5.0 Schools and TAFE as safe workplaces
Public education and training must provide quality education and training in safe and supportive environments. Schools and TAFE sites are workplaces, therefore the Department of Education and the Department of Youth Justice, Employment, Small Business and Training hold a primary duty of care for all their employees in these workplaces. As such, they must ensure that the physical and psychosocial safety of teachers, school leaders and students is prioritised and that appropriate funding and resourcing are provided so that all employees and students are safe.
Every Queensland child has a right to a supportive education and all students and teachers have the right to expect that disruptions will be minimised so that teaching and learning is maximised. The QTU therefore asserts that, not only should additional positive learning centres be built for at-risk students, but funding for youth detention centres and alternative education programs must be increased. This funding must also include additional positive behaviour management specialists, behaviour advisory visiting teachers (AVTs) and social workers to achieve this goal.
5.1 Safety
At the time of writing, the Department of Education was in the process of consulting around the draft Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy. The strategy is meant to align to the department’s overall strategic plan and its commitment to equity and excellence in education. Its purpose is to ensure the prioritisation and promotion of health, safety and wellbeing within workplaces, so that safe places are created for everyone to work, learn and play. The initiatives and actions falling out of this strategy must be fully funded and resourced.
The strategy is still in its draft stage, however the QTU asserts that the following matters should be prioritised and funded.
- The development of incident reporting infrastructure that is fit for purpose and can be easily accessed and used to report on hazards, incidents and near misses.
- All workplaces (schools and TAFE) must have a treasury-funded workplace health and safety officer position, and such officers should at least hold a Certificate IV in Work Health and Safety.
- All workplaces must have workplace health and safety committees and all representatives on safety committees must receive appropriate training, with the cost of training and support being centrally funded by Treasury.
- All health and safety representatives (HSRs) must be allocated appropriate levels of release time, reflecting the requirements of the specific site.
- The role and expertise of HSRs must be valued and the election of varying work groups within specific sites should be supported and promoted.
5.2 Occupational violence
The Department of Education has declared a zero-tolerance stance towards occupational violence, and the QTU therefore calls on the Queensland Government to commit to allocating funds from Treasury to ensure that this commitment is achieved. The Department of Education needs to place a greater emphasis on prevention of occupational violence. To deliver on this, the department must meet its legal obligation to ensure all regional directors, school supervisors, regional safety advisors, school leaders and WHS committee members have the requisite information, training, and instruction to eliminate or significantly mitigate the risk of occupational violence occurring. Given the alarming and increasing levels of occupational violence against school leaders and teachers, the Queensland Government needs to raise public awareness of specific criminal offence provisions in relation to violence against staff in schools. In addition, behavioural AVTs and advisors should be made available across the board to ensure efficient access as the need arises.
5.3 Gendered violence
Sexual and physical harassment, verbal threats and assaults, and/or demeaning comments are some of the forms of gendered violence that educators and students experience in schools and TAFEs. Gendered violence impacts upon the health, physical and psychosocial safety of both staff and students, as well as upon the educational outcomes of students. Non-gender conforming people and women are far more likely to experience gendered violence.
In last year’s State Budget Submission, the QTU provided data from a QTU survey of its members (Expect Respect Survey) that examined the extent of such violence in state schools and TAFE campuses, including harassment experienced and witnessed. 32 per cent of respondents to the survey had experience gendered
violence, and many responders identified significant barriers to reporting gendered violence, including a lack of information regarding processes, a view that no action would be taken, and concerns that there would be repercussions. These barriers prevent employees from being safe in their workplace and, in some cases, allow incidents of these types to continue in workplaces.
The QTU calls on the Queensland Government to allocate funds to enable the Department of Education and Department of Youth Justice, Employment, Small Business and Training to reduce the barriers to reporting, which would allow the necessary collection of data to facilitate a thorough investigation into the prevalence of gendered violence in schools and TAFE campuses. Further to this, the QTU calls on the Department of
Education and Department of Employment, Small Business and Training to provide appropriate training for employees and students, as well as resources to support victims of gendered violence.
5.4 Positive learning centres, youth detention centres and alternative learning programs
The experience of teachers and education leaders in managing complex student and family matters highlights the need for alternative education programs such as positive learning centres. The provision of wrap-around services by whole-of-government and non-government organisations in the support of young people and their families in these centres is desperately needed. Specific Department of Education-run
positive learning centres provide alternative educational programs that are tailored to individual students’ learning needs and support young people and their families in achieving educational and other goals, including those related to heath, justice, developing maintaining relationships and vocational training. The
QTU calls on the Queensland Government to open additional positive learning centres to support student behaviour, cater to student need and support safe workplaces.
The state government has announced the opening of additional youth detention centres in Queensland. Youth detention centres provide a unique service delivery of education and deliver a range of education, vocational and rehabilitative programs. The QTU calls on the state government to ensure that youth detention centres are resourced to enable appropriate staffing ratios and the capital facilities required in modern education environments. This resourcing needs to be fully funded by Treasury.
