Murray MP Helen Dalton (right) thanks Education Minister Prue Car for listening to her. Photo: Supplied.
Griffith public school teachers are set to receive a significant pay increase, after the NSW Government announced it would increase the incentives for those who choose to work in the Murrumbidgee region.
For more than a decade, the town has suffered from a chronic staff shortage at public schools, leading to students missing lessons. The Griffith Teachers Association said this was due to the fact that educators in surrounding towns such as Leeton and Darlington Point were offered better pay and conditions, because these towns were considered more remote and disadvantaged. The Association has pushed for reform for the past decade.
Independent MP for Murray Helen Dalton has been campaigning to improve Griffith teacher incentives since she was elected in 2019.
“For seven years I have been calling for increased pay for teachers in our region, and I’m pleased to see that the State Government has listened,” Ms Dalton said.
“From now on, teachers who choose to work in the seat of Murray will receive up to $8000 in rural and remote relocation assistance, a 50 per cent rental subsidy, and stamp duty relief of up to $10,000.
“These incentives will help our schools keep the great teachers that we already have, while also attracting new teachers to our region.”
Mrs Dalton and the NSW Teachers Federation had also campaigned for the town’s two main high schools to be de-merged and to revert back to their original names, Griffith and Wade High. This process has also been completed this year.
Wade High has finally received its old name back. Photo: Supplied.
Under the NSW Government’s priority scheme, teachers receive more pay and superior benefits for accepting jobs in schools considered to be in rural and remote locations that are difficult to staff. The more remote, the better the overall salary.
“Griffith is surrounded by schools offering incentives, in every direction – north, south, east and west – where teachers can get paid more money for doing the same job,” NSW Teachers Federation representative Bert Bertalli previously argued.
“We have teachers living in Griffith but working in Leeton and Darlington Point, where they can earn more. Griffith schools are now the most difficult to staff in all of NSW because they don’t offer incentives.”
On Tuesday (3 February), it was announced Griffith schools have been elevated from Level 2 to the higher Level 4 incentive status.
“That’s a major shift, and one of the biggest wins for teachers our region has ever seen,” Mrs Dalton said.
“That means our kids will get the best trained, and most enthusiastic teachers possible. This is a big win for the children of our region.”
The new incentives will be available to teachers at Beelbangera Public School, Binya Public School, Griffith East Public School, Griffith North Public School, Griffith Public School, Hanwood Public School, Kalinda School, Lake Wyangan Public School, Griffith High School, Wade High School, Tharbogang Public School, Yenda Public School and Yoogali Public School.
“As a former teacher myself, I know how important it is to give our children the best educations possible,” Mrs Dalton said.
“Too often teachers are taken for granted, even though this plays such an important role in our children’s lives.”
