Clearer expectations. A fairer workload. Certainty in your week.

Updated Teacher Workload Policy

It starts January 2027 — read more below.

AngliSchools has released an updated workload policy, shaped by teacher and school feedback, to give you more protected time to plan, clearer limits on your week, and greater certainty about your time.

Framework foundation

Three pillars of the updated policy

A structure designed around real classroom feedback — to remove ambiguity and protect teacher time.

Clearer expectations

Bringing all schools into alignment
  • One-fifth of your time at a minimum set aside for planning, preparation, collaboration, marking and other activities
  • Teaching time defined the same way across all schools, now capturing pastoral care, house time, year time, assemblies and chapel
  • A consistent cap on teaching time per week or averaged across timetable cycle
  • Uniform hours of attendance across all schools
Read more

A fairer workload

Simple caps and a process for when things change
20%of your week, minimum, protected for planning
  • A reduction in overall classroom teaching time compared to current entitlement with a minimum 20 per cent set aside to help you plan and prepare
  • Compensation in time off, time credit or a financial payment for mandatory overnight camps
  • A clear and consistent process for the allocation of relief supervision
Read more

Certainty in your week

Predictable, protected working patterns
  • Staff meetings to be held on the same day each week
  • Yearly caps on face-to-face reporting to parents so you can manage out-of-hours work
  • New limits on meetings scheduled outside the normal hours of attendance
  • Professional development to include a staff-directed development day
  • Dates of professional development days confirmed at the start of each year
Read more
Rationale & background

Why the change?

The previous workload policy was introduced more than 20 years ago and while it has been adjusted several times, the context for schools today is very different.

Since the last update in April 2021, we have found the policy has not kept up with the demands made on teachers, and hasn't given schools the framework they needed to plan and set expectations.

Over the past two years, we have listened to the concerns and ideas of teachers, and their request for greater consistency across AngliSchools. Now, we have transformed the policy to provide greater clarity, fairness and certainty for our staff.

3 yrs

Our commitment to teachers is that the updated policy will be in place for 3 years, with the next review period to start in early 2029.

Detailed breakdown

What are the big improvements?

Four major areas transformed to safeguard teacher wellbeing and workload.

20%
guaranteed DOTT, every week

A full day across each week to prepare and plan

A new 80/20 model guarantees a fifth of your timetabled week is set aside for you to plan, mark and prepare. Your total supervised activity is capped for the first time.

Before21 hours, 20 minutes of teaching load a week, plus pastoral care, house time, year time, assemblies and chapel. This total could add up to 24 hours and 10 minutes per week.
Now80% of your total weekly class time is teaching load, which cannot exceed 22 hours and 30 minutes and includes all forms of instructional engagement, formal supervision and pastoral care.
Duties Other Than Teaching time guaranteed — a minimum 20% of your time will be set aside for DOTT, so you have time to plan lessons, collaborate, prepare materials, run your classroom, communicate with parents or write reports.
1 day
a week for staff meetings, set in advance

Certainty around out-of-hours work

New provisions mean more consistent staff meetings, with schools designating one week day for meetings throughout the year.

BeforeNo rules around the timing or scheduling of staff meetings outside the normal school day or operating hours.
NowSchools must designate a consistent day, and attendance at meetings is limited to 1 hour, 20 minutes after student finish times. Any other meetings cannot start more than 20 minutes before or extend more than 20 minutes after the student day.
Part-time teachers required to attend on days they do not normally work will receive Relief Rate pay.
15 hrs
a clear yearly limit on parent meetings

Guardrails around parent demands

We know our teachers are professional and responsive to the needs of students and their parents, but we have set out a process to manage out-of-hours demands.

BeforeNo definition or limits on the time spent on parent/teacher meetings.
NowNo more than 15 hours per annum will be required for formal, face-to-face or online meetings between teachers and parents/caregivers. No more than half these will be held outside the school's Hours of Attendance.
The venue, frequency and timing of parent and teacher reporting will be published in the annual calendar.
5 hrs
per overnight —
credit or pay

Co-curricular activities capped and compensated

Camps and other co-curricular activities can require teachers to contribute in different ways. The new policy recognises this contribution and rewards it.

BeforeThere was no compensation for teachers attending camps.
NowMandatory overnight camps entitle teachers to 5 hours per night towards their 40-hour co-curricular requirement, a financial payment per night or 5 hours of TOIL per night, as determined by the school.
Additional benefits

Extra Benefits within the New Update

Professional development

Teachers will still have up to eight days set aside for professional development, planning or preparation each year, but one full day (or equivalent) will be designated as staff-directed time to ensure PD aligns with teacher needs.

Relief supervision

If a teacher with a full teaching load's DOTT time is disrupted due to relief supervision, the school will make all practical efforts to restore the DOTT time for the teacher within a reasonable timeframe. If DOTT is lost due to a requirement for supervision, the teacher will be entitled to Teaching Time in Lieu or an Internal Relief payment.

Consultation responses

How have teachers helped shape the new policy?

You askedWe responded
For teaching duties to be counted and measured consistently across schoolsWe've defined the key terms — teaching time, DOTT, term and non-term time — so they mean the same in every school.
To stop meetings from running late or starting too earlyAside from the one weekly staff meeting on a consistent day, other meetings now sit within 20 minutes of the school day.
To protect your time to prepare and planMinimum 20% of the total number of minutes of student instruction time now set aside for DOTT, plus a staff-directed PD and planning day each year.
To know your year in advanceProfessional development dates are confirmed and published at the start of each year. Staff meeting days locked to one day a week.
To have fairer rules and recognition for relief supervisionRelief now follows a set order, drawing first on teachers without a full load.
To have clear boundaries for co-curricular activitySchools now keep a record of co-curricular participation to keep it equitable and transparent. Mandatory overnight camps can now count towards the co-curricular target.
To engage on future workload policy developmentUnder the proposed Enterprise Agreement, AngliSchools has committed to making no significant changes to workload policy without consultation. This provision is not in the current Enterprise Agreement.
Enterprise Agreement integration

How does the policy fit with the Enterprise Agreement?

After two years of negotiating a new Enterprise Agreement, we cannot wait any longer to put improvements in place to support our teachers and schools.

We believe these improvements are necessary for a fair, certain and sustainable workload for teachers, which is why we've delivered them through policy now rather than making them contingent on a proposed Enterprise Agreement being voted in.

There are additional benefits proposed in our Enterprise Agreement that we would like to see implemented for 2027, which will have a positive impact on teachers' work-life balance.

Fortnightly Pay

We have heard and are considering the request from teachers to move from monthly to fortnightly pay cycles.

Internal Relief

When teachers are asked to forfeit their non-instructional time to deliver internal relief, they can access compensation reallocated time.

Deferred Salary Scheme

Work four years on 80% pay, take the fifth year off.

Paid Partner Leave

Access two weeks, with super paid across all parental leave.

Compassionate Leave

Increased from two days to three.

Long Service Leave

More flexible options for taking Long Service Leave.

What happens if the proposed Enterprise Agreement is agreed?

If the Enterprise Agreement is approved, it will safeguard this policy and you will need to be consulted before any major change is made.

What happens if the proposed Enterprise Agreement is not agreed?

The new policy will still go ahead. These improvements aren't subject to the vote — they're being delivered through policy now. If the Enterprise Agreement is not agreed, you will remain under the existing Agreement until a new one is reached, but the updated workload policy continues.

Questions? Please contact us via email at hr@anglischools.edu.au

Downloads & details

Read the detail

Factsheets on each part of the updated policy.

Read the policy in full