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Half-day strikes at government schools across the state, which were set to begin this week, have been postponed after the Australian Education Union and state government announced they had made strong progress towards a new deal for educators over the weekend.
Thousands of government school educators in Melbourne’s north-west were preparing to walk off the job on Wednesday morning in support of the AEU’s push for a 35 per cent pay rise over three years.
Protesters in the Melbourne CBD during the school strike.Louis Trerise
A half-day strike on Wednesday was set to be the first in a rolling series of actions across the state, with teachers in the north-west planning to descend on the Education Minister Ben Carroll’s electorate office in Niddrie the day after the state budget.
Schools across a broad swathe of the city’s south-east were set to be next, with other regional and metro areas to follow, with the campaign scheduled to continue until June 22.
But on Monday morning it was announced the strikes would be on hold for a fortnight after successful negotiations between the union and the Department of Education over the weekend.
AEU Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly said the two sides were inching closer to securing pay increases aligned with other states and territories for education support staff, teachers and school leaders.
“For the AEU this means closing the percentage gap between Victorian wages and those of public education workers in NSW in 2026, with further strong increases in subsequent years,” he said.
Mullaly said they were delaying the stop-work action of AEU members for “intensive negotiations” and to maximise the best chance for an “in-principal agreement to be reached”.
“This means that the actions scheduled for this week and next week will not go ahead as previously advised,” he said.
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But other industrial bans would continue. Since term 2 began on April 20, as part of the action, teachers have refused to answer emails from the Department of Education, have banned school visits from state Labor MPs and will not write comments on semester record cards for parents
Mullaly said it was because of AEU members’ campaign that they were closer to reaching an in-principle Victorian Schools Agreement.
The AEU’s 24-hour teacher strike in March, the first in 13 years, had more than 35,000 education staff marching to Parliament House in Melbourne’s CBD and families scrambling for alternative care.
The state government indicated in April that it planned to offer 28 per cent over four years, but it’s unclear what has been offered over the weekend.
Victorian Principals Association president Andrew Dalgleish said the pause minimised disruption on schools while teachers assessed the details of the government’s offer.
Dalgleish said the 28 per cent offer, which has not been officially confirmed, was “significant”.
“It’s a significant offer and will put teachers and principals in line or even above employees in other states and recognise the work they do,” he said.
He said the pause would be welcome news to many parents and schools, including teachers who forfeited pay for strike action.
“In the current climate that isn’t easy for anybody. It shows a determination to ensure they are paid appropriately. “
Still, teachers were not only demanding a pay increase but improvement in their conditions, which Dalgleish said negotiators were also focusing on.
“We see people are walking away [from the industry] for reasons other than the salary. It’s the challenges around the work, the cognitive load and that’s why the conditions negotiation is so important as well.”
More to come.
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Nicole Precel is an education reporter at The Age. She was previously an audio video producer. She is also a documentary maker. Get in touch at nicole.precel@theage.com.auConnect via X, Facebook or email.
Jackson Graham is an education reporter at The Age. He was previously an explainer reporter.Connect via email.From our partners