NTEU UC Bargaining Update

Member Meeting, 18 February 2026, 12.30pm – Room 2B07 (RSVP here) and online (register if attending via Zoom)

Members welcome, and UC staff yet to join can join prior at www.nteu.au/join

Academic Workloads - Flexibility is more than bending over backwards

Yesterday we returned to the bargaining table for the first time in 2026 for the first of several sessions where workloads will be a key part of discussion. Yesterday, we discussed Academic Workloads.

For both academic and professional staff, workloads are a huge source of concern at the University of Canberra. We have Professional Staff Workloads scheduled for March, and further Academic Workload discussions scheduled for April. In the meantime, UC will be consulting on workloads across the University and we encourage members to attend.

Now is the time for UC staff to decide whether decisions about the future of your workloads will be made with you, or for you.

Talk to your colleagues and let them know that the best way to ensure that staff have a strong voice in determining what their workload looks like is to join the NTEU at www.nteu.au/join.

Academic Workloads

Our key Academic Workloads claim is for collegial determination of workload guidelines. That means that workload guidelines need to be genuinely consulted on, and – importantly – endorsed by staff. This is a key safeguard to ensure that the time allocated for activities is reasonable, and that ‘invisible work’ can be identified and included.

UC staff work tremendously hard. We appreciate that there was recognition of that fact by the UC Management Team, and a clear consensus on Academic Workloads that things need to change. That’s clear from our consultation feedback, from UC’s staff survey results, and from your day-to-day experience.

Staff at UC often go above and beyond because you care about your students, your research, and the broader mission of the University. That should not be exploited. We need to ensure that workload expectations do not create psychosocial hazards and are consistent with staff working in a safe and healthy way.

There was also a lot of talk from UC Management about flexibility. We’re concerned, however, that much of that discussion focused on safeguards built into the workload clause – like the weekly teaching caps, and the 8-week block to focus on activities other than teaching. We all support flexibility, but it cannot come at the expense of key safeguards which protect against staff burnout.

There will no doubt be more to come on this, as we engage with members, and UC undertakes their own consultation sessions – we encourage you to attend and highlight concerns you have in relation to workloads.

Change Management and Redundancies up next

Our next bargaining meeting is on 11 February, and we’ve got some meaty topics – change management and redundancy (which also continues into our 25 February meeting). We all know that recent processes at UC could have been better, so now is our chance to make positive changes.

Member Meeting – 18 February

We’re holding a member meeting on 18 February in Room 2B07 and online. In-person attendance is preferred if possible. RSVP here, and if you'll attend via Zoom, please register here. We’ll discuss where we’ve got to so far, and options we’ll need to consider, together, if we don’t see movement at the bargaining table.

This meeting is for NTEU members only, but those who are not yet members can join the union prior to the meeting at www.nteu.au/join and attend.

We’re coming to important stages of bargaining – it’s time to talk to your colleagues and remind them we’re stronger together. UC staff deserve to be valued, supported, and respected.

In solidarity,

NTEU UC Bargaining Team

Lachlan, Craig, Bethany, Katie, Denise and Luke

Meeting 4: 28 January 2026