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PALM ISLAND FINDINGS A "FARCE"
|
The Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions Leanne Clare finding that the death of
Palm Island resident Mulrunji Doomagee in November 2004 while in Police custody was a "terrible
accident", are a "farce" NTEU Indigenous Committee Chair Mr Terry Mason said. |
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NTEU WELCOMES DECISION ON LA TROBE REGIONAL CAMPUSES
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) welcomes the decision by the La Trobe
University Council to maintain a “sustainable presence” at each of its four
regional campuses at Bendigo, Albury-Wodonga, Mildura and Shepparton. |
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NTEU SUPPORTS MUCH NEEDED FOCUS ON ADVANCING WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN
UNIVERSITIES
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The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) welcomes the Government’s
commitment to provide $190,000 of matching funding to the Australian Vice Chancellors’
Committee (AVCC) Action Plan for Women Employed in Universities 2006-2010. |
|
RQF MODEL FLAWED AND IGNORES PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION TO DELAY
EXERCISE
|
The National Tertiary Education Union believes that the Federal Government’s
Research Quality Framework (RQF) model is flawed and that the decision to adopt it ignores a recent
report into science and innovation by the Productivity Commission that suggests delaying the
exercise pending a further investigation of its costs to universities. |
|
UNSW Mail Room Staff Latest Victims Of Corporate Agenda
|
Staff in the University of NSW Mail Room are the latest victims of management
cost-cutting and corporatisation at the University of New South Wales. Mail services, including
internal mail and courier services, overseas mail and domestic courier services were on Wednesday
put out for tender via an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald (1 November, 2006, p28). |
|
PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION STUDY FINDS SUBSTANTIAL BENEFITS FROM PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR SCIENCE
AND INNOVAT
|
NTEU supports the central findings of the Productivity Commission’s draft
report into Public Support for Science and Innovation, particularly the recognition of clear and
significant social, economic and environmental benefits from the Government’s investment in
science and innovation. |
|
ACADEMIC FREEDOM UNDER THREAT FROM ‘WAR ON TERROR’ AND GOVERNMENT
INTERFERENCE
|
Academic freedom, a fundamental feature of our universities and a key part of their
domestic and international reputation, is under threat by increased Federal Government interference
in university affairs and Australia’s reaction to the ‘war on terror’,
the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) said on Thursday. |
|
UNIVERSITY OF BALLARAT REWARDED FOR FOLLOWING GOVERNMENT AGENDA ON AWAs
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) is disappointed that the University of
Ballarat has been ‘rewarded’ with a grant of $3.1 million from the
Government’s Workplace Productivity Program for following the Howard Government’s
agenda of aggressively offering AWAs to staff in early 2006. |
|
UNSW MANAGEMENT THREATENS FREE SPEECH ON JOB CUTS
|
Management at the University of NSW have threatened unionists tonight, who are planning
to distribute leaflets to visitors attending the UNSW Courses and Careers Day event on Saturday,
September 2.
|
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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO BLAME FOR RMIT JOB LOSSES
|
Seventy nine jobs being lost from the RMIT Union, as reported in The Age today, are a
direct result of the federal government’s Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) laws, NTEU RMIT
Branch President Jeanette Pierce said today. |
|
UNSW JOB CUTS
|
NTEU National Officers fully support today’s protest against the program of job
cuts recently announced by UNSW management. |
|
PETER GARRETT MP TO SPEAK AT UNSW PROTEST OVER STAFFING CUTS
|
Mr Peter Garrett, ALP Member for Kingsford Smith will address a protest rally at the
University of NSW tomorrow at lunchtime against the program of job cuts announced by new Vice
Chancellor, Prof Fred Hilmer. |
|
PROTEST ACTION OVER JOB CUTS AT UNSW
|
A lunchtime protest will take place from 12-1pm on the University of NSW Kensington
campus on Wednesday, August 30, against the program of job cuts announced on August 22 by University
Management. The resolution to hold protest action came unanimously out of a mass meeting of staff
called by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on Friday, August 25. |
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UNSW STAFF MEET TO PLAN ACTION ON JOB LOSSES
|
A mass meeting of NTEU members will take place on Friday August 25 at 12pm in Central
Lecture Block 4 (Building E19, Kensington Campus, UNSW) to plan a response to job cuts announced
this week. This will occur prior to NTEU representatives meeting with University management on
Friday afternoon at 3pm. |
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NTEU CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO PUT ITS MONEY WHERE ITS MOUTH IS
|
As students protest across the country today, the National Tertiary Education Union
(NTEU) reaffirms its support for strong and independent student organisations, and calls on the
Government to put its money where its mouth is, in regard to recent concerns expressed by the
Federal Education Minister about the need to preserve the broader aspects of the university
