Financial members are welcome to participate in Federation meetings, held in their workplace, where members discuss issues affecting their work, community and students. Members can move, amend and vote on motions that inform the work and direction of the union at their workplace.
Financial Federation members can attend and participate in their local association’s meetings — the main forum for members in each area — to discuss and vote on union issues.
Association meetings:
- provide regular opportunities to share information with colleagues
- help you network with teachers in your area
- help create social connections
- are a great place to develop new skills such as public speaking
- are an opportunity to reach your Organiser
- are forums to influence Federation’s policies and direction.
In most cases school members are automatically allocated to the association that covers the local area they teach in. In some circumstances a member may be allocated to another Association, for example the association in the area in which a casual member lives.
Teachers in TAFE and OCAA belong to statewide associations.
Each association has a number of elected positions, such as President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Women’s Contact, Minutes Secretary, New Activists Contact, Special Education Contact, LGBTIQ Contact, Aboriginal Education Contact, Casual/ Unemployed Teachers Contact and Anti-racism Contact. These positions are elected annually.
Search the Events Calendar for your next association meeting.
Federation’s state Council meets at least eight times per year and is attended by the union’s Presidential Officers, Professional Officers and about 300 Councillors. Decisions made at these meetings become union policy.
Councillors are elected for two-year terms, by members of their local associations, to represent their area at state Council meetings. A number of Councillors are also elected by members on the Aboriginal Members Roll.
If you are elected as a Councillor you may ask questions, propose amendments to recommendations, debate and vote on motions and amendments at the meetings. Councillors are also delegates to Federation’s Annual Conference.
If you are a country member who would like to learn more and experience Council, you can apply to attend a Council meeting as an observer, through the New Activist Country Observer Program or Country Women’s Observer Program.
City members may also choose to attend Council as an observer and can turn up on the day to register their attendance.
The decisions of Federation’s state Council are published in Fed Rep News, a newsletter distributed to all Federation Representatives, Women’s Contacts and Workplace Committee members.
Annual Conference is Federation’s peak decision making body and meets in Sydney for three consecutive days during the winter school holidays. The conference is attended by Presidential Officers, Professional Officers, Councillors as automatic delegates to Annual Conference and additional elected delegates (including representatives from the Aboriginal Members Roll). As a financial Federation member you can nominate as a Delegate to Annual Conference, and if elected by your fellow association members, you can participate in the debate and vote. There are no authorised observers at Annual Conference, but members are welcome to come and watch.
Federation’s Executive — consisting of the Presidential Officers, eight members, two Custodians, one Aboriginal member and four Vice Presidents — meets regularly during term to discuss the implementation of decisions arising from Council and Conference and items that emerge between Council meetings. Aside from Presidential Officers, other members of Executive are elected by Federation Councillors for a one-year term.
Aboriginal members may wish to put themselves forward to be considered for the position of Aboriginal Observer to Executive, to attend Executive meetings to develop a further understanding of the role and function of Executive. Contact the Aboriginal Education Coordinator.
Restricted committees are elected by Council to work on particular areas of policy. A committee’s membership may be restricted by a number of criteria (including gender, workplace, identity etc) to ensure appropriate representation. The criteria are considered and determined by Council.
- Aboriginal Members
- Aboriginal Education
- Anti-Racism Policy
- Central Schools
- Distance Education
- Eric Pearson Study Grant
- Finance
- Future Teacher Scholarships
- Legal Cases
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer
- Officers, Consultants and Advisers
- Principals
- Professional Officers
- Project Officers
- Recruitment and Retention
- Rules and Structures
- School Staffing
- Sam Lewis Peace Prize
- Small Schools
- Special Education
- Sustainable Environment
- TAFE Part Time Casual Teacher Ad-hoc Committee
- Teachers Workload (Schools and TAFE)
- Technology
- Tree Levy
- Women’s and Anna Stewart Program