Temporary to permanent conversion trial
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 127 No 6, 12 August 2022, page no. 11
The QTU continues to hold the department to its responsibility to maximise permanent employment under both the certified agreement and the Public Service Act.
Since September of 2020, there have been two separate processes by which temporary teachers can convert to permanency after a minimum service period. The first is under the temporary to permanent conversion process, as outlined in the Memorandum of Agreement – Temporary State School Teachers and Instrumental Music Instructors (the MoA). The second process is underpinned by the Fixed Term Temporary Employment Directive (FTTE), which applies to the whole public service.
It is expected that the MoA process will be decommissioned when a new certified agreement is implemented, and the process as outlined in the FTTE will apply.
In preparation for this, and noting that the MoA process was slow and stressful for teachers against the backdrop of a teacher shortage, last term the department trialled a process through which temporary teachers who were eligible for conversion were offered permanency at their existing school.
This differed to the approach to offering permanency to converting teachers that the department has adopted for a number of years. Previously, some temporary teachers were converted at their existing school or in the same geographic area or region.
Other converting teachers based in the south-east corner have been made offers in one of the four outlying regions, thus requiring them to relocate to accept permanency. It has been “luck of the draw” for temporary teachers; if a substantive vacancy arose at their school, they’d receive it; otherwise, they might have been asked to re-locate. This inconsistent approach has been frustrating for converting members and a concern for the QTU.
In recent years, the number of teachers relocating from the south-east corner to the outer regions to secure permanency under the conversion process has become negligible. Given this, and their legislative obligations, the department has commenced the current trial.
Teachers who are made permanent in their current school locations, or “in situ”, are subject to the same transfer rules as all other permanent teachers. The department can require their transfer at any time, but the teachers have to serve the same three years in their first permanent school in order to have the right to request a transfer.
Converting teachers do not complete probation, as their eligible service is deemed meritorious. The result is that temporary teachers made permanent in situ may be required to transfer as early as the year after appointment.
The QTU is concerned that this process may limit the ability of already permanent teachers to transfer to preferred locations. We have raised this with the department and been assured that required transfers are increasingly utilised to support workforce mobility. Each region develops their own framework for required transfers.
The QTU has been assured by the DoE that school leaders who find their schools overstaffed as a result of this trial will be supported by regional HR. We have set up regular meetings with the DoE to troubleshoot issues and case-manage matters.
One welcome outcome of the trial is that converting teachers received their offer of permanency much earlier than usual. This grants both members and schools more certainty.
The DoE plans to extend the trial to those who were invited in Term 2.
The QTU has cautiously accepted the trial and will continue to work closely with the DoE on it. QTU Executive has indicated a preparedness to withdraw acceptance of the trial if the DoE’s assurances aren’t delivered.