Starting early in Term 3, 2018, temporary teachers will now be able to be offered engagements of up to three years in length.
Earlier this month various amendments to the NSW Teaching Service Act 1980 were proclaimed. The Teaching Service Act is the legislative basis for the employment of persons in the government Teaching Service in NSW.
Among the changes was an amendment allowing for temporary teacher engagements to be offered across calendar years and for periods of up to three years.
While the legislation came in to effect immediately the Department of Education is still in the process of preparing advice to schools and members of the Teaching Service, including principals and teachers. The Department has advised Federation that advice is likely to go to schools in the first SchoolBiz at the beginning of Term 3.
In addition to advice about new engagements, the Department will need to provide a mechanism regarding the review of existing engagements beyond the end of this year as well as changing the application process that currently limits applications to a period of up to 12 months within a single calendar year.
Federation has been campaigning for this change for a number of years and welcomes the passing of the change by the NSW parliament.