Schools often develop education programs to support students with needs that require significant additional resourcing and support. These programs, such as programs to support students who are parenting teenagers, those that support the retention of First Nations students to complete high school, or bespoke programs that involve breakfast programs or school/home pick-up/drop-off bus services, do not receive any additional funds for the students involved. As such, an extraordinary amount of time is spent securing other funding sources to allow the programs to continue. These programs involve additional costs, including youth workers, childcare programs, fit-for-purpose premises or equipment, and funding for breakfast programs, for example. The state government must fully fund these alternative learning programs, which provide education opportunities and safe learning opportunities to the most vulnerable in our state.
5.5. Provide funding for the professional development of teachers and education leaders in respectful relationships education
To ensure that respectful relationships and consent education is delivered with understanding and fidelity, those providing the courses need to be equipped and trained to manage the complexities of delivering such education to students. Respectful relationships and sex education should be inclusive of all sexualities
and not be heteronormative. Therefore, it is essential that educators who deliver respectful relationships and consent education are provided with appropriate centrally-funded training.
5.6 Health and safety in a post COVID-19 world
The Department of Education and the Department of Youth Justice, Employment, Small Business and Training must commit to genuine, ongoing and long-term investment in monitoring air quality and control measures across Queensland’s state schools and TAFE sites. Good indoor air quality and effective ventilation
helps to stop infectious particles circulating in the air, therefore minimising the spread of disease, not just COVID-19 but other respiratory diseases as well. Research has shown that air quality and ventilation were key to minimising the contagion (Piscitelli, P. et al. 2022). QTU members worked tirelessly during the pandemic to deliver quality education. Many members have contracted COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and as front-line workers, many will have contracted the disease in their work settings.
The QTU calls on the Queensland Government through Treasury to fund genuine, ongoing and long-term investment in monitoring air quality and control measures across Queensland’s state schools and TAFE sites.
5.7 Sick leave issues
The QTU believes that the current allocation of funds for the Teacher Relief Scheme (TRS) is no longer fit for purpose. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted issues with the current TRS scheme – with many staff using up large portions of accrued sick and carers leave during the pandemic – and an understanding of the importance of not reporting to work with any potentially infectious illness.
While teachers accrue sick leave at ten days per annum, funding of schools for teacher absences for illness are currently calculated based on the following.
- Primary classroom teacher (including non-contact time): 6.7 days per year per eligible teacher, rounded to one decimal place, multiplied by the appropriate TRS daily rate.
- Secondary classroom teacher: 2.8 days per year per eligible teacher, rounded to one decimal place, multiplied by the appropriate TRS daily rate.
- Students with disabilities classroom teacher: 5.1 days per year per eligible teacher, rounded to one decimal place, multiplied by the appropriate TRS daily rate.
The QTU calls on the state government to provide centrally funded TRS at the full rate per teacher of 10 days per year of sick leave per eligible teacher, multiplied at the appropriate TRS daily rate.
5.8 Reinstate funding for LGBTIQ+ programs, training, and visibility initiatives
Despite the development of inclusive legislation, policies and action plans, LGBTIQ+ members frequently report facing homophobia and discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The benefits of LGBTIQ+ inclusion were recognised in the Queensland Public Sector LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Strategy (Public Service Commission, 2017). However, in the revised strategy, LGBTIQ+ related issues were scarcely mentioned and were not listed as a key diversity target measure.
However, the newly created Queensland Public Sector LGBTIQ+ Action Plan (2023-2025) calls for a focus on six core objectives and relevant actions:
- Support and foster respectful and inclusive cultures where all employees feel safe, valued, accepted and supported, and can participate equally – creating workplaces free from unlawful discrimination.
- Improve the knowledge base for LGBTIQ+ workforce issues in the Queensland public sector.
- Continue to raise awareness and improve understanding in the workplace about the LGBTIQ+ community.
- Build sector leaders’ capability to fulfill their obligation to promote, support and progress equity and diversity and their responsibility to promote and support a culture of respect and inclusion in their organisation under the Act.
- Embed a human-centred approach to HR policy and practice and build capabilities of employees to ensure workplaces are accessible, safe, and consider the interconnections of a person’s identity and circumstances.
- Reduce the incidents of sexual harassment and workplace bullying experienced and witnessed in the workplace by LGBTIQ+ and gender diverse employees [Queensland Public Sector LGBTIQ+ Action Plan 2023-2025]
The Department of Education may have been recognised as a leader in the public service for its support of LGBTIQ+ employees (AWEI 2022), however in 2023, visibility initiatives have declined in line with reportable public sector diversity measures.
To ensure the objectives and relevant actions outlined in the Queensland Public Sector LGBTIQ+ Action Plan 2023-2025 are met, the QTU calls for greater funding to be provided to the Inclusion and Diversity branch of the Department of Education. This would ensure that the current DoE Proud@Work strategy not only remains, but is valued, funded, and expanded upon.
