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The wages of Victoria’s 34,000 government school classroom assistants have emerged as a flashpoint in the escalating teachers’ pay dispute that shut classrooms in hundreds of schools across the state on Tuesday.
Thousands of education support workers were among the 35,000 Australian Education Union (AEU) members who walked off the job on Tuesday and thronged into Melbourne’s CBD for a giant rally demanding a better deal on pay and conditions from the Allan Labor government.
The government has offered that cohort a significantly lower pay rise than that being offered to teachers and principals, which the union says is “insulting”.
With the two sides of the dispute still far apart on a number of key issues, parents across the state could be facing months of sustained disruption to their children’s schooling. The union has threatened further strikes and bans on routine school tasks such as fielding calls or emails from parents and writing school reports.
Officials from the Department of Education and the AEU were back at the negotiating table on Wednesday, but there are significant sticking points, and the wage offer to the classroom assistants could be a key barrier to an early settlement, according to sources on both sides.
The union rejected an offer last week of a four-year deal for teachers and principals of a 17 per cent wage increase plus 1.5 per cent overtime allowance as “totally unacceptable”. The offer, which the union rejected hours after receiving it, included a 13 per cent pay rise, plus the overtime allowance, for support workers.
The AEU is demanding a single pay offer for all the teachers, principals and support staff, who are all employed under the Victorian Government Schools Agreement.
Education support staff, whose entry-level annual salaries are under $52,000, work with students in classrooms, especially those with complex needs.
AEU Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly said they also work as school psychologists, business managers, in school offices, libraries, in IT and other roles.
“They are a common point of contact for parents, and are closely involved with students who need addition support with their learning and wellbeing,” Mullaly said.
“Without these essential workers, our students cannot access education.
“The Allan Labor Government’s offer of just 4 per cent in 2026 for education support staff, is insulting.“
A spokesperson for Education Minister Ben Carroll said education support staff were paid on a different scale to teachers because they held different qualifications, but under the government’s offer, education support workers would earn a minimum of $720 more each month.
“The significant offer we put to unions reflects the important work our educators do every day teaching and shaping our youngest Victorians,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to negotiate in good faith.”
Other sticking points in the talks include the Education Department’s proposal to changes work allocations.
The union claims, and the department denies, that this would remove the caps on face-to-face teaching and class sizes mandated in the current agreement.
The two sides are also a long way apart on pupil-free days. The teachers have asked for five more each year, in addition to the existing five, but the government has offered one “professional development day”, which would be taken on one of the existing student-free days.
The union did not respond to a request for comment before deadline.
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