Ninety per cent of teachers in New South Wales can’t afford to live where they teach, new research has found.
The UNSW Sydney study found housing affordability was a major issue hitting a sector already plagued by shortages and teachers were being priced out of housing near their schools, with many areas too expensive for educators at the top of the pay scale.
Analysing quarterly sales and rental reports across the state, the study found there were 675 schools where the median rent for a one-bedroom place was unaffordable on a graduate’s salary.
For experienced educators at the top of the pay scale, 70 schools were in an area where a single-bedroom home was also unaffordable – equivalent to a person spending more than 30% of their income on housing.
Study author Prof Scott Eacott said the last time a first-year teacher’s salary could comfortably afford the rent for a one-bedroom dwelling was around a decade ago.
Fundamentally, there’s been an increasing gap between salary and the costs of housing that the standard pay rise isn’t covering, and it’s pushing teachers further away from their workplaces or out of the profession entirely.
The issue is not just limited to teachers, but all essential workers who are increasingly finding it difficult to find affordable places to live within a reasonable distance of their workplace.
NSW has recorded 14,699 new Covid cases in the seven days to Thursday, with 61 lives lost.
COVID-19 weekly update – Friday 19 May 2023
In the 7 days to 4pm Thursday 18 May: • 14,699 new cases have been reported: including 8,943 positive rapid antigen tests (RATs) and 5,756 positive PCR tests. • 61 lives lost. pic.twitter.com/Iq27rvDNtM
There are 1,322 people in hospital with the virus, with 24 in ICU.
This is a considerable uptick in cases from last week when NSW recorded just over 12,000 cases and 53 deaths.
There were 9,316 new cases in the weekly reporting period and 17 people are in intensive care.
That’s another big jump from 7,594 cases last week and 6,452 in the first week of May. Deaths have come down since 44 were recorded last week.
This week we reported 9,316 new cases with a daily average hospital occupancy of 327 and 17 patients in ICU. 28 deaths were reported in the past 7 days.
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives. 🧵 1/3 pic.twitter.com/nDZSq0d0Ht
— Victorian Department of Health (@VicGovDH) May 19, 2023
Liberals out in force at Chinese consulate event in Sydney
China’s consulate in Sydney hosted a welcoming for its new deputy consul general, Wang Chunsheng on Thursday evening, hours after China lifted its ban on timber imports from Australia and PM Anthony Albanese announced US President Joe Biden had cancelled his visit to the city.
Wang and his boss, consul general Zhou Limin, addressed the audience in English, touting the opportunities the Middle Kingdom offers Australia, particularly if the country’s middle class swells to 800m as projected over the next decade.
Spotted among the dignitaries were federal manager of opposition business, Paul Fletcher, newly minted state Liberal MP Matt Cross, and recently retired NSW Liberal ministers, Geoff Lee (whose grandfather arrived from China’s Guangdong province in 1920) and Jonathan O’Dea.
The latter’s successor as speaker of the NSW lower house, independent MP Greg Piper, was also in attendance.
Unaffordable housing will amplify teacher shortages, researcher says
Eacott said housing affordability had been overlooked in the teacher shortage crisis because of other issues like increasing workloads, poor working conditions and stagnant pay.
But he said the high price of housing was pushing teachers to choose between forgoing their salary for housing near their school or enduring long commutes.
Housing affordability is one of those understated reasons why, and not doing anything to address it will only amplify the problem.
Commutes of more than an hour would not be uncommon … the school system is struggling to find enough teachers as it is. If teachers can’t afford to live near or within reasonable commuting distance of their schools, we can only expect those shortfalls to continue to grow.
Projections indicate NSW will need 13,000 more teachers in the next decade to meet student demand.
Eacott says salary loading for teachers working in severely unaffordable areas would be one potential policy solution that could be implemented in the short term to help alleviate the cost of housing, as well as considering teachers and other essential workers in infrastructure planning when developing future cities.
We rely so much on our teachers, so it’s only fair we take steps towards providing them and other essential workers with affordable and secure housing options.
