AEU Annual Jean Pavy Award

The Jean Pavy Award is an annual award presented by the AEU (SA Branch) to acknowledge the amazing contribution of Jean Pavy to public education, equal pay for women and women’s rights in South Australia. The award is used to celebrate Jean’s achievements and those of South Australian public school students who receive a Merit in SACE Stage II Women's Studies.

Successful students are honored at an award ceremony where they are presented with a certificate of achievement and a prize. At this ceremony, the AEU also acknowledges the important contributions of the teachers to the success of these students.  It is through their passion and commitment that so many students have received this award since it was introduced in 1996. 

2022 Jean Pavy Award Recipients

Successful students are honored at an award ceremony where they are presented with a certificate of achievement and a prize. At this ceremony, the AEU also acknowledges the important contributions of the teachers to the success of these students.  It is through their passion and commitment that so many students have received this award since it was introduced in 1996. 

Recipient: Nicolas Newman Bergoc of Brighton Secondary School, Teacher and AEU Member: Rikki Hill

Recipient: Shamiama Shahid of Roma Mitchell Secondary College, Teacher and AEU Member: Rachel Wood

Why Jean Pavy?

In 1995 the South Australian Institute of Teachers (SAIT) (now AEU SA Branch) initiated the Jean Pavy Award to acknowledge those public school student's who achieved a merit in Year 12 Women's Studies, Stage II.

Jean Pavy was a committed activist and office holder in SAIT. While Deputy Principal at Lockleys Primary School in 1960 she became the Vice President of the Women's Branch of SAIT and the President of the Primary Teachers Association. In 1962 while she was the Deputy at Thebarton Primary, she became President of the Women's Branch. Her time as President was marked by SAIT's Campaign for Equal Pay.  Jean, like many women teachers of the time, was angered by the fact that due to an early 20th Century ruling by the Commonwealth Industrial Relations Commission, women received less pay for the same work as men.

Jean was both a member of the Equal Pay Council of Australia and a founder of the SAIT Equal Pay Committee. She was also the first woman to represent Australia at a world conference when she attended the World Conference on Teachers in Stockholm in 1962. In 1964, frustrated at the lack of progress around equal pay issues, she led a delegation to Premier Playford on the matter.
Through the efforts of Jean Pavy and her colleagues, women teachers in South Australia finally won the right to equal pay for equal work in 1970.