New pay deal for Queensland teachers

12 November 2009

The State Government and the Queensland Teachers' Union have reached an agreement that will lift teacher pay by 12.5 per cent over three years.

Graduate teachers in Queensland will be the best paid in the country by 2011 under a new pay deal.

The State Government and the Queensland Teachers' Union have reached an agreement that will lift teacher pay by 12.5 per cent over three years.

The deal also means boosts in pay levels for new graduates, experienced classroom teachers, and school leaders including principals.

Under the deal every state school teacher will get a pay boost of between $7500 and $11,500 over the life of the agreement.

Features of the agreement include:

a 12.5 per cent wage increase over three years for all teachers
increased base pay for new teachers, experienced classroom teachers and school leaders including principals
a one-off $500 resource grant for all other teachers, and
access to some vacation payments for temporary teachers.

The QTU State Council has endorsed the proposal, which will now be put to a statewide ballot of teachers this week with a result expected within a fortnight.

Premier Anna Bligh said the new deal means that by 2011 Queensland's graduate teachers will be the highest paid in the country, receiving just under $56,900 in their first year of teaching.

'That means we'll have more chance of getting our best and brightest graduates to take up positions as teachers in Queensland classrooms when they graduate,' she said.

Ms Bligh said the new deal also meant more incentive for experienced teachers to stay in the classroom.

'This deal delivers a system that lets us recruit, reward and retain the best people to teach our kids and support our parents and schools across the state,' she said.

Education and Training Minister Geoff Wilson said under changes to pay levels, teachers with 13 or more years experience would be able to apply for a promotion.

'This will be a competitive process, which rewards teachers who deliver,' Mr Wilson said.

'The new initiatives will strengthen critical points in the system.

'New teachers will be paid more, principals and other senior administrators will be paid more and senior classroom teachers performing at the highest levels will be paid more too.'

Under the agreement the 4 per cent interim pay rise will be increased to 4.5 per cent backdated to July 1 with further 4 per cent increases in July 2010 and 2011.