Fair Work Commission ratifies increase in ECT award pay rates

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has confirmed its decision to increase the Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020 pay rates in response to an eight year long action by the Independent Education Union (IEU) of Australia’s NSW/ACT Branch.

The action brought by the the IEU consisted of two applications with the first requesting an “equal remuneration” request that highlighted a gender related undervaluation of the teacher workforce and the second based on the work value of teachers employed under the award. 

On 19 April 2021, the FWC released its determination in which it rejected the first application but accepted the second resulting in around 12,000 teachers across 8,000 long day care centres expected to benefit from a new pay structure that will deliver pay rises of up to 13 per cent over and above current pay rates.

Wage increases to “properly reflect the work value of teachers”

In the FWC’s most recent notice it confirmed that two variations to the remuneration structure in the Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020 would be justified and would properly reflect the work value of teachers covered by the Award. 

The first is a rebasing of salaries higher under a new classification structure that recognises five levels of pay, as opposed to the previous twelve, with the new rates to be applied as follows:

The new rates of pay reflect increases of between 3.3 per cent and 13.6 per cent depending on the Level and setting of the early childhood teacher (ECT) in question.

The second change is the introduction of a new allowance for early childhood teachers appointed to the statutory role of Educational Leader in a service of $3,845.14 per annum which is received on top of their Award pay rates and can be prorated across roles that share the responsibility. 

Both of these changes will come into effect on 1 January 2022. 

To read the final decision please click here.