← All decisions

1. What was proposedElizabeth LeeLiberal · Opposition
   Read the original wording (330 words)

   That this Assembly: (1) notes that: (a) the industrial action taken by ACT educators last week follows months of frustration with the Government’s failure to meaningfully engage on crucial issues including workforce sustainability, adequate staffing levels, support for inclusive training, rising workloads and staff wellbeing; (b) this action is the first time ACT educators have taken stop-work action in 15 years and the first time ever that school assistants participated in industrial action alongside teachers, school leaders and school psychologists; (c) the Australian Education Union (AEU) ACT Branch President Angela Burroughs has said the decision to take action reflects a workforce that has been pushed to its limit; and (d) the AEU ACT has announced that further industrial action is planned for June if the Government fails to negotiate in good faith; (2) further notes: (a) the following public comments by ACT Parents Executive Officer, Ms Veronica Elliot, in support of the action taken by ACT educators: (i) “parents consistently tell us they want fewer split classes, more relief teachers, more Learning Support Assistants and sustainable staffing in schools”; and (ii) “families can see staff working hard in challenging conditions, but they are frustrated by the frequency of learning disruption when schools cannot source relief teachers or adequately support students with additional needs”; and (b) that Ms Elliott said ACT Parents supports ACT public school teachers and school staff in their calls for improved staffing, sustainable workloads and stronger support for students, because these measures directly improve learning conditions for students; and (3) calls on the Minister for Education and Early Childhood to: (a) direct the Education Directorate to immediately return to the bargaining table to address the outstanding issues raised by educators and to make genuine progress in negotiations before any further stop-work action; and (b) report back to the Assembly by noon on 28 May 2026 on the action she has taken to ensure her Directorate is progressing the claims by ACT educators. Debate ensued.

2. Proposed changeLaura NuttallGreens · Crossbench26 May 2026

   Grouped by key words as: rewrote the proposal, added reporting or consultation, turned an action into a review.

   Before

   (3) calls on the Minister for Education and Early Childhood to: (a) direct the Education Directorate to immediately return to the bargaining table to address the outstanding issues raised by educators and to make genuine progress in negotiations before any further stop-work action; and (b) report back to the Assembly by noon on 28 May 2026 on the action she has taken to ensure her Directorate is progressing the claims by ACT educators. Debate ensued.

   After this change

   (3) calls on the Minister for Education and Early Childhood, in collaboration with the Minister for the Public Service, to: (a) direct the responsible directorates to resume enterprise bargaining negotiations with school-based employees covered by ACT public sector enterprise agreements, with the express objective of considering outstanding claims raised by employees and their representatives in a comprehensive and timely manner, to support union members in not needing to take further protected industrial action; (b) publicly respond to the outcomes of the ‘School Assistant Classification Standards Framework’ review and acknowledge that ACT school-based employees should receive nationally competitive salaries and working conditions; and (c) report back to the Assembly on the morning of 10 June with a Ministerial Statement outlining the actions taken to progress the claims on workload, staffing, safety, inclusion and pay by employee representatives of ACT school-based employees, as well as actions under paragraph (3)(b).

   The exact wording of this change

   Omit all text in paragraph (3), substitute: “(3) calls on the Minister for Education and Early Childhood, in collaboration with the Minister for the Public Service, to: (a) direct the responsible directorates to resume enterprise bargaining negotiations with school-based employees covered by ACT public sector enterprise agreements, with the express objective of considering outstanding claims raised by employees and their representatives in a comprehensive and timely manner, to support union members in not needing to take further protected industrial action; (b) publicly respond to the outcomes of the ‘School Assistant Classification Standards Framework’ review and acknowledge that ACT school-based employees should receive nationally competitive salaries and working conditions; and (c) report back to the Assembly on the morning of 10 June with a Ministerial Statement outlining the actions taken to progress the claims on workload, staffing, safety, inclusion and pay by employee representatives of ACT school-based employees, as well as actions under paragraph (3)(b).”. Debate continued.

   Agreed on the voices. No individual votes were recorded. Its wording is in the final text.

3. What the Assembly decidedAgreed

   Decided on the voices: no individual votes were recorded, so this doesn’t show that every MLA agreed.

