The work of Education staff is critical, from school offices to behind the scenes at the Tasmanian Archives. A CPSU worksite visit to the Tasmanian Archives and Preservation team at Berriedale was certainly a learning experience.
The team are an amazing group of workers who are extremely interested in the future of pay and conditions for public sector workers, and like many of you, feel the pinch of the increasing CPI in Tasmania. The Public Sector Wages Agreement (PSUWA) sets the scene for over 100 Claims for public sector workers in Tasmania including a fair wage increase over the next 3 years, certainly not the 2.5% that the Premier has budgeted for.
The Tasmanian Archives team at Berriedale and Hobart are passionate about their critical work along with CPSU Delegate, David Bloomfield. David has seen firsthand the need for more support for their school administration colleagues.
The accurate recording and protecting of school records is imperative to the practice of sound archiving and preservation of important information. You may be aware that the Government has adopted the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Abuse and has implemented a Redress Scheme. It is for this reason, and many others, that the records legally required to be provided by schools will give evidence for victims, in this case, to make claims. There are many children’s records still held in schools that are overdue for transfer to the Tasmanian Archives.
Unfortunately, with many tasks added to their duties over the years and COVID causing significant workloads, our School Administration staff often aren’t allocated the time and resources to do this critical work. The CPSU advocates for School administration staff to be employed during the school holidays so they can undertake this vital work. There is potential for administrative staff who are available, to have much needed time over school holidays for this critical work, resulting in the important moving of records to the archives, and additional hours and income for this valued group of employees on school holidays.
Thanks to the amazing Tasmanian Archives team for showing solidarity with their School Administration colleagues.
