Casual teachers' court win

Today the NSW Court of Appeal found in favour of 13 casual school teachers who have been discriminated against by the NSW Department of Education and Training.

Ms. Maree O'Halloran, President of the NSW Teachers Federation said:

"Supported by the NSW Teachers Federation, the women first lodged their complaint with the Anti- Discrimination Board in 1996.

Their complaint was that the Department made permanency a pre-condition to earning the maximum classroom teacher salary. The women were employed as 'casual' teachers yet performed the same work as permanent teachers. The fact that the women were labelled as 'casuals' meant that they earned up to $10,000 less per annum than their permanent colleagues. The women argued that this situation was indirect discrimination under the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act because it is harder for women to achieve permanency in the NSW Department than for men.

The State Government fought this case at every turn despite its own policy that workers should be paid equal pay for work of similar value.

However, today, 9 years down the track, the NSW Court of Appeal reinstated the orders of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal granting damages to each of the women with interest.

The NSW Teachers Federation congratulates all the women involved in the case and thanks them for their brave stance. There are many more teachers in similar circumstances who may benefit from this case."

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005