   Final agreed wording, with changes marked

   That this Assembly: (1) notes that: (a) the industrial action taken by ACT educators last week follows months of frustration with the Government’s failure to meaningfully engage on crucial issues including workforce sustainability, adequate staffing levels, support for inclusive training, rising workloads and staff wellbeing; (b) this action is the first time ACT educators have taken stop-work action in 15 years and the first time ever that school assistants participated in industrial action alongside teachers, school leaders and school psychologists; (c) the Australian Education Union (AEU) ACT Branch President Angela Burroughs has said the decision to take action reflects a workforce that has been pushed to its limit; and (d) the AEU ACT has announced that further industrial action is planned for June if the Government fails to negotiate in good faith; (2) further notes: (a) the following public comments by ACT Parents Executive Officer, Ms Veronica Elliot, in support of the action taken by ACT educators: (i) ‘parents consistently tell us they want fewer split classes, more relief teachers, more Learning Support Assistants and sustainable staffing in schools’; and (ii) ‘families can see staff working hard in challenging conditions, but they are frustrated by the frequency of learning disruption when schools cannot source relief teachers or adequately support students with additional needs’; and (b) that Ms Elliott said ACT Parents supports ACT public school teachers and school staff in their calls for improved staffing, sustainable workloads and stronger support for students, because these measures directly improve learning conditions for students; and (3) calls on the Minister for Education and Early Childhood, in collaboration with the Minister for the Public Service, to: (a) direct the responsible directorates to resume enterprise bargaining negotiations with school-based employees covered by ACT public sector enterprise agreements, with the express objective of considering outstanding claims raised by employees and their representatives in a comprehensive and timely manner, to support union members in not needing to take further protected industrial action; (b) publicly respond to the outcomes of the ‘School Assistant Classification Standards Framework’ review and acknowledge that ACT school-based employees should receive nationally competitive salaries and working conditions; and (c) report back to the Assembly on the morning of 10 June with a Ministerial Statement outlining the actions taken to progress the claims on workload, staffing, safety, inclusion and pay by employee representatives of ACT school-based employees, as well as actions under paragraph (3)(b)Nuttall.

   Original and final wording compared

   taken out put in

   That this Assembly: (1) notes that: (a) the industrial action taken by ACT educators last week follows months of frustration with the Government’s failure to meaningfully engage on crucial issues including workforce sustainability, adequate staffing levels, support for inclusive training, rising workloads and staff wellbeing; (b) this action is the first time ACT educators have taken stop-work action in 15 years and the first time ever that school assistants participated in industrial action alongside teachers, school leaders and school psychologists; (c) the Australian Education Union (AEU) ACT Branch President Angela Burroughs has said the decision to take action reflects a workforce that has been pushed to its limit; and (d) the AEU ACT has announced that further industrial action is planned for June if the Government fails to negotiate in good faith; (2) further notes: (a) the following public comments by ACT Parents Executive Officer, Ms Veronica Elliot, in support of the action taken by ACT educators: (i) ‘parents consistently tell us they want fewer split classes, more relief teachers, more Learning Support Assistants and sustainable staffing in schools’; and (ii) ‘families can see staff working hard in challenging conditions, but they are frustrated by the frequency of learning disruption when schools cannot source relief teachers or adequately support students with additional needs’; and (b) that Ms Elliott said ACT Parents supports ACT public school teachers and school staff in their calls for improved staffing, sustainable workloads and stronger support for students, because these measures directly improve learning conditions for students; and (3) calls on the Minister for Education and Early Childhood, [put in: in collaboration with the Minister for the Public Service,]to: (a) direct the [taken out: Education Directorate to immediately return][put in: responsible directorates]to [taken out: the][put in: resume enterprise]bargaining [taken out: table to address][put in: negotiations with school-based employees covered by ACT public sector enterprise agreements, with]the [put in: express objective of considering]outstanding [taken out: issues][put in: claims]raised by [taken out: educators][put in: employees]and [put in: their representatives in a comprehensive and timely manner,]to [taken out: make genuine progress][put in: support union members]in [taken out: negotiations before any][put in: not needing to take]further [taken out: stop-work][put in: protected industrial]action; [taken out: and](b) [put in: publicly respond to the outcomes of the ‘School Assistant Classification Standards Framework’ review and acknowledge that ACT school-based employees should receive nationally competitive salaries and working conditions; and (c)]report back to the Assembly [taken out: by noon]on [taken out: 28 May 2026 on]the [taken out: action she has][put in: morning of 10 June with a Ministerial Statement outlining the actions]taken to [taken out: ensure her Directorate is progressing][put in: progress]the claims [put in: on workload, staffing, safety, inclusion and pay]by [put in: employee representatives of]ACT [taken out: educators. Debate ensued.][put in: school-based employees, as well as actions under paragraph (3)(b).]

   Compared word by word by computer, ignoring punctuation. It shows what differs, not which change made each difference; the steps above show that.