As we come to the end of the year, it’s a great time to reflect on what has been and what we hope will happen for the new year.

Our reflection on the year will be mixed but I hope for you it has been positive for you and your family.

As I reflect on my first year as AEU President, we have had our ups and downs too. None so more than the rollercoaster that was the TAFE legislation which passed through parliament last month.

I can’t be prouder of our team for the effort we put in to convince the Upper House independent MPs, that moving our workers to the Fair Work Agreement was the wrong thing to do. But as it turns out what we said didn’t matter – the government’s messaging was simply believed and the legislation passed, despite all the warning.

We secured strong wording from the government regarding current employees, but my concern is for the future of TAFE and those employed after July 1, 2022. I hope I’m wrong, but I fear for what this government has done to TAFE. We will be working hard to keep them accountable for their actions.

In the DoE sector, we saw some low-level actions take place with many schools walking out on time – a rarity in any school, with all the extra workload that has been put on us.

At the same time, we have been sitting with DoE representatives in negotiations for an improved Agreement, but have made little traction and have seen nothing on the table that our Executive body feel should be voted on.

We can see in NSW, what is happening with their negotiations, and we must prepare to stand up for Public Education if we are going to get this government to understand how serious we are.

For our ESP members, it will also be your turn in 2022 and we are putting together a survey now so we can get feedback from you as to what is important to our members and what we should be fighting for. This year I have seen so many issues with our ESP members not having access to what is rightfully theirs. We must continue to build our numbers and be a force in this sector, with more people on board, the louder our voice becomes.

I hope that during your reflection over the Christmas break you get the down time you deserve and find time to relax and be with family and/or friends. The students of Tasmania, their family and our community appreciate your efforts and behalf of the AEU, I would like to say that we do too and we will continue to fight for you in 2022!