experience. |
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NTEU Sydney Branch campaign against divisive and unnecessary AWAs
|
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Sydney Uni the next IR battleground as management push AWAs onto 5500 staff
|
In a provocative move that has angered University staff and the National Tertiary
Education Union, Management at the University of Sydney have joined the Howard Government’s
ideological obsession with Australian Workplace Agreements by today launching an aggressive push of
Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) onto its 5500 staff. |
|
URGENT APPEAL FROM LEBANESE UNIONS
|
EI has issued an urgent action appeal in support of requests for humanitarian assistance
from two Lebanese teachers' unions. |
|
ABSTUDY REPORT SUPPORTS NTEU CLAIMS
|
The Federal Minister for Education Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop last week
released the final report of the Review into the impact of ABSTUDY policy changes that came into
effect in 2000. |
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ALP ANNOUNCES A NEW DIRECTION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY
|
The Opposition Deputy Leader and Shadow Minister for Education, Ms Jenny Macklin, today
released an ALP White Paper on Higher Education policy entitled Australia’s Universities:
Building our Future in the World. The Paper sets out principles underlying a new policy direction
and also provides a number of policy alternatives in specific areas such as student fees, student
income support, quality assurance and funding for universities. |
|
Minister launches Indigenous Higher Education Council Report
|
The Federal Minister for Education Science and Training, Hon Julie Bishop today launched
the Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council's (IHEAC) report 'Improving Indigenous
Outcomes and Enhancing Indigenous Culture and Knowledge in Australian Higher Education'. The
report also includes the outcomes of the IHEAC 2005 Conference titled, 'Education-led recovery
of Indigenous capacity: reshaping the policy agenda', and the IHEAC Strategic Plan
2006-2008. |
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NTEU demands public review about commercial activities at CQU
|
NTEU is aware that the CQU Council is shortly to discuss proposals about to alter the
relationship between the university and a large corporate operation. We think it is possible that
the changes will reduce the control that the university has over its degrees and will profit private
interests. |
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SPECIALISED UNIVERSITIES ARE NOT THE ANSWER
|
The Commonwealth’s push to introduce specialised universities is not the answer
to the challenges facing Australia’s higher education system and could lead to a reduction
in quality and student choice in our existing universities, the National Tertiary Education Union
(NTEU) warned on Friday. |
|
Ram-Raiders Steal UWS Library ATM as UWS Management Slash Security Staff
|
Thieves have early this morning driven a Four Wheel Drive into the Whitlam Library on
University of Western Sydney’s Parramatta campus, taking its ATM with them at the same time
as UWS management pursues a change proposal which would result in a 30 per cent reduction in
security staffing, citing lack of need. |
|
UNIVERSITY OF BALLARAT STAFF ACHIEVE NEW COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT
|
University of Ballarat staff have been finally rewarded for their long campaign with the
in-principle finalisation of a new collective Enterprise Agreement that includes major improvements
over the Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) offered by management in December 2005. |
|
LAW REFORM COMMISSION’S SEDITION RECOMMENDATIONS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on Tuesday welcomed the Australian Law
Reform Commission’s proposed changes to the Federal Government’s sedition laws as
a major step in the right direction, but remains concerned that the Commission has stopped short of
recommending that the laws be repealed altogether. |
|
SERIOUS HEALTH INCIDENTS IN RMIT BUILDING ARE A SIGNIFICANT CONCERN
|
The NTEU has called on RMIT University to ensure the health and safety of its staff
following reports that seven staff members working in a building at 239 Bourke St have been
diagnosed with brain tumours over the last seven years. |
|
INCREASING STUDENT DEBT NOT THE ANSWER TO PROFESSIONAL SKILLS SHORTAGES
|
The announcement in last night’s Budget to increase the cap on loans for local
fee-paying students to up to $100,000 will not fix the professional skills shortages facing
Australia and only leave students even further in debt, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)
said on Wednesday. |
|
NEW WORKPLACE REQUIREMENTS NO THREAT TO COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT MAKING
|
New Union Collective Agreements between the University of Western Australia and the
National Tertiary Education Union were signed yesterday and are expected to be lodged with the
Office of the Employment Advocate within 14 days. |
|
ONE-OFF INITIATIVES WELCOME BUT BUDGET MISSES THE OPPORTUNITY FOR LONG TERM INVESTMENT
IN UNIS
|
The one-off funding initiatives for universities in tomorrow night’s budget,
while welcome, appear to be at the expense of a more systematic and longer- term investment strategy
for higher education, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) said on Monday. |
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Union says CQU Council must act on the Audit Report
|
