Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ)
On Thursday tens of thousands of Victorian public school teachers, principals and education support staff are walking off the job in a 24-hour statewide strike.
This means schools will not be operating as usual and union members will gather for a protest march in Melbourne’s CBD.
This is the latest escalation in a dispute with the state government that has been running since mid 2025.
In March, more than 35,000 school staff struck for the first time in 13 years, closing schools region by region over successive days.
Talks over a new industrial agreement have continued in fits and starts since then.
The government put forward an improved offer in May, then another in July, with members voting to reject it both times.
Why are teachers rejecting a ‘generous’ offer?
Union members only narrowly voted to reject the most recent offer (48.8 % wanted to accept it).
On paper, the government’s proposal looks hard to refuse. It includes pay rises of 28.3% to 32.4% over four years, which would take an experienced teacher’s salary from roughly A$118,000 to more than $151,000 by 2029.
Required meeting hours would be halved from 80 hours to 40 hours a year.
But the union argues the offer misses the point.
Teachers, education support staff and principals report working around 12 hours of unpaid overtime a week. Class sizes remain uncapped and face-to-face teaching hours are unchanged.
Shaving one meeting off the week doesn’t significantly alter the administrative load — planning, reporting, individual education plans for students with disabilities, documentation for increasing behavioural issues — that teachers say is really driving them out the door.
How does Victoria compare?
Money is of course a key part of the dispute, because Victoria has fallen behind other jurisdictions.
Graduate teachers currently start on about $79,589, the lowest in the country, compared with about $90,000 in New South Wales and $96,180 in the Northern Territory. An experienced Victorian teacher earns roughly $118,063 versus about $130,000 in NSW.
The proposed deal would close much of that gap on paper, but many teachers argue that pay parity means little if the job itself remains unsustainable.
What the research says teachers actually need
Teachers most often cite high stress, unmanageable workloads and poor work-life balance as key reasons for wanting to leave their jobs.
A 2022 survey of nearly 2,500 Australian teachers found only 41% intended to stay in the profession, with workload, wellbeing and status the dominant themes.
Other studies have found Australian teachers work about 46.5 hours a week. This is well above the OECD average of 41 hours, despite similar time spent actually teaching. The extra hours go largely on administrative work.
This is why researchers argue policy changes must address these root causes rather than relying on pay alone.
These problems are also found overseas
Our 2025 review of teacher recruitment and retention across four countries, including Australia, found the same four issues everywhere: pay, workload, stress and status.
Financial incentives do help recruitment, but only when large enough to offset a tough posting.
Evidence on whether cutting workload improves retention is thinner, not because it doesn’t matter, but because so few interventions have been properly evaluated.
Research indicates teachers want to be trusted and respected for the complex, work they do every day – not only by politicians but also from school community members, the wider public and the media.
Despite Australian teachers rating their profession’s public standing higher than counterparts in England or Sweden, Australian research shows media coverage that dismisses the complexity of the job, amounting to routine “teacher-bashing”.
Professional autonomy is one of the most important factors around teachers staying. Finland’s “trust model” — where teachers are given the space to teach based on their professional judgement, without standardised tests, school inspections, or rankings — is often cited as evidence that more autonomy works.
Here we go again
Short-term fixes alone are unlikely to make teachers safe and satisfied in their jobs.
Teachers say they cannot sustain the workload or emotional toll — they want less admin, better wellbeing support and a lift in professional status.
Addressing workload, investing in real support for teachers and elevating the status of the profession are complex. But this is what the research suggests is needed to reset the system.
If we ignore these bigger issues, teachers are already flagging another strike is on the cards.
Marian Mahat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/22/victorian-teachers-are-striking-again-money-alone-wont-get-them-back-to-school/