Workload Planner and 2026 AWM Implementation

As discussed at two previous Faculty Forums, for 2026 we are making changes to the way the workload model is implemented. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the Fair Work Amendment aims to convert casual and fixed-term academic roles to permanent positions. This means we can no longer rely to the same extent we have in the past on fixed-term and casual staff. To meet our ongoing needs, we’ll need to have a clear picture of our workload needs well in advance, so we can plan and prepare.

To achieve this, we’re establishing a 3-year rolling Unit Schedule of all units across the Faculty, and introducing a new Unit Workload Planner as a tool to help you calculate workload hours associated with a unit. The Unit Schedule is yet to be developed, but we now have access to the Unit Workload Planner.

The Unit Workload Planner can be downloaded at the link  here.

Please note you’ll be able to view and download this file, but not edit the file online. My huge thanks to Nick Sanders who has developed this. It’s been a large body of work to bring all this together in alignment with the AWM, and WAMS requirements. Nick has designed this to provide a similar experience to the Casual Request templates previously used by the Faculty. Nick has indicated he will attend Discipline meetings in the near future to go through the worksheet and address any questions. Once downloaded, you may edit the Planner, and there is also scope to work with Nick to modify further to meet any local requirements. Any future updates to the planner will use the same link, so please bookmark that so you can return to it when updates occur.

I encourage staff to use this tool with as much accuracy as possible. The hours are indicative only, it is NOT the final plan for your workload for a year, and you will still need our professional staff support to enter this data into WAMS, which will then be reviewed by your workload supervisor. Your workload supervisors, typically your Head of Department, may advise you to make changes to your proposed plan, such as to reduce the complexity of work required, to modify the nature of assessments to align with policy and procedures, and to adhere to expected hours of teaching within units to ensure we’re neither under- nor over-teaching.

The schedule will be open and accessible to all staff across your school, to enable all Unit and Course Coordinators in other disciplines to plan their offerings accordingly and to ensure that, as Schools, we have a robust and diverse suite of offerings in each Trimester. This schedule will include:

1. When the unit is offered.
2. Which permanent staff member is coordinating the unit.
3. When the unit is scheduled for preparation and development above a ‘Standard’ complexity.
4. When staff are planning SSP and LSL.
5. An estimate of the workload hours involved in the teaching of these units.

I acknowledge that while all of this is subject to change, it at least helps us plan and prepare.

The first point, ‘When the unit is offered’, is perhaps the easiest. I encourage Disciplines, Teams, and Departments to work together to plan their schedule for the next three years, ensuring diversity of offerings in each Trimester, ensuring each course has a ‘Course Opening’ unit in each Trimester, but reducing the repetition/duplication of units within a given year.

The second point, ‘Which permanent staff member is coordinating the unit’, is an important one. Every unit must have a permanent staff member listed as Unit Coordinator, and I ask all academic staff to please prioritise this task, above all other teaching activities, in their workload planning. Having a fixed nominated staff member as the Unit Coordinator for units is the most important aspect of our future planning. In collaboration with Disciplines, Teams, and Departments, Academic staff should plan the schedule, and the coordination of units, to strive for an equitable and balanced distribution of units among staff. This will vary from discipline to discipline, but I encourage areas to consider some principles to follow to guide how they seek this balance. For example, perhaps every staff in your area coordinates 1x 100-level unit, and 3x 300/500 level units each year.

The third point, ‘When the unit is scheduled for preparation and development above a ‘Standard’ complexity’, is designed to strive for an equitable distribution of unit development work among academic staff. While everyone should have an equitable distribution of Unit Coordination work via the second point, this third point is designed to ensure that all academic staff have equitable opportunities to develop the content within those units. Again, in collaboration with your areas, please work on a schedule that distributes this work fairly and equitably.

The fourth point, ‘When staff are planning SSP and LSL’, helps us to plan and prepare for the gaps in our teaching. It is important to note that these are subject to change, but they at least help us prepare in advance. I understand and respect that SSP is never guaranteed, and LSL plans may change, but the more advanced knowledge we have of intentions to not be available to coordinate units, the better we are able to find replacement staff. In nominating periods of SSP and LSL, please still keep your name next to Unit Coordination activities on the schedule, but clearly flag that as an intended absence.

The fifth point, ‘An estimate of the workload hours involved in the teaching of these units’, brings even greater clarity and accuracy to our planning. Via the new Unit Workload Planner, every academic staff member should take the units they’re allocated in the first point, and detail the workload involved in those units. Every person should detail the aspects of the work they are directly involved in, and what they are likely to need additional workload support for. The planner will then provide an overall summary of every individual workload allocations [thus enabling you to personally plan your workload for the year], plus provide a summary of the workload associated with a unit and additional resources required [thus enabling us to plan our staffing needs].

I’m confident that this process creates a more transparent, equitable and fair distribution of workload across academic staff. It is my hope that this will enhance staff agency, and enable both academics and their supervisors to prepare and plan for future workloads. This will give all academic staff a greater degree of freedom and flexibility to shape their teaching activities.