2025/6 School Teachers Bargaining

6 min read

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Recognise our experience

Claim descriptionOutcomeDetails
1. Recognise and reward experienceIntroduce remuneration and improved conditions for experienced staff that incentivise staying in the job. Experience at-level is hugely valuable to our schools and should be recognised.
2. Nation leading payACT teachers, school psychologists and school leaders must be the highest paid in Australia.  15.10.25 outlined AEU claim
3. Real wages increase Salary increases must ensure AEU members see real-terms wage growth in every year of the agreement.15.10.25 outlined AEU claim
4. Annual leave loading equityExtend annual leave loading to all school leaders under the same provisions that apply to classroom teachers and school psychologists. 01.10.25 outlined AEU claim
5. Employer-funded registrationThe employer should pay annual professional registration fees, recognising this as an essential cost of maintaining a qualified workforce.15.10.25 outlined AEU claim
6. Better recognise inclusion workIncrease the existing special education allowance, ensure that the criteria for receiving the allowance are clear and the allowance aligns with current inclusion education practices. Clarify eligibility to ensure all educators working in specialist settings (including flexible education) receive the allowance.  

Respect our Leaders

Claim descriptionOutcomeDetails
7. Principal classification reformFix the principal pay structure, which currently creates a disincentive for mobility and provides no recognition or reward for experience.
8. School leader role claritySchool Leaders B and C are crucial, but their work is often overlooked and misunderstood. Commit to a joint AEU-Education Directorate review of these positions that genuinely listens to the needs of SLB and SLC AEU members, covering role clarity, job demands, career development, face to face teaching hours, release time and support. 29.10.25 outlined AEU claim
9. Higher duties from day oneEliminate the qualifying period for higher duties allowance. On every occasion someone is required to perform higher duties, regardless of duration, they must receive appropriate remuneration01.10.25 outlined AEU claim
10. Improve school leader recruitmentReform school leader recruitment processes to provide consistency, meaningfully recognise school leader expertise and experience, and enhance career development opportunities.
11. School leader recovery leaveMake recovery leave available to all principals and SLBs. Recovery leave acknowledges that our system demands periods of excessive hours from principals and SLBs and provides a mechanism to ensure they can take periods of genuine rest. 01.10.25 outlined AEU claim

Fix our System

Claim descriptionOutcomeDetails
12. Guaranteed minimum staffing structureEstablish and fund minimum school staffing structure. This must address the needs of schools to have a diverse range of professionals to support our students. A guaranteed minimum staffing structure must address the need for every school to have sufficient school leaders, classroom teachers, as well as classroom support with LSAs, effective access to school psychologists, specialist program teachers, dedicated qualified teacher librarians, qualified career development practitioners, and sufficient administrative support for teaching staff and school leaders. The system must take responsibility for ensuring every school gets the resourcing it needs, including clear system-wide workforce planning to ensure consistency while still allowing schools to make decisions informed by their local context.
13. Effective management of teacher absenceReform the way that schools manage teacher absences, to minimise splitting or collapsing of classes and protect the integrity of specialist programs (such as EAL/D, library and MTSS). Schools must have access to funds to engage relief teachers every time they are needed, and sufficient administrative support to deal with staffing fluctuations.
14. Clear provision of safety at workThe EA should reflect clear expectations and processes to protect educator safety, including in relation to psychosocial safety.  This should include system-wide procedures for preventing and managing occupational violence.15.10.25 outlined AEU claim
15. Review the Student Resource AllocationThe expectation of schools has changed markedly over the last decade, but this has not been reflected in the way that schools are resourced. Conduct an independent review of the SRA to consider:
a. How much money schools receive
b. What they are expected to achieve with it
c. Whether that money is sufficient to achieve what is expected
d. When schools should receive information about budgets (timeliness)
e. Whether there are specific funding considerations that should be a central cost and managed by ESO
16. Class sizes that support fair workloads, safe classrooms and inclusive practiceEstablish fair and reasonable class sizes that take student complexity into account and ensure necessary extra support is always delivered. Introduce hard caps that can never be exceeded, specify reductions where there is increased complexity, set target class sizes below the caps and identify the support that will be provided where class sizes are above target levels. Address the disparity between lower and upper primary.

Value our Time

Claim descriptionOutcomeDetails
17. Purpose-driven professional learning and collaborationReplace the current overlapping professional learning frameworks in the enterprise agreement (N7 – Annual Professional Learning Program & N8 – Professional Learning Community Program) with a single, streamlined approach. The current dual framework creates unnecessary complexity and places an excessive time burden on staff. This claim seeks to refocus professional learning on meaningful professional growth rather than prescriptive compliance. 
18. Mentor recognitionExperienced teachers and school psychologists who mentor early career teachers and school psychologists must be compensated for the crucial work they do in growing the next generation of teachers and school psychologists.29.10.25 outlined AEU claim
19. Early career supportReview New Educator Support Program to ensure it is underpinned by evidence of best practice. At a school level, ensure that early career teachers and school psychologists and their mentors can identify and pursue the development each new educator and school psychologist needs.29.10.25 outlined AEU claim
20. Remuneration for overnight workTeachers should not have to volunteer out-of-hours to provide educational experiences for students. Where any staff member must work overnight (such as on a camp or other excursion), they should receive appropriate remuneration.15.10.25 outlined AEU claim

Support our People

Claim descriptionOutcomeDetails
21. School psychologist reviewConduct a comprehensive review into school psychologist conditions focused on improving recruitment and retention. The review must more clearly define the psychologist role, set reasonable expectations on workloads, and provide structured support to new psychologists. Psychologists must have competitive employment conditions that recognise the specialised expertise of school psychologists and their essential support to schools, staff and students.29.10.25 outlined AEU claim
22. First Nations mentor programEstablish a First Nations teacher mentor program, with compensation to facilitate mentoring of early career First Nations teachers by experienced First Nations teachers. This initiative recognises the critical role that culturally responsive mentorship plays in recruitment and retention of First Nations teachers.
23. VET teacher recognitionProvide compensation to VET teachers that recognises their additional qualifications, their need to maintain dual qualifications and industry currency, and their additional marking load.
24. Relief teacher supportEnsure that relief teachers can access information essential for student learning and workplace safety. This includes adequate provision of ICT hardware and access to EDU digital systems.15.10.25 outlined AEU claim
25. Teacher librarian role clarityTeacher librarians support student literacy, research skills, and digital citizenship, all crucial for academic success. The work involved in maintaining a school library is complex and requires dedicated time and resources. Teacher librarians need an articulated role description and workload protections.29.10.25 outlined AEU claim
Updated on 14/11/2025

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