Mrs SALLY QUINNELL (Camden) (22:00): Today I speak about some of the State's unsung heroes, those who are always putting others ahead of themselves. I am talking about the fantastic teachers of New South Wales, who are in the classroom teaching and supporting students to learn and grow. For too long teachers across our State have been overworked and undervalued, which has led to their growing exodus from the profession. The Minns Labor Government has taken concrete steps to address the inherited mess in the education system left to us by the former Government. For 12 long years the former Government neglected the needs of teachers and children in the classroom. For too long it ignored teachers and did not listen to their concerns. The lack of respect for teachers from the former Government was obvious and has had a detrimental effect on the teaching workforce of this State. Last year a record 1,854 teachers resigned from their position, a shocking number that has only exacerbated the existing workforce shortages.

The Minns Labor Government has secured a well‑deserved and long overdue pay rise for New South Wales teachers. It will see New South Wales teachers become among the best paid in the country. The agreement reached last week ensures that starting salaries will increase from $75,791 to $85,000, while salaries at the top of the scale increased from $113,042 to $122,100. All public school teachers will benefit from this historic pay deal, putting the 12 years of neglect behind us as the Government looks to fix the crisis in education that has seen teachers leaving the profession at an alarming rate.

However, we also know that not all issues can be fixed with a pay rise. While it is an excellent start, more needs to be done to solve long‑term issues that have led teachers to be overworked and undervalued. The Deputy Premier, and education Minister, has been clear that a pay increase is the start and not the end for reform in our classrooms. I congratulate the Government on converting 16,000 teachers and support staff in schools to permanent positions, providing much‑needed job security for our teaching workforce.

While on the subject, I point out the former Government's failings in this area. Since 2017 only 63 per cent of the teaching workforce in New South Wales public schools have had permanent positions—truly a remarkable statistic that reveals the former Government's lack of respect for teachers. But it gets worse: The former Government matched the commitment that Labor took to the last election to convert 10,000 teachers to permanent contracts, which was a good start from the former Government. However, it made zero progress on that target. It ignored the promise it made to the teachers of New South Wales, just like it had done for the previous 12 years.

As I have said, increasing teachers' pay is only the start to attracting and retaining teachers to work in our State's schools. Issues such as administrative workloads, stress and extreme expectations all contribute to teachers in New South Wales being undervalued and overworked. Much of teachers' time is not used for teaching in classrooms but rather working through a mountain of administrative work, lesson planning and additional training, when we know that teachers are best served in the classroom and teaching. The Government has already committed to hiring additional support staff at schools to cut the administrative workload placed on teachers by five hours a week. It is a commitment that will make a real difference in the lives of teachers by leaving them to focus on teaching our children in classrooms across our State.

My electorate of Camden contains 17 public schools, inclusive of both primary and high schools. Having met with teachers and principals in a number of those schools since I was elected, I have seen that so many have teaching vacancies that have been left unfilled for months at a time. Those vacancies often leave teachers to cover multiple classes at once while children's learning is further negatively impacted. That cannot be allowed to continue. If we do not seek to fix the teacher shortage, learning outcomes will only get worse and our kids will be left behind. Lastly, I thank the Deputy Premier, and Minister for Education, as well as all the amazing teaching staff and support staff across our State and in my electorate of Camden for the phenomenal work they do every day. Keep it up—we have got your back.