Schools set to stay open amid teacher strikes, education minister says

The state government said it can keep Victorian public schools open next Tuesday, even if tens of thousands of teachers walk off the job as they reject a 17 per cent pay increase over three years.

The pay offer was the first tabled by the government on Monday in an attempt to avert the first government schools strike in 13 years, but was swiftly rejected by the Australian Education Union (AEU), which labelled the offer “completely unacceptable”.

Education Minister Ben Carroll said on Tuesday that retired teachers, casual relief teachers and education support workers could be deployed to keep schools open during any strike action next Tuesday, and that specialist schools would be prioritised.

But principals had already begun warning families on Monday that alternative arrangements may be needed for their children’s care next week.

It marks the latest chapter in a wage dispute that has already dragged on for eight months, as Victorian teachers – the nation’s lowest-paid public education workforce – chase a 35 per cent pay rise over three years, reduced workloads and improved mental health support.

The AEU’s rejection of the government’s offer on Monday increases the likelihood that teachers across the state’s 1570 government schools will strike next week, but Carroll said the government believed it would have the workforce to keep schools open.

“We think we will still have a workforce. There will be some teachers who don’t want to go out on strike and lose a day’s wages,” the minister said.

“We know there are teachers who will look at this offer and say this is a serious offer, and we will work with them, and we will work with principals and schools and education staff to ensure that schools remain open.”

The uncertainty for families is set to linger for days, with principals warning they will not know until Friday afternoon how many of their school’s staff intend to strike next Tuesday, the Victorian Principals Association confirmed.

“Schools won’t be able to make any firm decisions regarding arrangements for supervision of students on the 24th March until they are advised by the AEU sub-branch of the numbers who will be taking action,” association president Andrew Dalgleish said, saying he believed school leaders would be notified by 5pm Friday.

“Principals will then be advising parents of classes impacted and alternative programs as appropriate on Monday for those parents who may be unable to make alternative arrangements for their children.”

The AEU says the 35 per cent pay bump over three years would bring Victorian teachers into line with their NSW counterparts. A graduate teacher in Victoria earns $78,801 compared with $90,177 in NSW, while the pay gap between experienced classroom teachers is $15,000.

Victorian teachers and the AEU leadership remain incensed at secret cuts to the state school funding exposed by this masthead, which will leave government schools $2.4 billion worse off between now and 2031.

The secret cuts were approved in March 2026 by the government’s Budget and Finance Committee of Cabinet – chaired by Premier Jacinta Allan – despite Carroll’s protests, meaning that Victoria will not fully fund its share of the Gonski school reforms before 2031.

State governments in Western Australia, Tasmania, NSW and South Australia already provide their schools with 75 per cent or more of Gonski funding – a needs-based formula all states have agreed to.

The Commonwealth government is committed to funding the balance, but only once states fully fund their share.

In Victoria, the only jurisdiction in Australia without a published, long-term plan to fully fund the Gonski reforms, government schools will this year receive just 70.4 per cent from the state and 20 per cent from the Commonwealth.

The gap between what government schools get in Victoria and what students need is currently about $1.38 billion.

The simplest way of closing the gap is to pay teachers more through an enterprise bargaining agreement, but Treasurer Jaclyn Symes is struggling to contain public sector wages, which topped $23 billion in the second half of last year, according to a mid-year financial report tabled in state parliament last week.

Carroll has publicly vowed to deliver teachers a “proper pay rise” and provide nationally competitive wages across the government school sector.

The government was hoping to avoid industrial action next week by making what Carroll described as a “significant and genuine” offer. The proposal is for a one-off 8 per cent pay rise this year, followed by annual 3 per cent rises over the next three years.

A meeting of the AEU Victorian branch executive voted on Monday to reject the offer and hold firm for a better deal.

“This offer will do nothing to fix the staffing shortage crisis in Victoria’s public schools,” AEU Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly said in a statement issued late on Monday night.

“How can Education Minister Ben Carroll call Victoria ‘the education state’ while teachers, principals and education support staff are overworked, underpaid, and already leaving the profession in droves?

“The Allan Labor government is overseeing the country’s lowest-funded public education system and is the employer to the nation’s lowest-paid public school teachers.”

AEU members working in public schools will stop work for 24 hours next Tuesday in the first, day-long strike of an increasingly bitter industrial campaign. It would be the first statewide strike action by Victorian teachers since Labor returned to government.

Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts on email or turn on notifications in the app.