Your work: highlights from survey

A compelling majority of Federation members believe their work is more challenging and complex than ever but their pay does not reflect such a change, a Federation survey has revealed.

The online survey of 6435 Federation members, from across the state earlier this year, revealed 94 per cent of respondents felt the increasing complexity of their work was not matched by their level of remuneration.

Also, 71 per cent said the rate of change of teaching and learning initiatives, policies and administration systems was “too fast”, while 58 per cent said their workload was not manageable, with 70 per cent saying the administration load had increased “a lot” over the past 12 months and 22 per cent saying it had increased “a little”.

The research findings give momentum to the independent inquiry commissioned by Federation to examine the extent and complexity of changes to the nature of members’ work. “The profession is experiencing unprecedented changes in its work requiring a greater level of skills and a range of additional responsibilities,” Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos said.

The member survey, conducted by Insync Research, also found that 75 per cent of respondents believed teachers “are paid too little”, while 76 per cent stated the pay they received did not reflect their expertise, skills gained and responsibilities.

For hours worked, 47 per cent said they worked an average of more than 50 hours a week, including 21 per cent who said they worked between 46 to 50 hours a week and 13 per cent stated they worked 61 hours-plus.

Members were asked about resourcing of schools, with 36 per cent describing the setting they teach in as under- resourced and 6 per cent said their workplace was very under-resourced.

Fifty per cent of respondents said that their schools did not meet the needs of students with disabilities, with 70 per cent answering resources were not adequate for students with mental health or serious behavioural issues.

A total of 49 per cent of members said students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds were under- resourced.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, 34 per cent said student needs were not being met while 54 per cent thought resources at their school were adequate for this cohort.

Further, an online survey of adults across NSW found the general public strongly felt that teachers were paid too little, that their workload had increased over the past decade and their work was more complex.