-Administrative-and-Support-Staff-Award-2022.pdf -
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Northern Territory (NT):
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Current system: For every 10 teachers, there are 3.33 administrators.
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Go Local system: By reducing to 1 administrator per 10 teachers, the Northern Territory would have a reduction of 581 administrative positions, potentially saving $64,466,097.
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This could result in an average pay increase of $25,894 per teacher per year.
References
Administration:
https://ocpe.nt.gov.au/employment-terms-and-conditions/rates-of-pay/general-ntps-administrative-streamExcluding Executive Officer 2-3 because it was unfairly skew the median wage.
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Queensland (QLD):
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Current system: For every 10 teachers, there are 3.57 administrators.
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Go Local system: By reducing to 1 administrator per 10 teachers, Queensland would have a reduction of 11,080 administrative positions, potentially saving $1,071,449,375.
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This could result in an average pay increase of $24,840 per teacher per year.
References
Teachers:
https://www.qirc.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-12/2022_cb135.pdfAdministration:
Appendix I. p.50
https://www.qirc.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-05/2023_cb51.pdf -
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South Australia (SA):
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Current system: For every 10 teachers, there are 4.94 administrators.
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Go Local system: By reducing to 1 administrator per 10 teachers, South Australia would have a reduction of 5,071 administrative positions, potentially saving $376,167,482.
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This could result in an average pay increase of $29,235 per teacher per year.
References
Administration:
Schedule 4 - Salaries, which lists the salary scales for different classification levels.
Specifically, under the "ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES STREAM SALARIES" section of Schedule 4, which provides the salary ranges for Administrative Services Officer (ASO) levels 1 through 8.
The lowest increment for ASO-1 ($47,981) as the minimum, and the highest increment for ASO-8 ($100,353) as the maximum.
Schedule 3 - Classification Criteria, which defines the Administrative Services Stream and lists the types of occupations it covers, including administrative officers and clerical roles.
Clause 1.5 - Definitions, which defines the Administrative Services Stream as including clerical, administrative and related tasks.
https://www.saet.sa.gov.au/app/uploads/2023/06/427p-Award-June-2023.pdf -
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Tasmania (TAS):
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Current system: For every 10 teachers, there are 4.77 administrators.
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Go Local system: By reducing to 1 administrator per 10 teachers, Tasmania would have a reduction of 1,612 administrative positions, potentially saving $149,415,472.
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This could result in an average pay increase of $34,918 per teacher per year.
References
Teachers:
https://www.tic.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/711559/Teachers-Agreement-2023.pdfAdministration:
Excluding bands 8.3.3-10.1.5 because it was unfairly skew the median wage
https://web.archive.org/web/20231104235237/https://publicdocumentcentre.education.tas.gov.au/library/Shared%20Documents/Salary-Scales.pdf -
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Victoria (VIC):
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Current system: For every 10 teachers, there are 4.41 administrators.
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Go Local system: By reducing to 1 administrator per 10 teachers, Victoria would have a reduction of 17,797 administrative positions, potentially saving $1,791,667,961.
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This could result in an average pay increase of $34,360 per teacher per year.
References
Administration:
https://content.sdp.education.vic.gov.au/media/vgsa-2022-pdf-1661Based on the Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022, for administrative employees working in public schools in 2023, the minimum and maximum annualised wages are:
Minimum: $53,834
Maximum: $147,508
This is determined from Schedule 1, section 1.4 which provides the salary scales for Education Support Class employees. Specifically:
The minimum salary for 2023 is listed under Range 1, level 1-1 as $53,834 effective from 1/01/23.
The maximum salary for 2023 is listed under Range 6, level 6-5 as $147,508 effective from 1/01/23.
The Education Support Class encompasses administrative and operational roles in schools, as outlined in Schedule 4 which describes the "Dimensions of Work" for this classification. -
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Western Australia (WA):
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Current system: For every 10 teachers, there are 6.1 administrators.
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Go Local system: By reducing to 1 administrator per 10 teachers, Western Australia would have a reduction of 10,670 administrative positions, potentially saving $1,307,071,371.
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This could result in an average pay increase of $62,422 per teacher per year.
References
Teachers:
https://downloads.wairc.wa.gov.au/agreements/sch012.pdfAdministration:
Table 13, 16
https://downloads.wairc.wa.gov.au/agreements/sch012.pdf -
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Total Impact:
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By implementing the Go Local system with a teacher-to-administrator ratio of 1:10 across all states and territories, Australia would have a reduction of 63943 administrative positions and of around $6,158,547,679 in administrative salaries.
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If the saved funds were redistributed to teachers, it would result in an average pay increase of $31,430 per teacher per year, based on the total FTE teacher count (as at 2023) of 194,949 across all states and territories.
Note:
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Calculations only consider administrative staff, as opposed to all non-teaching staff.
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The calculations are based on the median savings and average pay increases derived from the provided data. Actual figures may vary.
References:
https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/staff-numbers
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