Public school teachers in Victoria are poised to pocket Australia's fattest pay cheques, with a third statewide strike canned after a sweetened offer was accepted.
Teachers, principals and support staff in Victoria's public system endorsed a minimum pay increase of 28.3 per cent over four years after 79 per cent of voting Australian Education Union members backed the offer.
The deal, which is expected to cost taxpayers $5.4 billion over the life of the agreement, brings to a close a protracted industrial dispute that sparked two strikes.
A third statewide strike, which had been scheduled for Wednesday, has been called off.
Public school teachers and other education staff had been locked in a fierce dispute with the Labor state government for more than a year as the union pushed for better working conditions and a 35 per cent pay rise over four years.
Northern Territory teachers are the highest-paid in Australia, with their wages ranging from a starting base of $96,180 up to $136,997 for experienced classroom teachers.
Under the new deal, Victorian teachers will take that title after they were previously the worst-paid in the nation.
All teachers’ salaries will jump by a minimum of 13.04 per cent, with increases of between 4.0 and 4.9 per cent from 2026 until 2029.
An experienced teacher’s pay will increase to about $151,000 by 2029, while graduate teachers can expect to pull in an extra $12,343 by October 2026, bringing the cohort in line with NSW.
"Today, resoundingly, we are delivering the best pay and conditions for Victorian teachers," Premier Ben Carroll told reporters on Monday.
The latest offer included a one-off $2000 bonus and a one per cent annual lump-sum payment for staff at the top of their pay scales.
It also featured a cap on face-to-face teaching hours and maintained a reduction in annual meeting commitments from 80 hours to 40 hours.
"There are some real improvements when it comes to recognition of the experience of teachers, education support and school leaders who are at the top of their pay scale with further allowances," the union's Victorian president Justin Mullaly said.
The revised offer was the first put to the union since Education Minister Gabrielle Williams took over the portfolio from now-premier Mr Carroll.
An estimated 35,000 protesters marched through Melbourne's city centre in March, the first action of its kind in 13 years.
It was followed by a second strike in July, which drew an estimated 20,000 protesters into central Melbourne, after another offer was shot down by 51 per cent of members.
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson labelled Mr Carroll "incompetent" for failing to broker the deal sooner.
"We've seen lost days of learning under Ben Carroll," she said.
Ms Williams said she was confident the deal would be in force by October but it still faced a vote of all employees as required under the Fair Work Act.
Fight the Crisis, a group of rank-and-file union members, said it remained opposed to the deal and would resist its "untenable terms".
