Victorian public school staff have approved a revised enterprise agreement with a decisive 79% yes vote, ending months of tense bargaining and calling off a planned statewide strike. The result carries extra weight because of what came before it. Earlier in July 2026, more than 60,000 teachers, principals and education support staff rejected an earlier version of the deal. It marked the first time in more than 40 years that Australian Education Union (AEU) members voted down an agreement their own union had endorsed.

Two months later, the mood shifted completely. According to the AEU Victorian Branch, 89% of eligible members participated in the ballot. That turnout tells its own story about how much this decision mattered to the workforce.

What the Agreement Delivers

The headline figure is substantial. An experienced teacher’s salary climbs from $118,063 to $151,419 by 2029. An immediate $15,393 increase places Victorian teachers ahead of their New South Wales counterparts from day one. The deal reaches well beyond top-of-scale teachers. It responds to both financial and professional pressures across the workforce. To begin with, all eligible staff receive a $2,000 cash lump sum when the agreement commences. In addition, early-career teachers gain a $12,343 salary increase. That targets recruitment and retention of new talent entering the profession.

Education support staff, principals and assistant principals are also guaranteed a minimum 28.3% pay rise over the four-year contract period. Furthermore, the union secured a formal reduction in mandatory meeting hours and locked in four professional practice days per year. This directly addressed the workload concerns that derailed the earlier offer. The workload provisions deserve particular attention. Pay grabbed the headlines, yet conditions drove much of the original rejection. The revised agreement acknowledged that reality squarely.

Why Members Said No the First Time

The July rejection reflected genuine strain across the profession. Australian teachers work an average of 46.5 hours per week, well above the OECD average of 40.8 hours. Almost two thirds report high stress, and more than 80% say their job negatively affects their mental health. The retention picture is equally stark. Nearly 47% of Australian teachers are considering leaving the profession within the next 12 months, up from just 14% in 2021.

Those figures point to a profession under serious pressure. They help explain why a pay offer alone was never going to win over members who felt the deeper structural issues remained unaddressed. Against that backdrop, members made a clear judgment in July. A pay increase without meaningful workload change failed to address the core problem. The revised agreement responded directly to that message.

The Gonski Commitment That Shifted the Vote

Money and meeting hours told part of the story, but funding told the rest. The revised offer gained decisive momentum after the Victorian State Government committed to signing a full Gonski funding agreement with the Federal Government. This addressed a grievance the union has carried for more than a decade: the historical underfunding of public schools relative to their enrolment share. For many members, that commitment represented a shift in principle, not just a budget line item. It signalled that the government was prepared to acknowledge the systemic gap rather than simply negotiate around it.

“My priority is delivering full and fair funding for our public school kids,” Education Minister Ben Carroll told the ABC, confirming his intention to complete full funding before November’s election.

Minister Carroll also acknowledged the cost of the revised deal. The total rose from $5 billion to between $5 billion and $5.5 billion over four years. He described the spend as an “investment in the future” rather than a budget burden. The Gonski commitment, backed by Premier Jacinta Allan’s government, carries significance well beyond this single agreement. It establishes a funding baseline for every future negotiation in Victorian public education. It also signals that long-standing grievances about school funding can be resolved through sustained, collective advocacy.

A Workforce Problem the Deal Aims to Solve

The timing of this agreement is significant. Victoria faces a projected deficit of 2,052 teachers by 2030, made up of 1,675 secondary and 439 primary positions. Shortages are most acute in secondary schools, particularly in STEM subjects. The $12,343 boost for early-career teachers targets this problem directly. Competitive starting salaries give school leaders a stronger pitch to graduates weighing teaching against other careers. The interstate pay advantage over New South Wales adds another recruitment lever. Many educators compare conditions across state borders when deciding where to work, and Victoria now holds a clear edge.

Retention gains matter just as much as recruitment. Reduced meeting hours and guaranteed professional practice days give existing staff tangible relief. That relief keeps experienced teachers in classrooms rather than out of the profession entirely. A formal agreement locks in workload reduction as a right, not a request left to school-by-school discretion. Educators who spent years advocating for that change will feel the difference.

What Happens Next

The union vote clears the path, and one formal step remains. More than 95,000 educators will now participate in a formal ballot over the coming weeks to ratify the agreement under the Fair Work Act. Given the 79% endorsement from union members, ratification appears likely. Once complete, the salary increases, the lump sum payment and the workload provisions take legal effect.

The broader lesson from this dispute will outlast the agreement itself. Members rejected an earlier deal, held their position through a strike threat and ultimately secured a stronger outcome. That outcome paired pay with genuine improvements to conditions and a long-term commitment on system funding. The revised agreement also demonstrates that collective bargaining in Australian education can go beyond wage adjustments. It can reach into structural questions about how public schools are funded and how teachers sustain their careers. For educators, school leaders and policymakers watching from other states, the Victorian result sets a clear benchmark for what organised advocacy can achieve.