During enterprise bargaining, both the university and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) expressed a desire to reduce work currently being undertaken by casual and sessional academic staff. Following negotiation, the university and the NTEU agreed upon a program to transition some work undertaken by casual and sessional academics to ongoing academics.

Under the program, the university agreed to reduce to and maintain a ratio of casual and sessional academic staff full-time equivalent (FTE) to non-casual and non-sessional academic staff FTE of 30% to 70% by the expiry of the ACU Staff Enterprise Agreement 2022-2025 (the Agreement).

This was formalised in the clause, 'Conversion from Casual / Sessional Academic Employment' of the ACU Staff Enterprise Agreement 2022 - 2025 (the Agreement).

Full details relating to the program are available in clause 6.8.3 of the Agreement.

Aim of the program

The aim of the program is to transition work currently performed by casual academic staff, to ongoing academic positions. Academic staff members appointed through the program will primarily perform teaching work that was previously performed by casual staff members.

The created positions will be:

• continuing / ongoing, and will be between a minimum of 0.4 full-time equivalent (FTE) and full-time (1.0 FTE);
• advertised exclusively in the first instance, to casual and sessional academic staff who
  • have been awarded a PhD or have submitted a PhD thesis for examination (other than in circumstances where a PhD is not normally required for appointment); and
  • have casual experience totalling at least 2 teaching terms (study periods) at the University in the previous two years; and
  • have not held a continuing position in a university in the previous three years.

Appointment to positions under the program will be based on competence, following ACU's normal recruitment requirements.

Full details relating to the program are available in clause 6.8.3 of the Agreement, or the Frequently Asked Questions page.

What's next?

Whenever a position created under the program is open for recruitment, current and former casual academic staff, will be notified by email. Current and former casual academic staff who are interested in applying for a position, can do so by following the instructions provided in the notification email.

Frequently Asked Questions

Key contacts

Email ACUContinuingEmploymentProgram@acu.edu.au

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