Victoria’s teachers and education staff will receive a significant pay boost under new agreements that deliver some of the highest salaries in the country and reshape conditions across schools and early learning centres.
Under the deal, teacher and principal salaries will increase by at least 28.3% over the next four years, starting with a 12% rise by October 2026. For many educators, that translates to more than $1,000 extra per month by later this year, climbing to nearly $3,000 more per month by 2030.
The changes will apply to more than 90,000 full-time teachers across Victoria, positioning the state ahead of New South Wales in teacher pay. The move aims to attract new graduates to the profession while encouraging experienced teachers to remain in classrooms longer.
Support staff & school leaders also benefit
However, it’s not just teachers seeing a lift. Education Support Staff—the often behind-the-scenes workers who help keep classrooms running—will also receive comparable pay increases, alongside new allowances and clearer pathways for career progression.
The agreement formally recognises their role in supporting student learning, with updated qualification requirements tied to higher salary bands.
School leaders are also set to benefit from administrative changes, particularly around time-off-in-lieu for camps. New arrangements introduce overnight payments and streamlined processes, designed to reduce the paperwork burden that often comes with extracurricular programs.
Early childhood educators see long-awaited boost
Early childhood education is another major focus of the reforms. Kindergarten teachers will, for the first time, reach pay parity with their counterparts in government schools, following a similar 28.3% increase over four years.
Moreover, kinder educators are in line for an average 39% pay rise—a figure that reflects broader efforts to address long-standing pay gaps in the sector, including findings from the Fair Work Commission on gender undervaluation.
Additional updates include the removal of barriers that have previously slowed teacher wage progression, along with new allowances for educational and service leaders and expanded leave provisions to better align with government school standards.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the changes recognise the everyday contribution of educators across the state. “We’ve always said our public school educators deserve a pay rise—that is what we’re delivering,” she said.
Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn pointed to the long-term impact of lifting early childhood wages. “Early childhood teachers and educators are critical to our children’s learning and development,” she said. “For the first time, our early childhood workforce will have equal pay to school teachers and staff.”
The pay increases and workplace changes are expected to roll out progressively, with the first major salary bump landing later this year.