Thousands of Victorian families were left scrambling for the school day on Tuesday as public school teachers, principals and education support staff staged their first statewide strike in 13 years, turning a long-running pay dispute with the Allan government into one of the biggest education flashpoints in the state in more than a decade.
The Australian Education Union says about 30,000 staff stopped work for 24 hours, with up to 500 government schools either closed or heavily disrupted.
The industrial action followed months of bargaining over a new Victorian Government Schools Agreement. Teachers last week rejected an offer the union described as a 17 per cent rise over four years, including an 8 per cent increase for teachers and a 4 per cent rise for education support staff from April, followed by 3 per cent annual increases over the next three years.
Education Minister Ben Carroll has argued the package is worth about 18.5 per cent once allowances are counted, calling it a strong offer.
Union leaders say the dispute is not only about wages, but about whether Victoria can hold on to teachers already stretched by workload, shortages and growing classroom pressure. The AEU is seeking a 35 per cent pay rise over four years, along with smaller class sizes and stronger mental health and classroom support.
It says Victorian teachers remain paid well below colleagues in other states, with the gap particularly sharp along border communities such as Wodonga, where staff can earn substantially more by crossing into New South Wales.
AEU Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly said members had reached a breaking point after months of negotiations failed to deliver an offer they considered fair. The union has also accused the Allan government of leaving public schools underfunded and says the pay gap is worsening staff shortages across the system.
Earlier this year, the union said Victoria’s teachers could be earning as much as $15,359 less than their NSW counterparts by October 2026, while it has linked the broader dispute to delayed public school funding.
Premier Jacinta Allan urged teachers to call off the strike, saying families were already under pressure and that industrial action would only deepen the disruption. The state government has insisted all schools were expected to remain open in some form, but conceded many could offer only limited supervision rather than normal classes. Some principals told families ahead of the strike that support would be prioritised for children of emergency workers, underscoring how stretched the system had become even before staff walked off the job.
The strike itself was backed overwhelmingly by union members, with 98 per cent voting in favour of protected industrial action after the Fair Work Commission approved the move. Thousands gathered at Trades Hall before marching to Parliament House in Melbourne, while regional actions were also held across the state.
In Wodonga, teachers rallied at the Murray River border to highlight the salary gap with NSW. The Independent Education Union, representing Catholic and independent school staff, publicly backed their public-sector colleagues, even though those schools were not part of the stoppage.
What happens next now depends on whether both sides can return to the bargaining table with a revised offer.
The AEU has made clear that today’s walkout may not be the end of the campaign, warning more industrial action could follow if the government does not improve its position. For the Allan government, the dispute is becoming a political test of its claim to lead the “education state”. For teachers, it is a fight over whether the profession in Victoria can still attract and keep the staff students need.
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