Gary Bates, Department of Education and Training Employment

Mr THOMAS GEORGE (Lismore) [7.06 p.m.]: I ask the Minister for Local Government, who is in the chair, to convey my message to the Acting Minister for Education and Training in the other place. I make a plea on behalf of Gary Bates, who is a ground assistant at two schools in the Lismore area. Gary, formerly a teacher, was medically retired in 2001. Since 2004 he has been employed as a ground assistant at both Lismore South Public School and Albert Park Public School. I have no hesitation in saying that he is one of the best ground assistants I have seen at any school. When Gary medically retired in 2001 he signed a form undertaking not to seek or accept employment directly or indirectly with the New South Wales Department of Education and Training. When he was given the job of ground assistant in 2004, the occupational health and safety branch of the department apparently did not know that he had signed the form. When a memorandum for conversion from temporary to permanent ground assistant was circulated at the end of 2005, Gary applied for permanency. It was then that the occupational health and safety branch became involved.

Apparently when Gary was medically retired from teaching he signed this form, but through further training he became an outstanding ground assistant. Gary, whom I have known for years, is a great musician. He is actively involved in numerous performing arts on the North Coast, providing his skills as a musician and his expertise in the supply and operation of sound and lighting equipment for many districts and sub-regional activities. He does countless hours of voluntary work. For example, over the past couple of months Gary has supported performances at the Lismore Performing Arts Festival, the Casino-Kyogle Performing Arts Festival, the Coastal Kidz PAF at Ballina, the Lennox Head Public School concert, the Goonellabah Public School Carols by Candlelight, and the list goes on. Tonight I make a plea on behalf of Gary and I produce documentation to support that plea. In 2006 TAFE introduced a special course for people to be trained as a general assistant and farm assistant in schools. Gary applied to the Department of Education and Training to enrol in the course. He received a letter from SASS Traineeships of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training, which stated:

Dear Gary

Re: Your Expression of Interest - Certificate III Education Support Traineeship.

Thank you for your expression of interest in the traineeship program. From the information you have provided you are eligible for a traineeship under this program.

So Gary signed up for the course, which was paid for by the Department of Education and Training. He is a general assistant trainee and he is doing a magnificent job as a general assistant at two schools. But he was told in the last few weeks that a permanent position is being advertised for the two schools and that he cannot apply for the job because he signed documentation back in 2001 on the steps of the courthouse in Lismore. He strongly feels that the legal documentation covers him from a teaching perspective and that if he were offered a job back at school tomorrow on the education side as a teacher he would have to be honest and say he could not handle it. But as a general assistant—and voluntarily doing a lot of work to support music studies within those two schools—he has done a magnificent job.

The job was advertised, but he was told he could not apply for it. The parents and citizens associations from both those schools have contacted me to support Gary's application. I ask the Minister whether he could look at this case with an open mind. Regardless of Gary signing that documentation, he has put 100 per cent effort into this position since 2004 and he is on the road to recovery. He is an outstanding citizen. I make a plea on his behalf to see whether he could be considered for full-time work as a general assistant. He retired from the pressure of school teaching, not from physical work. I ask the Minister for Local Government, who is at the table, to pass on this plea to the Acting Minister for Education and Training.