ATSOs are employed by the NSW Department of Education on a temporary basis during the school year.

ATSOs are employed under two categories:

Long Term Temporary (LTT) – ATSOs who are engaged on a temporary contract to provide services during school term time (up to four school terms a year). LTTs working in the morning and the afternoon on the same day are paid an additional 15% to the normal LTT daily rate.

Short Term Temporary (STT) – Relief ATSOs who can be placed on a run when the LTT ATSO is unavailable.

Learn more about types of employment.

Please refer to the ASTP Online for ATSOs user guide for step by step instructions on how to submit your ATSO pay claim for the pay period ending.

The ASTP checks all information for accuracy. This process requires a number of steps before funds can be released to your bank account.

• Delays in submitting and certifying claims
• Missing or incorrect information including:
  • student absences
  • run number
  • employee number
  • hours or minutes worked
  • leave or overtime

Please include details of any extra time you have claimed from your regular hours worked (e.g. road closures, training, 'home alone' incidents).

Not all courses attract a payment and ATSOs will be advised by the ASTP when relevant training is to be undertaken and how they can claim, or how payments are to be made.

The ATSO training framework outlines the applicable payment arrangements for certain courses.

If additional training is required for students with higher level needs (e.g. specialised health care), the school is required to make arrangements with the ASTP. The ATSO will be advised of the amount they can claim.

• Training during school holidays is paid at STTs rate for all ATSOs
• Travel time to and from training is not claimable

Long Term Temporary employees (LTTs) are entitled to payment for up to five (5) consecutive days the student is absent from the run. LTTs who job share are only entitled to claim for student absences for the days normally worked.

Short Term Temporary employees (STTs) are not entitled to payment for student absences.

An exception may occur if you were not notified before the journey started. In this situation, please provide additional information with your pay claim.

• School Development Days (no students attending school) are not paid to ATSOs.
• LTTs are paid for public holidays, strike days, emergency school closures such as fire and flooding, during your contracted period. You need to record this on your pay claim form.
• STTs are not entitled to be paid for these days.

The start time you put on your claim form should be the time the driver picks you up from the mutually agreed pickup/drop off point. The finish time is when the driver drops you back at the agreed pickup/drop off point.

• All leave and overtime is processed separately by EDConnect, Bathurst
• Training completed when students are absent, or during school holidays, does not attract overtime.

Drivers can work as an ATSO. Approval from ASTP is required for a driver to be a relief ATSO on a run. Drivers must submit an ATSO pay claim to be paid for an ATSO run.