Part-time teaching in art education discouraged
March 11 2026
From 1 March 2026, any arts teacher who signs a contract for less than one-third of full-time hours will lose their income guarantee and their entitlement to benefits, under the government’s planned changes to unemployment regulations[1].
In principle, the income guarantee allows anyone who accepts a part-time teaching position in arts education to have their unemployment benefit adjusted in proportion to the total amount to which they would normally be entitled. The status of continued entitlement allows the holder, at the end of a temporary (part-time) assignment in arts education, to regain without restriction the right to the arts worker’s allowance they previously enjoyed.
The removal of these measures will inevitably discourage part-time work, making artists less inclined to accept part-time assignments in arts education. Without income guarantees and the maintenance of rights, part-time work in education will no longer be financially viable.
Academies, secondary schools and higher education institutions offering arts education are therefore at risk of no longer being able to find teachers willing to work part-time, which will compromise their functioning and their educational mission.
This measure also appears to run counter to the government’s objective of increasing the employment rate to 80% by 2029. In effect, it encourages artists to remain completely unemployed rather than accept part-time work.
It goes without saying that arts education fulfils an educational mission and also offers essential cultural activities (concerts, exhibitions, performances) while contributing to social cohesion and the local economy.
In addition, these changes to unemployment regulations run counter to the recently implemented reform of the arts work scheme, which allows artists and other workers in the arts sector to combine work and periods of inactivity without risk.
Employment Minister David Clarinval says he is aware of the problem. It is possible that the scheme in question will be amended, but nothing is clear at this stage. Following the federal government’s already announced plans to link the deduction of flat-rate expenses in the tax regime for income from copyright and related rights to the arts work certificate (and the absurd effects that would result) and the arbitrary distinction between different disciplines or genres in terms of VAT rates for tickets in the cultural sector, this is yet another incomprehensible decision by the current federal government for the entire arts sector.
PlayRight continues to monitor this issue in collaboration with other players in the cultural world at large.
[1] Please refer to the programme law of 18 July 2025: