2016-12-07
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Education, and it regards contract cleaners in government schools. This issue has been covered in the press over the last week or so. I would like to start by saying that I think there is too much contract employment in the Department of Education and Training as it is; too many teachers, too many teacher aides and too many other support staff are on contracts. This particular adjournment matter is in regard to contract cleaners.
A report by United Voice says that a vicious price war has intensified in relation to government school cleaning. This is not a new issue. There have been a lot of problems going back to 1992, when the previous Kennett government sacked all the full-time cleaners in schools and introduced this system of contract cleaning. It is an issue that has arisen before, and I understand that about 10 years ago a panel was put in place in the department to deal with it, but it seems to have gotten out of control again.
The secretary of United Voice has said that she is aware of cases in which public school cleaning staff are being illegally hired as independent contractors for $8 an hour, cash in hand, that people are working loads of overtime, particularly on weekends, after school hours and before school hours, and that people are not being paid. Last year a report that was given to the government found that 60 per cent of school cleaners surveyed said they were receiving below-award pay and conditions, and it found that there were systemic award breaches identified in 9 out of 14 schools visited in just one week.
This particular issue has raised concerns among the Building Services Contractors Association of Australia, the union and the Fair Work Ombudsman and within the Department of Education and Training itself. An article by Nicholas Toscano in the Age quotes the department as saying that it 'urged affected workers to contact the department's cleaning contracts unit to investigate'. Well, I say that this is not good enough. Asking exploited and vulnerable workers who are afraid of losing their jobs to contact the department is not good enough. In the article the department is also quoted as saying that the hiring of contract cleaners is a school-based decision and principals are expected to oversee it. This also is not good enough. My request of the minister is that he direct the department to conduct a comprehensive audit of how school cleaning contracts are being handled and put in place guidelines or other mechanisms to ensure that this practice is stamped out and that he take action where cleaners have been underpaid.
REPLY on 7 February 2017:
I am informed as follows:
We value our school cleaners and the work they do, and it's concerning to hear reports that some cleaners may have been underpaid.
The Department of Education and Training has a robust framework which all Victorian Government schools must both use and comply with when engaging firms to clean Victorian government schools. The framework establishes the process, standards, criteria for use and entry onto the Cleaning Panel. At the core of the framework is a panel agreement which provides the key criteria and standards for cleaning Victorian Government Schools.
Entry onto the panel requires the requisite level of technical expertise, safety and quality assurance, labour practices, regulatory compliance, appropriate management and the skills to undertake and provide cleaning services. Cleaning contractors must meet strict standards on safety and quality assurance, labour and management practices and regulatory compliance.
The engagement of cleaning contractors is a school-based decision made locally by school councils, which is managed by a robust centralised framework. When selecting an appropriate cleaning contractor, school principals are also expected to review pricing structures contained in cleaning tenders to ensure quoted prices reflect the likely cost of service provision, taking into account relevant pay rates and the expected time cleaning will take.
The Department provides advice and support to schools in engaging contract cleaners in accordance with the requirements of the Cleaning Panel.
Cleaners who are concerned about being underpaid should immediately contact the Department of Education and Training's School Cleaning Contract Unit to investigate.