2018 Conference Better Together
Reps and members came together on May 7 at the Education Development Centre to participate in our 2018 conference ‘Better Together’. We assembled a panel of expert presenters and explored how together we can achieve better schools, better jobs and a better society overall.
The Hon John Gardner, Minister for Education opened the conference. He briefly touched on the new Liberal government’s education agenda and acknowledged the need for government, teachers, support staff and the IEU to work together to achieve better outcomes for children in South Australian schools.
The IEUA Federal Secretary Chris Watt in his keynote presentation highlighted key issues in the IEU “Ask” of political parties. He outlined the need for the ACTU Change the Rules campaign and discussed the recent outcomes of the Gonski V2.0 education review.
Johanna Martin, Justice Sector Reform Director AG department, presented the theoretical background to the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016, and the Draft Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Regulations 2018 and the Children’s Protection Law Reform (Transitional Arrangements and Related amendments) Act 2017.
Then Mia Toscano, General Manager, Strategy & Governance (Screening, Procurement & Improvement) in the Department of Human Services provided the practical application of the Working With Children Check through the DCSI screening unit. Joanna provided definitions and examples of services likely to be picked up in the regulations. Find out more
The Commissioner for Children and Young People, Helen Connolly, recalled her earliest experiences in the position and her fun and engaging conversations with children as part of her travelling road show gathering information on the issues nearest and dearest to young people. Visit the website for more information
Our last speaker was Keith Heggart. Keith walked conference participants through research undertaken by the IEU NSW/ACT and raised the perception and attitudes and what that means for recruitment and retention among young teachers.
Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2018 conference ‘Better Together’ and thank you to those participants who completed the online survey. The feedback assists us in providing a meaningful professional learning experience in the future.
