Before the State election, I made a promise to the people of Kogarah to fix the critical teacher shortage and improve the job security of our local teachers.

Now, I am delivering on this promise by transitioning 10,000 temporary teachers and 6,000 support staff onto permanent contracts.

This will give teachers the job security they need to stay in the profession and the confidence to focus on what they do best, teaching our kids.

The casualisation of teaching has forced thousands of talented teachers to leave the profession. Since 2017, just 63% of the teacher’s workforce in NSW public schools have had the security of a permanent position.

This has made teaching less attractive, hurt teacher retention rates and left our children worse off.

For too long our children have had to deal with merged or cancelled classes. Not having a permanent teacher that they can rely on has created uncertainty and disrupted learning for our children.

That is why my Government is taking decisive action to help our local schools.

The permanent teaching scheme will be rolled out in stages. Staff who have worked at their current school for at least 3 years will be eligible in the first stage of the scheme and are expected to have their first day of permanent duty by Term 3.

It is expected that rest of the 10,000 teachers will be part of the permanent workforce beginning in Term 1, 2024.

This is the first step to delivering on our promise and we want to send a message to our local teachers that they are valued and appreciated for the important work they do.

As Premier of NSW and your State Member of Parliament, I am committed to delivering a world class education system for our children and giving our teachers the support, they need.

Yours sincerely,

The Hon. Chris Minns MP
Premier of New South Wales
Member for Kogarah