The rainbow liaison officer program currently offered within the Proud at Work strategy offers quality training and connects schools with rainbow liaison officers (RLOs), who are departmental employees who can assist with staff training. Typically, RLOs are classroom teachers. However, the RLO positions are voluntary, and RLO duties are carried out in addition to their existing duties. The QTU calls on the state government to provide funding, either to provide release time from existing duties to enable the RLO work to be done, or
for paid roles to be created for RLOs in each region. This is particularly necessary in regional and remote areas, where RLOs report having to travel long distances and work in their own time to complete their RLO duties.
The professional development that the Department of Education offers to school staff via external provider True Relationships and Reproductive Health, is high quality and should continue to be rolled out to ensure the Department of Education can offer face-to-face capability training to school supervisors, principal advisors, senior guidance officers, school leaders, HR representatives and teachers.
Additionally, the QTU calls on the state government to increase this funding, to ensure that more staff in more schools are equipped to support students with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, or intersex variations. Bullying and sexual harassment by students can be reduced by ensuring that respectful relationships and sex education is inclusive of all sexualities and not exclusive to heteronormative relationships. This requires a commitment by the government to reinstate the funding of True Relationships and Reproductive Health Education Officers who have previously delivered the respectful relationships curriculum, or additional funding for specialist itinerant teachers or additional training for existing staff to deliver the program inclusive of LGBTIQ+ subject matter.
Providing additional support for LGBTIQ+ identifying students’ needs to be a priority. Additional funding should be provided to ensure the “We All Belong” program is expanded, with a focus on increasing LGBTIQ+ student inclusion initiatives.
The Department of Education is not required under the Public Service Act to track data on employees with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or intersex variations. This is in contrast to the other diversity target groups specifically highlighted under the legislation. While additional groups can be considered, the Department of Education has chosen not to do so, despite being recognised in the AWEI awards. Additionally, numerous state government departments, including the Department of Education, have refused to contribute funds to the nationally recognised research project run by the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, “Writing Themselves In 4”. The centre has conducted large studies on LGBTIQ+ wellbeing and inclusion, and with further funding could provide a Queensland context. Specific reports have been funded and developed for New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. State-specific data would have been valuable in developing education policy in Queensland.
Failure to collect and support significant research projects on LGBTIQ+ employees and students sends the message that these communities are not valued.
Increasingly, both public service agencies and private enterprise are providing employees with paid gender affirmation leave. The QTU asserts that this should be introduced across the public sector and that, at a minimum, individuals should have access to up to 20 days paid gender affirmation leave and up to 12 months’ unpaid gender affirmation leave. Employees should also be able to request additional paid gender affirmation leave, which may be granted on a discretionary and case by case basis in exceptional circumstances.
Paid leave may be taken for:
(a) psychological support
(b) hormone replacement therapy and other types of medical intervention
(c) appointments to alter the employee’s legal status or amend the employee’s gender on legal documentation
d) other similar appointments or procedures to give effect to the employee’s transition.
RECOMMENDATIONS
33. Establish and fund a new school resourcing model that supports the increasing complexity of school community needs and the associated demands of increasingly diverse school contexts and prioritises safety and wellbeing.
34. Provide funding for any of the initiatives and actions falling out of a health, safety and wellbeing strategy developed by the Department of Education.
35. Deliver a fit for purpose WHS incident reporting system that workers can access from home.
36. Provide a Treasury funded work health and safety officer allocation to every department work site and ensure that such officers are trained to the level of at least a Certificate IV Work Health and Safety.
37. Ensure that all workplaces have a functioning WHS committee and that all members are appropriately trained to undertake the work of the committee.
38. Promote the role of elected health and safety representatives in workplace consultation and fund training, as well as appropriate levels of release time, reflecting the requirements of the specific site.
39. Develop and deliver occupational violence training for and to all regional leaders and school leaders and employees with designated WHS roles.
40. Provide adequate funding to investigate and prevent gendered violence, including funding to eliminate the barriers to employees reporting gendered violence and leadership training in responding to allegations of workplace sexual harassment.
41. Prioritise support mechanisms for workplace health and safety, including prevention of occupational violence and harassment, both online and in workplaces, for staff and students.
42. Deliver ongoing funding for schools to support the rights of teachers, principals, and students in relation to gender equity.
43. Provide funding over the forward estimates for the establishment of additional positive learning centres across the state for students across all year levels, considering their geographical location to ensure rural and remote locations are included.
44. Provide funding to ensure that youth detention centres are resourced so that there are appropriate staffing ratios and capital facilities for modern education environments.
45. Provide funding to support alternative learning programs that support at-risk students to continue their education.
46. Provide funding to enable teachers and education leaders to undertake professional development in respectful relationships education.
47.Commit to genuine, ongoing and long-term investment in monitoring air quality and control measures across Queensland’s state schools and training centres.
48. Provide schools under the Teacher Relief Scheme with the full rate per teacher of 10 days per year of sick leave per eligible teacher, multiplied at the appropriate TRS daily rate.
49. Provide funding for ongoing support of LGBTIQ+ employees and students via expansion of Proud@Work, an expansion of TRUE Relationships programs, and provision for fully-funded rainbow liaison officer roles in every region.
QTU State Budget Submission 2024-25