Marketing lecturer Geoffrey Fripp is pursuing more than $526,000 in damages
A Sydney university lecturer says he was told he was too old to be promoted, underpaid hundreds of thousands of dollars and forced to sleep in his car.
In his federal court lawsuit, Geoffrey Fripp accuses the University of Sydney of age, sex and disability discrimination as well as breaches of employment law.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Organiser says income from gas company was tied to deal and ‘we are now searching for a new sponsor’
Organisers of a nationwide schools science roadshow say they have dropped gas company Santos as its main sponsor after a senior climate scientist said the fossil fuel funding was inappropriate.
The Science Schools Foundation, which runs the Santos Science Experience, told Guardian Australia its board had decided not to renew the gas company as its naming rights sponsor for next year.
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Continue reading...MP Grace Grace says schools should be ‘supportive environments’, after Livingstone Christian College principal’s investigation
Queensland’s education minister, Grace Grace, says she is considering beefing up the powers of the independent schools’ regulator, to ensure students outside the state system are “protected and supported”.
On Monday, Guardian Australia revealed the principal of a Gold Coast school, Livingstone Christian College, interviewed several students amid an investigation into whether a teacher had told them she lived with her boyfriend.
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Continue reading...Exclusive: Principal of Livingstone Christian college said investigation was sparked by a parent’s concern over ‘biblical moral standards’
The principal of a Queensland religious school interrogated students about whether they knew a teacher was living with her boyfriend, amid concerns the teacher’s “lifestyle” went against its “biblical moral standards”.
Guardian Australia has seen emails and other information confirming that the principal of Livingstone Christian college, Stephen Wilson, launched an investigation into an allegation the teacher had breached her contract by telling a class that she was unmarried and lived with her partner.
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Continue reading...Delia Falconer and Nikki Gemmell latest writers to find out their works were selected for the HSC – after the exams
When roughly 60,000 year 12 students sit down to do their final English exam in New South Wales each year, they have no idea what texts they’ll be asked to analyse.
Likewise, the authors of those texts are neither asked nor warned by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) – an increasingly controversial policy as students sometimes take to social media to vent their post-exam frustration directly at them.
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Continue reading...Department of Education figures show permanent vacancies were far higher than reported in June 2021
The number of permanent teacher vacancies in New South Wales surged past 2,000 in July, with some schools looking for more than a dozen new staff amid an ongoing stoush between the union and the government over pay and conditions.
Department of Education figures from July, which were contained in a briefing to the state’s education minister, Sarah Mitchell, and seen by Guardian Australia, revealed two schools had up to 14 full-time-equivalent roles vacant.
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Continue reading...Figures show there is one counsellor for every 650 students, despite inquiry recommending ratio of 1:500
A dire shortage of school counsellors means New South Wales students are going without disability assessments and early interventions as staff scramble to triage the most serious cases, including suicide risks, sexual assaults and teen pregnancies.
Department of Education figures obtained by Guardian Australia reveal there was one counsellor for every 650 students across the state in August, not accounting for staff on uncovered leave – meaning the reality was far worse.
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Continue reading...Expert says it’s vital to change how student absences are recorded to better track school refusal
Teachers across New South Wales will learn to deal with families struggling with school refusal, with about a third of students in years 1 to 10 missing more than 90% of classes over the course of a semester last year.
But an expert on the problem said it is vital that all states and territories change how student absences are recorded to better track school refusal.
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Continue reading...The Nationals want to get back to their roots – the regions.
The country party are launching a “regional listening tour” to find out what is affecting people in the country.
Migration is not the only solution to the challenges our regions are up against,” Littleproud said.
We need to look at what can be done now to help those Australians that are already in town.
We know distance is one of the greatest barriers to opportunity. So we’re coming to your town to create this opportunity to share your concerns and help us come up with the solutions.
For example, would a Regional University Centre stop our children from leaving town? Or could paying their HELP debts be the incentive they need to stay where we need them?
Continue reading...Researchers and Greens raise concerns about ‘national interest test’ introduced by Coalition which Labor has signalled will remain
The Australian Research Council, the national body responsible for administering non-medical research funding, will be reformed in a development welcomed by the research community after grant delays and longstanding accusations of political interference.
The federal education minister, Jason Clare, announced on Tuesday a review of the agency, which administers around $800m in funding each year to Australian researchers.
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Continue reading...Academic says companies ‘squealing’ to government about worker skill shortage are contributing to it
Businesses have demanded governments invest more in skills training even as they reduce such spending themselves, leaving Australia reliant on skilled migrants to avoid falling further behind comparable nations, academics and unions say.
The assessment, made public days before the jobs and skills summit in Canberra, comes as the federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, released draft legislation on Monday that would give $1.5bn in tax incentives for small businesses to lift the skills of employees.
