Overview
- AEU leaders voted Monday night to reject the Allan government's initial proposal after eight months of enterprise bargaining.
- The offer outlined an 8% one-off rise for teachers (4% for education support staff) in April, then 3% annually for three years, totaling about 17% for teachers.
- Public schools will shut for a 24-hour strike on March 24, the first statewide teacher walkout in Victoria since 2013, following a Fair Work–endorsed ballot with 98% support.
- The union is seeking a 35% increase over three years and says the proposal fails to tackle excessive workloads, more than 12 hours of unpaid weekly overtime, and staffing shortages.
- Context cited by the union includes Victoria’s lower teacher pay compared with NSW (graduates $78,801 vs $90,177 and a ~$15,000 gap for experienced teachers) and reported state school funding shortfalls of $2.4 billion to 2031 tied to incomplete Gonski commitments.