Teacher unions are working in challenging times. Building power is important for teacher unions to resist neoliberal reforms that have aimed to restructure school education and weaken collective organisation. Yet we have few understandings of the democratisation project that teacher unions have engaged in to build and renew internal power in this…

Sheds light on labor relations in Australia through an examination of its governance of education, Australian teachers and unions, the history of compulsory arbitration, some contrasts between compulsory arbitration and collective bargaining, some contemplated changes in the governance of education in Australia, and some speculation about the…

The responsibility for education in Australia rests with the states. Teachers in the state of New South Wales, as in other Australian states, are employed by the Public Service Board, which determines working conditions. Teachers are administered, however, under the Department of Education. Labor disputes in Australia are settled not by formal…

This monograph by four authors examines the structure and role of teacher unions in the three Australian states of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, and analyzes the rapidly changing shape of teacher unionism at the federal level. After an introduction by Andrew Spaull, Robert White, in chapter 2, examines developments within the…

An analysis is presented of the media and public reaction to a strike by state school teachers in New South Wales in 1981. It is pointed out that the media, intentionally and/or unintentionally, provided a biased view of teacher-related issues, which operated at an ideological level against the immediate and long-term interests of teachers.…

This paper explores the perceptions of three rural secondary school teachers in the Riverina area of New South Wales, Australia. In-depth interviews were conducted with three secondary teachers: three male teachers aged 25, 32, and 60. The original objective of the grounded theory study was to examine the teachers' perceptions about the state's…