The ACT’s public school cleaners are to return to the Public Service fold in 2020 under new employment arrangements announced by the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development, Yvette Berry.
Ms Berry said that for some time the Government had been concerned about the treatment of vulnerable workers.
“Within my portfolio responsibilities, I have been particularly focused on improving the employment conditions of Government School cleaners engaged by contracted service providers,” Ms Berry said.
“With the support of my colleagues, I have decided that from the beginning of 2020 the Government will directly employ a cleaning workforce to clean Government Schools.
She said many of the workers, nearly 300 people, were migrants or refugees.
“A large number of these workers are from the S’gaw Karen people group now living here after fleeing conflict in Myanmar,” Ms Berry said.
“There is also a cohort of Iranian refugees and some who are Bhutanese migrants. Others, local people, typically come from a modest personal background.”
She said that all the workers were employed to do undervalued work in an industry where low paid, unfair and insecure employment was structurally entrenched.
She said numerous enhancements had been made to contracts and contract management with the aim of ensuring ethical, industrially-compliant employment for the cleaners.
“It has become clear through this process that achieving the Government’s high standard is unlikely to occur through an outsourced service in this instance,” Ms Berry said.
“This is why, from 2020, Government School cleaners will be directly employed by the Government,” she said.
