General News
4 August, 2026
OPEN LETTER: Education staff struggle against poor work conditions, bad pay
"WE KNOW that stop work action is disruptive for parents and students, and we don’t do this lightly. Families need to know why we’re taking this action."
THIS open letter from the Australian Education Union (AEU) Victorian Branch highlights the impacts of what the union calls a decade of underfunding of Victoria’s public schools on students, teachers, principals and education support staff.
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WE KNOW that stop work action is disruptive for parents and students, and we don’t do this lightly. Families need to know why we’re taking this action.
“For too long, the state government has relied on the goodwill and unpaid work of public school staff to ensure students get access to a high quality education.
Right now, Victoria’s public schools are the lowest funded in the country.
But, instead of getting our schools on a pathway to full funding like they promised, the Premier and her cabinet have deliberately cut $2.4 billion from public schools.
This underfunding is making the work of public school staff untenable.
Public school teachers, principals and education support staff are overworked and undervalued, working an average of 12 hours unpaid overtime every week to make up for the Allan Labor Government’s funding shortfall.
And there is an ongoing workforce shortage in public schools that the Allan Labor Government has not properly addressed.
At the moment, there are just three in 10 school staff saying they plan to remain in public schools until retirement.
AEU members work with students and families every day with a shared responsibility to ensure that our students thrive when it comes to their learning and wellbeing.
This partnership relies on every student having access to the resources and the support they need to reach their full potential.
Families take that responsibility seriously. AEU members take that responsibility seriously and they both need to be supported by a state government that matches that commitment.
The Premier and the Education Minister must fix their public school funding mess and put a pay and conditions offer on the table that properly respects and values the work of principals, teachers and education support staff.
Justin Mullaly is the Branch president of the Australian Education Union (AEU) Victorian Branch
The letter came before more than 30,000 Victorian teachers and support staff marched in Melbourne last Thursday to send a message to the state government.
This was the second time this year staff have walked off the job the make their point, the first being a state-wide action back in March.
This included a number of St Arnaud and Charlton locals who joined the fight.
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