Thank you and Merry Christmas from the PSA

The PSA Executive, industrial staff and delegates would like to thank you for your service supporting the mental health and wellbeing of students in NSW schools throughout 2025. We wish you a peaceful festive season and refreshing break over the Christmas holidays.

The PSA would like to especially thank your dedicated Student Support Officer (SSO) PSA delegates on the SSO Advisory Group; Rose Dooley, Lisa Peek, Melissa Carey, Lisa Weber, Callum Baillie and Joshua Larwood for their dedication and efforts this year on behalf of members and for ensuring PSA industrial staff remain tuned in to your concerns.

In this update

• Survey: Working conditions and wellbeing
• Flexible working
• Recruitment practices
• Christmas shutdown and concession leave
• Working during January school vacation period

Survey: Working conditions and wellbeing

Thank you to those who completed the PSA survey. Your feedback has confirmed that SSOs continue to face significant challenges, including heavy workloads with frequent interruptions, navigating differing referral processes, difficulties taking breaks and accessing flexibility, and being required to work outside normal hours on school excursions.

Your feedback on these important workplace issues is critical in informing PSA advocacy for SSOs including current discussions with the Department concerning recording and payment of overtime; flexible working arrangements and negotiating a new Flexible Working Hours Agreement.

PSA industrial staff and delegates continue to monitor departmental communications, such as induction materials, fact sheets, newsletters, intranet pages, and directions about holiday periods, to ensure they outline and promote the working conditions and entitlements of SSOs; and comply with governing industrial instruments. We recognise the need and continue to advocate for more education/training of School Principals about the GSE Act, Flexible Working conditions and the Crown Award entitlements.

The PSA is also mindful of your health and wellbeing, and we continue to advocate for an effective, sustainable workplace environment that supports your safe and ethical professional practice.

Flexible working

Flexible working arrangements: PSA industrial staff and delegates are advocating for the Department to allow SSOs to work remotely or from home after school operational hours within bandwidth, during the school term. We are seeking this flexibility in addition to the previous win, enabling working remotely during school vacation periods. We believe this practice would better support access to your entitlement to flexible start and finish times and reasonable accrual of flex leave. This is the subject of ongoing discussions with the Department which will continue in 2026.

Time in lieu and overtime: The PSA is aware SSOs may be expected to attend school excursions involving working hours outside of bandwidth (such as after 6:00pm or on a weekend).  Being on duty at these times, attracts payment at overtime rates or time in lieu (TIL) in accordance with the Crown Employees (Public Service Conditions of Employment) Award 2009 (“the Conditions Award”). Currently the PSA is not convinced that members are recording and being properly remunerated for any such overtime hours and we are addressing this through both the Joint Consultative Committee forums and in current negotiations for a new Flexible Working Hours Agreement which allows for TIL as an adjustment on your flex sheets.

New Flexible Working Hours Agreement: The current Flexible Working Hours Agreement 2022 is due to expire, as a three-year “local arrangement”, under clause 10 of the Conditions Award. The parties commenced negotiations for a new agreement in late October and PSA industrial staff and delegates have had six meetings with industrial relations and exchanged correspondence throughout November and December 2025.  In these negotiations the PSA is paying particular attention to the school-based wellbeing roles including SSOs. These discussions have been constructive and continuing, with the parties agreeing that the current agreement remains operational until we reach a fresh agreement in the New Year.

Recruitment practices  

The PSA has been interrogating the Department’s recruitment of SSOs, especially where a school principal recruits directly to a school using SAP. We have reported non-compliant procedures, job ads, role titles and duties not matching the role description and where due diligence has not ensured candidates have the professional qualifications to be a SSO.

Due to the PSA’s persistent advocacy throughout the year, and several meetings with Student Wellbeing recruitment, the PSA has been advised that SSOs employment requirements have been tightened, and advice has been provided to Principals across NSW schools.

The positive outcomes include:

Closing SAP access for SSO recruitment – BCR Change:  School principals will no longer have access to the SAP front end service for the purpose of engaging SSOs via a temporary engagement. The removal of access to this function will occur by 20 May 2026.

Draft SSO qualification and salary determination procedure: A draft procedure for determining relevant equivalent qualifications and commencing salary based on experience is with the Director, School Recruitment Advisory and Priority Support and after it is reviewed by the Student Health & Wellbeing team will be provided to the PSA for consultation in early Term 1, 2026.

A staff noticeboard update published in late October 2025 advises principals of the SSO workforce engagement requirements. The noticeboard will remain active. A staff noticeboard reminder will also be published every term until the BCR comes into effect.

Further improvements are on the horizon concerning recruitment practices.

The Student Wellbeing Recruitment (SWR) team are working on a hiring manager pack that will reference the salary determination procedure, including easy to understand guidelines for hiring managers. SWR are also creating a webpage that will detail information and FAQs for hiring managers specific for SSO recruitment. There will also be information for SSOs specific to recruitment and salary.  The pack and webpage will be implemented in Term 1, 2026.

Once the salary determination procedure is reviewed by the PSA and consultation has occurred, it will also be placed on the webpage for transparency for prospective applicants, current employees and hiring managers.  

The PSA is very pleased to finally see these positive outcomes resulting from our persistent advocacy, and we will continue to actively engage with the Student Wellbeing Recruitment team to ensure their implementation.

 Christmas shutdown periods and concessional leave

For your information, the Public Service Holiday has automatically been added in SAP. However, if you are working on 24 December (Christmas Eve) then you are entitled to a half day of concessional leave from midday or after three-and-a-half hours from your start time.

There is no requirement to enter this leave into SAP. However, to ensure your timesheets are not negatively affected, please follow the instructions below:

• Staff members working flexible hours should record the half-day concessional leave on their flex sheet.
• In the “adjustments” column, under “details”, enter: “½ day concessional leave”.
• In the “adjustments” column, under “hh:mm”, enter: 3:30.
• Arrival and departure times should still be recorded so that the time worked, combined with the adjustment, prevents any debit to your flex balance.

Working during the January school vacation period

As Term 4 draws to a close those working through the January 2026 school vacation period are reminded to ask about working remotely or from an alternative location. This may include working from home, at a local office, or another school where others are working onsite. If you are planning to work onsite at school and believe you may be alone for any or all of the time, a Working Alone Risk Assessment must be conducted and any risks mitigated with approval prior to attendance at the school.  If you are unsure where to find this, you should contact the Health and Safety directorate or your school’s designated Health and Safety Advisor.

PSA staff

Katy Ambler Industrial Officer

Alison Crittenden Organiser