Ninety per cent of teachers in New South Wales can’t afford to live where they teach, new research has found.
The UNSW Sydney study found housing affordability was a major issue hitting a sector already plagued by shortages and teachers were being priced out of housing near their schools, with many areas too expensive for educators at the top of the pay scale.
Analysing quarterly sales and rental reports across the state, the study found there were 675 schools where the median rent for a one-bedroom place was unaffordable on a graduate’s salary.
For experienced educators at the top of the pay scale, 70 schools were in an area where a single-bedroom home was also unaffordable – equivalent to a person spending more than 30% of their income on housing.
Study author Prof Scott Eacott said the last time a first-year teacher’s salary could comfortably afford the rent for a one-bedroom dwelling was around a decade ago.
Fundamentally, there’s been an increasing gap between salary and the costs of housing that the standard pay rise isn’t covering, and it’s pushing teachers further away from their workplaces or out of the profession entirely.
The issue is not just limited to teachers, but all essential workers who are increasingly finding it difficult to find affordable places to live within a reasonable distance of their workplace.
Australia’s consulate general has officially opened in Kolkata. The assistant foreign affairs minister, Tim Watts, was part of the ceremony.
A fun night – including with some impressive dancing – as we formally opened Australia’s Consulate-General in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/gn25c7EB5O
The Consulate is boosting our trade and investment engagement with eastern India, fostering new connections between people, and deepening our cultural links. pic.twitter.com/y5QMeFcCB3
No police officer is above the law, says NSW assistant commissioner
That press conference about the incident in which 95-year-old Clare Nowland was Tasered by police has wrapped up now. Nowland has dementia and was living at an aged care facility.
Cotter said out of procedural fairness to the officer involved, he won’t say whether he is facing criminal charges.
What I’ve said is that no officer, not one of us, is above the law. All our actions will be scrutinised robustly from a criminal perspective as well as a departmental perspective of and if it dips into either of those domains you can be rest assured that if it lands there – I’m talking in a generic sense – criminal actions will be taken.
On whether she was engaging in a threat at the time she was Tasered, Cotter says:
At the time she was Tasered she was approaching police, it is fair to say at a slow pace.
She had a walking frame. But she had a knife.
I can’t take it any further as to what was going through anyone’s mind with the use of a Taser.
Ninety-five-year-old Clare Nowland was in treatment room alone when police arrived, says Cotter
Cotter clarifies the incident did not take place in Clare Nowland’s room:
It was in a room. She had left her bedroom and had walked around the nursing home facility.
I’m not sure exactly how long, but probably for a couple of hours she was out of her bed.
She had gone to the kitchen, she had access to a knife, and she was in a treatment room, I think it is classified as, where medical treatment – a small confined space room – where treatment would normally be administered during working hours.
And she was in that room by herself.
Police and paramedics tried to de-escalate and get Nowland to drop knife: Cotter
Asked about de-escalation tactics deployed before the Taser was used, Cotter says:
The police and a number of staff, both paramedics and otherwise, engaged in conversation with her to de-escalate the matter for her to drop the knife and that went on in a conversation for a number of minutes.
I’m not going to talk about the exact words used, but the words were clear to de-escalate the matter.
Clare approach the doorway where the police were and at that stage the one officer discharged the Taser.
However, Cotter says it’s not in the public interest to release the footage while it forms a “significant and integral” part of the investigation.
Body-worn camera footage of Tasering is ‘confronting’: Cotter
Cotter confirms there is “confronting” police body cam footage of the incident:
I have seen the footage. Both officers had their body-worn video activated.
The incident in its totality is captured, both audio and visual, and I have seen it and I understand what I’ve seen.
… It is confronting footage.
Police officer involved will have duty type reviewed, says assistant commissioner
What actions will be taken against the officer involved in the incident?
Cotter:
Clearly his duty type will be under review, understanding that this is a live investigation and has the opportunity to be spoken to and be interviewed.
If at some stage we believe interim action has to be taken then it will be taken.
At this stage, he is nonoperational, he is not in the workplace, and any ultimate sanction, if that is to be determined [as] an end result, that will be taken.
