Schools CRT agency rates set to increase
Recently, much of the focus has been on negotiations for the next Schools Agreement and the subsequent changes to the Ministerial Order, which governs CRT rates of pay.
But there are also changes to the Educational Services (Teachers) Award (ESTA). These affect any CRTs employed by agencies, as their rate of pay is determined by the Award, not the Ministerial Order.
The ESTA update occurred following a claim made by the Independent Education Union Vic Tas (IEU) to increase early childhood (EC) workers’ pay. This claim centred on the argument that the value of the work they were undertaking deserved a higher rate of pay.
As EC workers are covered by the same Award as agency-employed CRTs, the Fair Work Commission determination affects CRT rates.
AEU members should ask their agency to clarify what level they are on and compare this with your actual service history. A full year of service for a casual is 200 days of CRT work, or service completed as a fixed term or ongoing employee in Australian schools.
These changes apply from 1 January 2022. Check the table below and contact MSC if you have any queries.
| Classification | Criteria |
| Level 1 | Graduate teacher and all other teachers including those holding provisional or Permission to Teach registration |
| Level 2 | Teacher with Full registration |
| Level 3 | Teacher with Full registration after 3 years’ satisfactory teaching service at Level 2 |
| Level 4 | Teacher with Full registration after 3 years’ satisfactory teaching service at Level 3 |
| Level 5 | Teacher with Highly Accomplished / Lead Teacher accreditation / registration or equivalent |