NTEU believes that a recent report on Central Queensland University needs urgent action
from the Council of the University. |
|
CSU Restructure Threatens Nursing School Survival
|
Charles Sturt University (CSU), one of NSW’s largest providers of tertiary
nursing programs proposes to remove the Schools of Nursing from within the usual Faculty academic
structure and “attach” them as separate bodies, referred to as
“Centres” headed by a “Director”. No other discipline in the
University, including other health disciplines, will be segregated in this way, and as a result,
Nursing at CSU will no longer have academic parity within a health multidisciplinary context. |
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NTEU CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO CLARIFY INCREASED TERROR MEASURES FOR UNIVERSITIES
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on Wednesday called on the Federal
Government to publicly release the details of any plan to bring universities and other tertiary
institutions under an expanded export control system aimed at curbing activities that may assist
terrorist groups in the development of weapons of mass destruction. |
|
STATEMENT ON ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ANDREW FRASER
|
The National Tertiary Education Union is not representing Associate Professor Andrew
Fraser in any proceedings arising from the March 31 finding of the Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission (HREOC), in relation to his statements in the Parramatta Sun in 2005. |
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NTEU SUPPORTS CALLS FOR GREATER ACTION ON STUDENT POVERTY
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) supports rallies taking place in a number
of metropolitan capital cities today calling for improvements to student income support. |
|
Union calls on Governments to protect James Cook University
|
NTEU is calling on the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments to provide scholarships
to North Queensland students in order to help James Cook University. |
|
Additional publicly funded uni places in health welcome
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) welcomes the Prime Minister’s
announcement on the weekend that the Government will increase the number of Federal
Government-supported places in medicine by 400 and nursing by 1000, from 2007. |
|
Labor policy on domestic full fee places on the right track – Government gets
its facts wrong
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) strongly supports Labor’s renewed
commitment to scrap full fee paying university places for Australian undergraduate students, and
believes the Federal Education Minister is misrepresenting the costs of this policy for
universities. |
|
SA Government’s plan for an ‘Education City’ must be
transparent
|
The South Australian Government’s plan to market Adelaide as an
‘international education city’, including reports it is encouraging two British
universities to establish campuses in the city, must be transparent and support and integrate the
State’s three existing public universities, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)
said on Thursday. |
|
No education, no work, and now no CDEP
|
The announcement by Federal Minister Kevin Andrews of changes to the Community
Development Employment Program (CDEP) represents a failure by this Government to provide education
incentives and real employment opportunities for remote and regional Indigenous Australians. |
|
GOVERNMENT AMENDMENTS THREATEN AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL’S INDEPENDENCE
|
Despite opposition from almost the entire higher education sector, the Government
yesterday introduced legislation that threatens the independence and transparency of the Australian
Research Council (ARC).
|
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Government should postpone the Research Quality Framework
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on Tuesday welcomed the Federal Education
Minister’s decision to undertake further consultation on its controversial Research Quality
Framework (RQF) but urged the Government to announce that it will postpone the framework’s
implementation to allow this to take place. |
|
MINISTER BISHOP MUST TAKE NOTE OF LESSONS FROM AXING OF UK RESEARCH ASSESSMENT
EXERCISE
|
News that the UK Government will scrap of the controversial Research Assessment Exercise
(RAE) for universities has clear lessons for Australia and our efforts to develop a similar
instrument, the National Tertiary Education Union said on Friday. |
|
NTEU Organiser elected first female President of South Coast Labour Council
|
Jo Kowalczyk, NTEU Branch Organiser at the Universityof Wollongong was yesterday
elected as President of the South Coast Labour Council. |
|
Position Vacant: Industrial Officer (Tas)
|
The Tasmanian Division of the NTEU seeks an Industrial Officer, based in Hobart. |
|
BUSINESS COUNCIL STANCE ON GRADUATE SKILLS ALL TALK AND NO ACTION
|
The Business Council of Australia’s recent criticisms that Australian
universities and TAFE institutions are turning out graduates that are not job ready is a case of all
talk and no action on the part of the peak body given Australian businesses’ poor record of
investment in research and development, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) said on
Tuesday. |
|
Eminent scientists sacrificed for UNSW budget bungle
|
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UTS rejects staff petitions for pre-WorkChoices Enterprise Agreement
|
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UK Higher Education Unions hold national strike today.
