Every teacher knows this reality: it’s 3.30pm, students have left and you face a mountain of work that can’t be done in the time available. Reports, parent emails, data entry, compliance requirements. And somewhere in there, the actual work of teaching: the planning and reflection that makes great education possible.
This is not sustainable.
Federation is preparing a campaign to secure two additional hours of release time per week for all teachers. This was recommended by the Gallop Inquiry years ago and it remains unfinished business. The response to our recent member survey has confirmed how urgent this fight has become.
You told us about the impossible juggle between teaching excellence and administrative burden. About the toll on wellbeing and families. About workload that cannot continue. Your voices have given us the evidence base we need. Now comes the hard work of winning what teachers deserve.
Teaching complexity has exploded while our time hasn’t increased. We differentiate learning for diverse classrooms, implement trauma-informed practices, manage complex wellbeing needs and navigate endless compliance — all while maintaining excellent teaching.
Local Schools, Local Decisions worsened this by shifting administrative burdens onto schools. While the Minns Government has committed to winding back this failed policy, the legacy remains. Teachers still drown in work that keeps them from teaching.
Two hours of additional release time won’t solve every problem, but it will give us what we desperately need: teacher-determined time to do our jobs properly. Time to plan engaging lessons. Time to provide meaningful feedback to students. Time to collaborate with colleagues. Time to actually meet the needs of the young people in our care.
This is also about retention. We’re losing teachers because workload is unsustainable. Early career teachers leave before they flourish. Experienced teachers burn out. To attract the next generation, we must show that teaching in NSW is sustainable and properly supported. Additional release time makes that promise real.
The pathway runs through expanding staffing entitlements. The bilateral agreement provides a legislated path to 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard. This funding — combined with converting flexible funding into permanent staffing entitlements — is our opportunity to secure the permanent teachers necessary for two hours additional release time.
This requires system-wide guarantees, not school-by-school decisions. Every teacher in every school deserves this time. It must be regulated from the centre and provided as a system guarantee, not left to schools to figure out from flexible funding buckets.
But this won’t happen automatically. It requires a united, strategic campaign and every member being ready to stand together.
Your survey responses will inform every stage of this campaign. They’ll strengthen our negotiations, shape our advocacy and demonstrate this is a mainstream necessity backed by evidence.
We’ll develop campaign materials, hold member forums and build alliances with parents and communities who understand that teacher wellbeing impacts student learning. When teachers have time to plan and collaborate, students benefit. This is about teacher working conditions and education quality.
The Gallop Inquiry recommended this years ago. The workload crisis has intensified. The complexity has increased. The retention challenge has deepened.
It’s time to finish this business. It’s time to win the conditions that let teachers teach and students learn.
The campaign for two hours of additional release time is a fight for the future of teaching in NSW. And it’s a campaign we can win.