Our Universities Matter

Better pay and conditions for casual and sessional academics

This year, NTEU will be negotiating a new Collective Agreement for staff at your university. A key aspect of these negotiations is to improve terms and conditions for casual academic staff.

In 2007, NTEU launched a national casual and sessional academic staff campaign, Smart Casuals and a separate website for casuals,www.unicasual.com.au

Thousands of casual and sessional academic staff participated in conferences and surveys, agreeing that their key concerns about university employment were:

• Underpayment and non-payment for work performed, especially marking.
• Lack of job security and a meaningful career path.
• Poor facilities and resources.
• Lack of status and inclusion as full members of the academy within their university.

To tackle these issues, casual and sessional academic members of NTEU developed a range of new Collective Bargaining claims, including:

• Payment for all duties performed and hours worked. Many casuals and sessionals reported performing significant unpaid and underpaid work, especially in relation to the marking of student assessment. Guaranteed payment for all work performed, including separate pay for marking, should be a basic entitlement.
• A significant improvement in casual/sessional academic pay. Improved overall pay rates for tutoring and lecturing, better superannuation and access to annual pay increments are crucial to ensuring a living wage for casuals.
• Limits on the extent of casual employment. Academic work should be casual when it is truly ‘casua’ in nature. When work is ongoing, employees should be able to access permanent or fixed term employment with better pay and job security.
• Access to more secure forms of employment and career development. Academic casuals deserve a real career path, including opportunities for experienced casuals to access promotion and ongoing employment.
• Improved facilities and inclusion in collegiate activities.Casual and sessional academic staff should be entitled to the same resources, facilities and collegial opportunities as other staff.