Update from the General Assistants Advisory Group’s first meeting
Your newly formed General Assistant Advisory Group met at PSA House on Wednesday 3 September. The group came together and discussed issues relating to General Assistants (GAs) and Farm Assistants (FAs).
The first item on the agenda, however, was to form the General Advisory Group Executive. Please see your contacts below:
| Chairperson | Wade Appleby | Colo High School | Electorate 1 – Sydney Metro |
| Vice Chairperson | Jessica Trudgett | Nowra High School | Electorate 6 – South West |
| Secretary | Hayden Berry | Barramurra Public School | Electorate 1 – Sydney Metro |
| Assistant Secretary | Shaun Matheson | Blairmount Public School | Electorate 7 – South East |
| Women’s Officer | Fiona Doherty | Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre | Electorate 1 – Sydney Metro |
| Delegate | Matthew Danks | Casino High School | Electorate 4 – North West |
Workers’ compensation
With the ever-changing requirements to claim and maintain workers’ compensation, your Delegates would like to remind all General and Farm Assistants the PSA is here to help you through this process. Once you have submitted a claim, please call the Member Support Centre and provide them the details.
Contacting us at the start of your claim will ensure you get the best advice and support to get you back to work quickly and safely. It also provides the PSA accurate data as to what injuries are occurring within the Department of Education, so that a list of common injuries can be compiled by the PSA that we can follow up through various Departmental meetings.
For privacy reasons, your names and schools are not shared with Delegates. All that is recorded is the nature of your injury, which can be used to track commonly occurring injuries.
General Assistants driving buses
The Advisory Group is aware GAs are being asked to drive buses. We remind GAs this is outside of your role description and any decision to do so would be out of good will. With that in mind, your manager should be conscious of your workload and working times and ensure you are paid (or forwarded time-in-leu) for any time additional time worked due to your driving buses.
Since speaking to members and Delegates about this issue we have been told this is the new and latest gap schools are being asked to cover. The hiring of buses is no longer a viable option for many schools since the privatisation of the NSW bus network and the COVID pandemic sending many bus companies broke, particularly in regional NSW. We want students to be able to enjoy the adventure and learning opportunities excursions offer but are concerned that once again GAs are expected to pick up the slack without proper consideration and guidance from the Department.
Changes to GA staffing allocation
The GA Advisory Group has always advocated for increases to the GA staffing entitlement under the formula due to workload. Most recently, this was raised with Secretary of the NSW Department of Education, Murat Dizdar in early 2025. Mr Dizdar committed to a review of the staffing entitlement. However, the increase could only be managed through existing funding, there was no new money. The Department consulted with the union over their proposal, and took on board several suggestions of delegates.
You can read the full bulletin about this HERE.
It’s important to remember the changes being implemented are a departmental decision. While there are some positives, the PSA and General Assistant Advisory Group don’t believe they go far enough and significant workload challenges will remain for GAs and schools. We are aware of this and will continue to raise these concerns with the Department as implementation progresses.
We need your input
Throughout the implementation of this new staffing entitlement methodology, please call the Member Support Centre on 1800 772 679 to report any issues.
Continuing the campaign for better pay and conditions for General Assistants
The PSA, along with your representatives will continue to work on how we can improve conditions and pay for GAs. The Department has reached out to the PSA for our position on updating the GA role description. It has long been the position of the union that GAs, some of the lowest paid staff members in the public service, deserve a pay uplift.
How can you help?
Please ensure your membership details are up to date so you receive our communications. Ensure your payment details are up to date and promote your union to other GAs and FAs!
In coming months, the Advisory Group will be requesting information from you via surveys. The more replies we receive, the better we can represent you, the membership, so please take the time to answer these surveys.
United we stand, divided we beg
Retiring General and Farm Assistants
A shout out to all retiring GAs and FAs, you may be finishing your working life, but you do not need to finish your union life! Think about joining the committee for retired PSA members at a discounted membership fee, while maintaining access to a vast number of member benefits.
You can find out more about the Retired Associates Branch by clicking HERE, emailing or by calling the Member Support Centre.
Delegates
PSA Contacts
Member Support Centre
1800 722 679
Yours in union,
Hayden Berry
Secretary
General Assistants Advisory Group