About the claim

The Teacher Aides' Pay Equity Claim covered the 22,000 teacher aides who work in state and state-integrated schools and kura in New Zealand. The settlement of the claim corrects past undervaluation of teacher aide work mainly done by women. It acknowledges the skills, responsibilities and demands of teacher aides who support the children needing the most help with their learning.

Outcomes of the settlement

The settlement outcomes included:

• a new work matrix
• for the majority of teacher aides, an increase to pay rates ranging from 19% to 30%
• increases in the Tiaki allowance (formerly dirty work allowance)
• easier access to professional development opportunities
• limitations on the variation of a teacher aide’s assigned working hours
• longer-term work to address other issues affecting teacher aides.

Current employment guidance

Current employment information for teacher aides can be found in the Support Staff in Schools’ Collective Agreement 2022-2024. Part 3A of the agreement covers pay equity requirements, including:

• teacher aides’ pay rates
• the work matrix
• ongoing requirements for schools and kura.

Following the settlement of the claim in 2020, we released guidance to support schools and kura in implementing the changes resulting from the settlement. In November 2023, this guidance was removed as the information is no longer required following the latest updates to the collective agreement.

Ongoing funding

The settlement covered all teacher aides in state and state-integrated schools and kura, including those who may have finished their job on or after 12 February 2020 and started another position at another school, or left the workforce entirely (funding was provided to schools for this in August 2020).

Tiaki allowances

If you have a teacher aide who receives the occasional or regular Tiaki allowance, you will also receive funding for this. This funding is calculated as part of your pay equity settlement funding. It is paid quarterly with the operational grant.

Regular tiaki

Teacher aides who perform tiaki duties at least once per day on average (or up to 5 times per week) will receive a regular tiaki allowance. They will receive this hourly allowance even if they do not have to perform the tiaki work on a certain day (for example if a student is absent from school).

Occasional tiaki

Teacher aides who perform occasional tiaki duties will receive a one-off allowance for each incident. Teacher aides can only apply for 1 allowance per day and can only claim this allowance on days they perform tiaki duties.

We will continue to provide funding for annual progression through the pay steps in which employees are eligible as a result of the settlement.