The Allan government has been in a dispute with public school staff, who are the lowest paid in the nation, since July. The Australian Education Union’s log of claims also includes smaller classroom sizes, flexible working arrangements and reduced workloads.
The government’s offer will heap further pressure on the state’s finances, but will not be reflected in the May 5 budget, as a deal has not yet been struck, nor a formal offer made to the union.
The December mid-year budget update showed Victoria was forecast to deliver an operating surplus of $710 million this financial year, but to post a cash deficit of $10 billion and remain deep in the red over the forward estimates.
Net debt is tipped to soar to $192 billion in 2028-29, making up 24.9 per cent of the economy. Interest expenses are forecast to cost taxpayers $7.7 billion in 2025-26 and climb to $10.5 billion in 2028-29. Premier Jacinta Allan has said despite her pre-budget spending announcements over the past week, her government would deliver an operating surplus this year.
The government wants to avoid a protracted fight with teachers before the election. The union last week revealed rolling strikes would force the shutdown of schools in May and June.
Striking teachers from Melbourne’s western suburbs were planning to protest outside Carroll’s electorate office in Niddrie on Wednesday, while educators from the regional towns of Bendigo, Castlemaine, Kyneton and Maryborough are preparing to descend on Allan’s Bendigo East electorate office on May 13.
The AEU, which has campaigned for Labor in the past two state elections, has also effectively banned Labor MPs from visiting public schools as they campaign for re-election.
A Victorian government spokeswoman said negotiations with the union had “accelerated” and were being held in good faith.
“We recognise that our public school teachers and school staff have always deserved a pay rise,” the spokeswoman said. “We urge unions to keep students in the classroom and not disrupt families when considering further industrial action.”
Public school teachers are incensed that the union, under then-branch president Meredith Peace, signed a weak workplace agreement in 2022 that provided them with a 2 per cent annual pay rise over the next four years, well below the inflation rate.
In NSW, teachers received a one-year catch-up pay increase of 8-12 per cent in late 2023 followed by a three-year pay deal offering a 10 per cent increase in total pay. The 2022 deal now makes Victorian teachers the lowest-paid and the state’s public schools the lowest-funded.
By October, an experienced Victorian teacher will be paid $118,000 compared with their NSW counterparts, who will be on $133,400, according to the AEU. Entry-level Victorian teachers will receive a salary of $79,600 compared with $92,900 in NSW.
Carroll last month claimed the government’s offer was closer to 18.5 per cent, as it included a commuted allowance, which is an agreement between an employer and its workers in lieu of overtime and shift allowances. He said the government’s initial offer equated to $2.6 billion in extra wages and would immediately lift educators’ pay by up to $11,000.
“These are the dedicated professionals whose work helps to shape the course of children and young people’s lives, but Premier Jacinta Allan and Education Minister Ben Carroll are taking them for granted,” AEU Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly said last week.
“If they care about public school students and families, and want to properly address chronic staffing shortages, they need to immediately fully fund public schools and offer public school staff pay increases that properly reflect the value of their work.”
The union was contacted for comment.