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Continue reading...Education minister Sarah Mitchell tells budget estimates that ‘no harm was posed’ by the 17 August find at Sydney school
A radioactive rock that was found at a Sydney high school did not pose a danger to students or staff, the New South Wales education minister, Sarah Mitchell, has told a budget estimates hearing.
Mitchell was questioned on Tuesday about the radioactive substance that was found at Randwick Girls High in Sydney’s east on 17 August.
Continue reading...Proposed plan will tackle workload, pay structures and attracting and retaining teachers, but does not address increased school funding
Education ministers have agreed to a national plan to consider better pathways into teaching, new pay structures and a decreased workload as means to combat the teacher shortage.
After a meeting in Canberra on Friday, state and territory ministers said the new federal education minister, Jason Clare, offered a “breath of fresh air”, but the commonwealth remained tight-lipped about increasing schools funding.
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Continue reading...Amayah and Safhira Rowe say hair requirement of Highview College in Maryborough causes them pain
Two secondary students have complained to the Australian Human Rights Commission after being suspended from a private regional Victorian school over “disgusting” uniform requirements.
Year 10 and 11 students Safhira and Amayah Rowe were sent home from Highview College in Maryborough on Tuesday after refusing to wear their hair tied back – a school policy – because they said it caused them pain. They both wear their African hair in braids.
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Continue reading...Victorian students aged eight and over are being urged to wear masks when indoors to help counter the Covid-19 surge.
The request comes in a joint letter from the state education department and independent and Catholic schools.
I respect the fact that people on the crossbench were elected to deliver action on climate change and our government wants to work with them to do just that.
That’s why one of the very first acts of the new government will be to legislate that higher ambition. They want more than the 43% that Labor is offering though.
While masks remain optional in schools nationwide, authorities in several Australian states have strengthened requests for action
The Victorian education department and independent schools have written a letter to parents urging students over the age of eight to wear masks at school.
While masks are not currently mandated for general student populations anywhere in Australia, a letter signed by the heads of the Victorian government, Catholic and independent schools sectors asks students aged eight and over to wear masks during class and if travelling on public transport. The state opposition has seized on the recommendation, labelling it a “mandate by stealth”.
Continue reading...Nation records 60 Covid deaths; SA records first monkeypox case; Anthony Albanese meets Justin Trudeau at Nato summit. This blog is now closed
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has renewed his calls for China to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, declaring that Vladimir Putin “has made a strategic mistake because what his actions have done is unite the democratic world”.
Albanese – who has been in Madrid for a Nato summit – spoke to reporters yesterday after having a meeting on the sidelines with the leaders of Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
There we discussed the important focus of this Nato’s summit on the Asia-Pacific region. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has solidified the support amongst democratic countries for the rules-based international order and a determination to continue to provide support to the government and the people of Ukraine who are suffering as a result of this breach of international law and this brutal invasion by Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Vladimir Putin has made a strategic mistake because what his actions have done is unite the democratic world and provide a real determination to make sure that the resilience being shown by the Ukrainian people is backed up by resilience and support from democratic countries, including Nato, but also countries throughout the world.
Well, what we saw is prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we saw a without-limits partnership between Russia and China. We’ve seen a failure of China to condemn any of the Russian aggression that has occurred against Ukraine. China must look at what is happening and look at the resolve that is there from throughout the world and should be condemning Russia’s actions.
Continue reading...Hollie Hughes told a Sydney Institute forum parents need to ‘turn the internet off’ as she gave reasons for the party’s election defeat
The education minister has blasted Senator Hollie Hughes for “crazy” comments blaming the Liberals’ low youth vote on “Marxist” teachers.
On Sunday Labor’s Jason Clare responded to the remarks, made by the New South Wales senator at a Sydney Institute federal election postmortem on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Dominic Perrottet called on to halt Barilaro appointment pending inquiry; at least 63 Covid deaths recorded nationwide. This blog is now closed
NSW teacher strike ‘about politics, not pay’, Kean says
Matt Kean has hit out at plans by public and Catholic school teachers to strike next Friday after receiving a 3% pay rise offer, well below the rate of inflation.
Our 3% pay increase is far more than the Labor government’s 1.5% pay increase for public servants down in Victoria.
So the same unions complaining about our generous pay rise up here in NSW and protesting aren’t marching in the streets down in Victoria.
A senior woman, a senior public servant with knowledge of financial markets and trade particularly with the United States was offered the job, it was rescinded by the New South Wales government.
We don’t know by whom. And then John Barilaro mysteriously was given it just last week.
Continue reading...Pressure grows on state government to increase public sector salaries to meet cost of living
Record health funding promised in the Queensland budget is meaningless without a wages policy that attracts essential workers and keeps pace with cost of living increases, unions say.
Michael Clifford, the general secretary of the Queensland Council of Unions, said the 2022 budget surplus should be channelled into a fair pay increase for public sector workers after years of stagnant wages.
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