|
UK academic staff are striking today after their national employer body reneged on an
earlier deal to flow one-third of additional funds from fees into improved salaries. |
|
UNION ORGANISER and UNION INDUSTRIAL OFFICER Positions Vacant in QLD
|
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|
KERRY COX: THE LAST DESPERATE ACT OF A DESPERATE MAN
|
Outgoing University of Ballarat (UB) Vice-Chancellor Kerry Cox has made one last
desperate attempt to impose his ideological will on the University and its staff, seeking to
influence the outcome of the long-running dispute over enterprise bargaining even after he leaves
the University next Monday. |
|
NTEU INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY VINDICATED BY RELEASE OF UNI WORKPLACE REFORM FUNDING
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) welcomes the release of $147 million to
universities as part of the Federal Government’s higher education workplace reform funding,
and believes this is a strong vindication of the industrial strategy pursued by the Union over the
last eleven months. |
|
UNIVERSITY OF BALLARAT MISSES OUT ON $1.4 MILLION
|
The University of Ballarat has given up $1.4 million for an ideological obsession, by
failing to have a new collective agreement that complies with the government’s requirements
in place by 30 November last year. |
|
RIGHT DIAGNOSIS BUT THE TREATMENT COULD KILL THE PATIENT
|
The Centre for Independent Studies’ conclusion that the Federal
Government’s full fee paying loans system is not serving the interests of university
students is correct, but their recommendations for change, including allowing students to borrow up
to $160,000 for expensive courses, are not the solution, the National Tertiary Education Union
(NTEU) said on Monday. |
|
UNIVERSITY OF BALLARAT GIVES UNDERTAKING TO FEDERAL COURT TO ISSUE CLARIFIYING STATEMENT
OVER AWAs
|
The University of Ballarat has given an undertaking to the Federal Court that it will
issue a Clarifying Statement to all university staff, explaining the employment conditions that
staff will lose if they sign an AWA. |
|
UNSW Staff demonstrate their Work Choices
|
Staff at the University of NSW today launched on campus the start of their 2006
enterprise bargaining campaign ‘Our Rights at Work at UNSW – Worth Fighting
For’. Staff gathered on the Library Lawns whilst giant banners were unfurled from campus
buildings. |
|
NTEU SUPPORTS CLASS ACTION BY UNIVERSITY OF BALLARAT STAFF
|
The NTEU fully supports the class action being lodged in the Federal Court today by
University of Ballarat (UB) staff against their employer, for issuing misleading information to
persuade staff to sign an Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA). |
|
UNSPENT FUNDING REINFORCES NEED FOR ACTION TO REVERSE DECLINE IN INDIGENOUS STUDENTS
ATTENDING UNI
|
Information revealing that the Federal Government has spent 34% less than it has
budgeted to support Indigenous students in tertiary education over 2004-05, confirms research by the
National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) linking changes to ABSTUDY with serious declines in
Indigenous student enrolment in tertiary education. |
|
WorkersOut! Mardi Gras float
|
Volunteers and donations required for Workers Out! "Your Rights At Work" float
in Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras |
|
INCREASING FEES AND LOWER FUNDING LEADS TO A FALL IN DEMAND FOR UNIVERSITY PLACES
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) argues that the reason applications for
places at Australian universities have fallen over the last two years, as has recently been
reported, is a direct result of the Howard Government’s higher education policies. NTEU
today released an analysis of the latest data which shows the increasing cost of
government-supported university places and the extent of cuts to government funding for these
places. |
|
Position Vacant: Communications Officer/Organiser - ACT Division
|
The ACT Division in Canberra is seeking to appoint a Communications
Officer/Organiser |
|
University of Ballarat says “WorkChoices” means no choice
|
The effects of the federal government’s new anti-worker industrial legislation
will be immediately felt by staff at the University of Ballarat, with its announcement that all new
appointees will have no choice but to sign an Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) if they want to
be employed. |
|
Positions Vacant: Branch Organisers (NSW)
|
NTEU (NSW) is seeking to employ Organisers at four Branches of the Union situated at
Macquarie University, University of Sydney, Charles Sturt University and the University of
Technology, Sydney |
