Victoria’s school teachers are to become the highest paid in the country, after accepting the state government’s latest pay and conditions offer after a year-long bargaining process. Australian Education Union (AEU) members voted 79% in favour of the offer on Monday, which will deliver total pay rises of between 28.3% and 32.4% over four years, plus a $2,000 bonus at the start of the agreement. The union also confirmed a planned strike will not go ahead on Wednesday.
Under the new deal, early-career teachers will receive a $12,343 increase by October 2026, bringing their pay in line with their counterparts in New South Wales. An experienced teacher’s salary will rise from $118,063 to $151,419 by 2029, including a $15,393 increase in 2026 that puts them ahead of NSW teachers. The deal also improves conditions, including fewer after-school meetings, four professional practice days each year and eight student-free days each year from 2027.
Existing face-to-face teaching hour maximums of 18.5 hours a week for secondary teachers and 21 hours for primary teachers are also secured in the EBA under the offer. While the agreement still needs to go to a ballot of all covered employees, the government has already claimed Monday’s result as a win. The premier, Ben Carroll, who until three weeks ago was the education minister overseeing the negotiations, said the pay rise recognised teachers, principals and education support staff who do “some of the most important work in our state”.
It recognises that great public education starts with valuing the people who deliver it,” he said. According to government sources, part of Carroll’s pitch to Labor MPs for the leadership was that he could resolve the dispute more quickly than Jacinta Allan. After just three weeks in the top job – and only three months until the Victorian election – he has now done that.
How the government pays for it is another question. The deal will cost more than $5.4bn, with the latest offer costing an additional $700m. Some government sources say that money may have to come from the government’s hard-fought surplus.
Carroll has also indicated he will increase school funding to meet federal Gonski standards before November – another key reason the latest offer was accepted – which may cost billions more. The political upside, however, may be worth the financial hit. The deal removes the threat of further strikes before the election, allows Labor MPs to return to school events and means the government can campaign on making Victorian teachers the best paid in the country.
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