More than 200 staff affected in Maitland-Newcastle Catholic schools restructure
More than 200 staff at 58 Catholic schools in Maitland-Newcastle face job loss or redeployment.
The scale of the changes to Catholic schools in Maitland-Newcastle is now clear. More than 200 staff will be affected across the 58-school diocese.
Staff were told in late August of proposed changes and had to decide their next move by September 11. The diocese has not confirmed how many were let go versus redeployed.
Teacher-librarians could leave primary schools, with other support staff potentially seeing roles reduced. These staff help Aboriginal students and students learning English as an added language or dialect.
The Independent Education Union represents these staff. They believe the overhaul is driven by cost-cutting and a change in priorities.
Union secretary Carol Matthews said staff cuts risk damaging teaching quality and learning outcomes. Parents launched a petition calling for transparency and accountability over the proposed changes.
About 700 have signed. The diocese was expected to finalize positions in the week after the report.
- 58
- Schools affected
- more than 200
- Staff impacted
- 1427
- Full-time employees in 2025
- 1686
- Part-time employees in 2025
Why it mattersThe loss of specialist staff and teacher-librarians will directly affect vulnerable students. It will also reduce the support services that parents expected when they enrolled their children.
AustraliaFamilies in NSW Catholic schools will see fewer specialist staff and library services, and hundreds of education workers face job cuts.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 10 d ago
