Election of Relief Professional Officers for 2020

Nominations are called for the election of Relief Professional Officers for 2020.

Relief Officers will be elected in two groupings:

Group A: Relief for TAFE/Corrective Services: six Relief Officers to be elected, including where possible, three men and three women.

Group B: All other Professional Officers: 20 to be elected, at least half of whom shall be women. This group covers all relief positions (Schools Organisers, Professional Support Officers, Industrial/Research Officers and other Officers) other than those in the Post School area (Group A, above).

Candidature and nomination

1. Candidates must be financial members of the NSW Teachers Federation at the close of nominations and must be nominated and seconded by financial members of the Federation at the close of nominations.

2. Nominations must be submitted on the Federation nomination form and received by the Returning Officer, NSW Teachers Federation, Locked Bag 3010, Darlinghurst NSW 1300, email [email protected] or by fax on (02) 9217 2470 by no later than noon on Wednesday, 16 October 2019. If a candidate wishes to stand for Group A and Group B a separate nomination form is required for each group.

3. Candidates may submit a 400-word statement in support of their candidacy that will be distributed to Council on Saturday 26 October. The statement must be received by the Federation by the close of nominations and should be sent by email to [email protected]. The 400-word statement file should be in 11-point Arial.

4. Elections to determine the order of offers of position will be conducted at the Council meeting on Saturday 26 October.

5. Prior to the conduct of the election all candidates are required to be interviewed by the Branch Professional Officers Committee.

6. Candidates proceeding to election will have two minutes to address Council. However, in the event that a candidate cannot attend Council on the day, the candidate should inform the General Secretary and their speech will be read out by an association representative on Council.

7. Assistance may be provided for candidates from the country to attend. If you are not a Councillor and need assistance, please contact Nicole Calnan, Deputy Secretary (Communications and Administration).

Procedures for organising relief

1. The General Secretary is to assess the need for the filling of any Officer position or Officer positions; consider the experience and requirements of the position(s); and be mindful in regard to the overall cost to the Federation in the provision of relief.

2. Expressions of Interest will be sought from Relief Officers in both groupings. Relief Officers should indicate their interest and availability for service in country and/or city areas as well as their expertise and experience relevant to the work of Professional Officers. This will be taken into account when offers of work are made.

3. The Federation will also take steps to offer opportunities to work in relieving capacities to all substantive Professional Officers prior to advertising such vacancies to Relief Officers. This is to ensure that elected Professional Officers have an opportunity to gain experience working in other positions.

4. The Department of Education has certain limitations in providing release from schools. These are:

a. Release can only be for discrete term(s);
b. Teachers of year 12 classes may not be released until year 12 teaching obligations are completed

Candidates should keep these restrictions in mind when standing for election.

5. Conditions of employment are the same as for Professional Officers of the union. Where necessary, additional allowances are available in order to pay costs such as “living away from home” expenses. It should also be noted that Relief Officers could be asked to relieve in a wide range of positions within the union. Election as a Relief Officer does not guarantee that all of those elected will receive an offer to relieve.

Inquiries should be addressed to Nicole Calnan, Deputy Secretary (Communications and Administration).

Nomination form