Since our foundation in 1954 as the Assistant Masters’ Association (AMA), the Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch has undergone enormous growth and change in its proud, 70-year history of representing the rights of teachers and support staff in non-government education.
Over the years, we’ve achieved pay equality for female and male teachers, and ensured teachers working in non-government schools are not paid less than their colleagues in government schools.
We have faced major legislative changes and run various campaigns informed by members and with members at the forefront.
From our early days as the AMA, then AMMA (Assistant Masters’ and Mistresses’ Association), the Independent Teachers Association and now the IEU, our membership has grown to more than 32,000 teachers and support, professional, administrative and operational staff.
Here are a few milestones:
1954 Founded as the AMA. In 1955, the AMA had 90 members. The founders advised that it needed a membership of 150 to survive.
1957 Registered as a trade union.
1954–1965 The AMA struggled for relevance, purpose and numbers; membership fluctuated from 157 to as low as 20 in April 1963.
Late 1960s Disagreement over the union’s direction: “traditionalists” wanted a greater focus on being a professional association over being an industrial body utilising industrial power to seek arbitrated outcomes beneficial to members.
1966 Name changed to Assistant Masters’ and Mistresses’ Association (AMMA) as women and lay teachers in Catholic schools join in significant numbers.
1967 Decision made at the AGM to seek an industrial award for non-government school teachers.
1970 First award made: Assistant Masters’ and Mistresses’ in Non-Government Schools (State) Award.
1971 The union’s full-time General Secretary, John Nicholson, leased offices in Chatswood. Membership hit 1000.
1972 Name changed to Independent Teachers’ Association (ITA); membership at 1084.
1977 First full-time organiser, Michael Raper, appointed; membership at 3954. He would become the union’s General Secretary in 1981.
1980 New Council and Annual Conference structure adopted with new constitution. Membership at 5603.
1981 The first edition of Newsmonth is published; the Daily Telegraph runs a story describing the ITA as “the fastest growing union in Australia”.
1984 Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad (APHEDA), known as Union Aid Abroad, is established. The IEU joins as a partner.
1985 Significant split in Executive and Council over union direction, Left v Right. Left wins most Executive positions.
1988 Independent Teachers Federation of Australia (ITFA) is registered as a federal union on 8 October. The ITFA was set up towards the end of 1983. In early 1984, an application was made to the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission for registration as a federal union. The application sought rules for coverage of the broadest range of education staff in non-government education institutions. After extensive litigation, federal registration was achieved on 8 October 1988.
1989 Dick Shearman becomes General Secretary. Membership at 14,104.
1989 Federal awards obtained in English colleges and the post-secondary college sector.
1993-1994 Union gains coverage of school assistants then clerical staff at both state and federal levels.
1994 Name changed to NSW Independent Education Union. Membership at 16,265.
1996 Joint strike of the IEU and NSW Teachers Federation (see page 9). “Hands were shaken, fraternal greetings exchanged and, shoulder to shoulder, some 12,000 members of the NSW Teachers Federation and the NSW Independent Education Union (IEU) marched on Parliament House in support of their 12 percent pay claim.” (SMH)
2006 The regressive WorkChoices policy took effect in March 2006, increasing activity in the federal jurisdiction, particularly in independent schools, as members unite to resist attacks on workers’ rights and conditions.
2009 NSW government referred industrial relations powers in relation to private sector employers to the federal jurisdiction.
2011 National benchmark set: Association of Independent Schools Multi-Enterprise Agreement, negotiated by the IEU, is the first industrial agreement in Australia to pay classroom teachers more than $100,000 per annum (with effect from 2014).
2012 John Quessy becomes General Secretary.
2014 Membership exceeds 32,000.
2014-2017 Major campaigns in Catholic systemic schools in 2014 over a proposal by employers to completely rewrite the enterprise agreement and strip entitlements won over decades. Union campaign triumphs.
2019 Mark Northam becomes Secretary in October.
2020 The union gains a surge in membership in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state-registered union (NSW/ACT IEU) is wound up, and the IEU operates only as a federal entity as a branch of the Independent Education Union of Australia.
2021 On 19 April the Fair Work Commission handed down an historic decision supporting pay rises of up to 10% for early childhood teachers – the result of an extensive eight-year campaign by the IEU.
2022 IEU launches Hear Our Voice campaign for Catholic systemic teachers and support staff. Wide-ranging successful industrial action takes place throughout NSW and the ACT on 27 May, followed by widely publicised state-wide combined strike action with the NSW Teachers Federation on 30 June (see page 9).
2023 Huge salary wins for teachers (8%-12% in NSW; 11% to 19% in the ACT over three years) and support staff with wage parity with counterparts in government schools (6.5% to 20%) along with big improvements to conditions.
2023 Carol Matthews becomes first woman Secretary of the IEU on 28 October.
2024 The IEU celebrates 70 years! But there is no resting on our laurels. This year, long day care teachers have achieved historic 15% pay rises and we’ve filed a revolutionary pay claim for community preschool teachers; bargaining is under way for independent schools; and we’re developing a claim for teachers and support staff in Catholic systemic schools.