The Budget, the AEU said, confirms the decision to delay the states commitment to fully funded public schools to 2031.
Last week, AEU Vic Branch president Justin Mullaly told The Age newspaper that the Allan Government had secretly delayed its commitment from 2028 to 2031 and, in the process, stripped $2.4 billion out of public schools.
He said it underscored the widening gap in teacher pay and staffing levels between Victoria and other states.
Victoria will also receive less federal money, Mullaly said, putting the state three years behind Queensland and six years behind NSW, according to The Age.
“Victoria’s public schools are the lowest funded and Victoria’s teachers are the lowest paid in Australia,” Mullaly said in a statement this week.
“When you don’t pay teachers properly it means you are under valuing principals and education support staff as well.
“Kindergarten teachers and educators have been bargaining for a pay increase for over 12 months, with the budget failing to deliver the extra required to retain the existing workforce or attract the additional 11,000 early childhood educators needed over the next decade.”
Victoria is one of two states yet to finalise a new bilateral agreement with the Federal Government formally setting out their path to reach the 75 per cent funding benchmark.
It's a “shameful decision”, according to Victorian Liberal senator Sarah Henderson, who said was signed off by Premier Jacinta Allan after warnings from her own Education Minister, Ben Carroll, that it would prolong inequality and embed Victoria as the lowest funder of public schools in the country.
“Worse still, the Federal Government has reduced its own contribution to Victorian public schools because of this broken commitment – a move quietly confirmed in their bilateral dealings,” the Shadow Minister for Education said.
“It is unacceptable the Albanese Government is still refusing to release the full details of its funding deals with the states and territories, despite a Senate order to do so, as well as details of its proposed funding cut to Victorian schools,” Henderson said.
Victorian Budget – education overview
The Budget includes a $1.5 billion investment to create more than 13,300 extra places for students and $321.7 million to upgrade 35 schools, $342 million for school maintenance, and $25 million for small-scale projects via the Capital Works Fund.
The Government has committed $133.3 million to improve learning outcomes for students, including $81.1 million for teaching literacy and numeracy and $12.9 million to support schools with the rollout of mandated phonics and the Year 1 Phonics Check.
The Budget also delivers $46.6 million to help build kids’ confidence in maths, with $16.3 million to develop a new Numeracy Check that will be rolled out across Year 1 in every Victorian government school from next year, helping identify kids who need extra support early.
With ongoing teacher shortages proving a national challenge, the Budget invests $158.7 million to continue supporting and retaining teachers – including $29.1 million for the Career Start Program, with dedicated mentoring and advanced professional learning.
This investment includes $29 million to continue the Teach Today and Teach Tomorrow programs, supporting up to 1200 Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students to work in schools while studying, and $15.2 million to continue attracting teachers to hard-to-staff roles including in rural and regional government schools.
Back to the negotiation table
Mullaly said the union would begin negotiations with the Victorian Government in a matter of weeks on a new enterprise bargaining agreement and push for a better deal for state school teachers and students.
Last April, The Age reported that state school teachers were open to strike action unless they secured a pay deal of up to 14 per cent to close the pay gap between the state’s 52,000 public school educators and their NSW counterparts.
Victoria’s graduate teachers are the worst paid in the country, earning $13,000 less than the nation’s best-paid graduates in the Northern Territory and $8,700 less than those in NSW.
