AEU Australia or The Australian Education Union is calling for major reforms to improve teacher pay, reduce workload, and fully fund public schools across Australia.
Its key demands include a 35% salary increase, smaller class sizes, more support staff, and full funding under the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS). The AEU also emphasizes reducing administrative workload, improving job security, and creating a long-term national plan to address teacher shortages.
These proposals aim to make teaching more sustainable, improve student outcomes, and strengthen public education. If implemented, they could significantly reshape how Australian schools are funded, staffed, and managed in the coming years.
9 Key AEU Australia Demands That Could Transform Australian Schools
Across Australia, teachers are burning out, principals are overloaded, and public schools are still funded below what governments themselves say is the minimum standard. In response, the Australian Education Union (AEU) has put forward a series of major demands through its logs of claims and national campaigns that could significantly reshape Australian schools if they are met.
From big pay rises to smaller class sizes and full funding for public schools, the AEU’s agenda goes well beyond incremental tweaks. It aims to tackle the teacher shortage, fix unsustainable workloads, and make sure every child can actually access the support they need.
If you want the union’s national schools work in one place, start with the overview page:
AEU – Schools​
Below are 9 major AEU demands that could change Australian schools over the next decade.
1. A 35% pay rise to tackle teacher shortages and keep staff in public schools
One of the most attention‑grabbing demands from the AEU is for a 35% pay increase for all public school staff over the life of the next Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA), with similar “nation‑leading pay” ambitions in other branches.
In Victoria, the AEU’s log of claims for the next agreement explicitly calls for:​
- A 35% pay increase for teachers, principals and education support staff across the agreement period.
- Salary structures that make Victorian public school staff competitive with or better than other states.
The Victorian Branch explains the rationale and comparative salary gaps here:
35% pay increase and improved conditions required to address public school workforce shortages​
In the ACT TAFE sector, the AEU ACT Branch has similarly pushed for “nation leading pay” for CIT educators in its log of claims:​
AEU ACT Branch CIT teaching staff log of claims​
Nationally, the AEU links pay directly to recruitment and retention in its federal campaign piece “Fix workload and salaries to keep teachers teaching”:​
Fix workload and salaries to keep teachers teaching​
2. Smaller class sizes so students get more individual attention
Another core AEU demand is smaller class sizes, which the union argues are essential if teachers are going to meet diverse student needs and manage behaviour, planning, and assessment loads.
In Tasmania, the AEU’s log of claims emphasises workload, instructional load, and the need for realistic teaching time, with members prioritising reduced instructional load and more planning time over minor tweaks like cutting a few professional activity days.​
Our Log of Claims – AEU Tasmania​
The Victorian log of claims goes further, explicitly including:​
- Smaller class sizes so every student can have greater individual attention.
- Increased classroom support and allied health staff so teachers aren’t doing everything themselves.
You can see these priorities set out in the Victorian campaign summary:​
35% pay increase and improved conditions required to address public school workforce shortages​
At the national level, the AEU’s For Every Child campaign blueprint calls for reduced class sizes and more support staff as part of a broader workload fix.​
3. Real workload reductions, not just “wellbeing days”
Almost every AEU document on schools stresses one message: workload is unsustainable, and it’s driving teachers out of the profession.
The AEU cites internal and external studies showing that:
- Teachers are working well beyond their contracted hours, often far above OECD averages.
- Administrative tasks, compliance work, and constant policy changes are crowding out time for actual teaching and planning.
The federal union’s article “Fix workload and salaries to keep teachers teaching” sets out what teachers say they need:​
- Cuts to admin and compliance work.
- More time within the school day for lesson planning.
- Extra system‑wide support for students with higher needs.
- Better wellbeing support for teachers and principals.
Read the full federal piece here:
Fix workload and salaries to keep teachers teaching​
The national submission to the federal government, available as a PDF, lays out extensive evidence on excessive working hours and the impact on retention:​
Australian Education Union submission – teacher workload and shortages​
In Tasmania, the branch reports that members specifically prioritised reducing instructional load and protecting planning time as key workload measures in their log of claims:​
“The Log of Claims reflects this with a smaller claim around reducing professional activity days and bigger, broader claims around the major workload issues.”​
4. Full and fair funding for public schools to the Schooling Resource Standard
The AEU argues that you cannot fix workloads, class sizes or support staffing without fully funding public schools to the nationally agreed Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).
The union’s national Schools page explains how many public schools remain under‑funded relative to the SRS while some private schools sit above it, despite educating fewer high‑needs students:​
AEU – Schools​
In 2025, the Commonwealth and states agreed to the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement 2025–2034, under which the Australian Government lifts its contribution to 25% of the SRS for public schools, conditional on states maintaining at least 75%.​
The Better and Fairer Schools Agreement (2025–2034)​
The AEU has welcomed movement but continues to campaign for full SRS funding and “targeted investment in public schools”, as reflected in articles such as:
- AEU calls for urgent funding agreement and targeted investment in public schools​
- Fix workload and salaries to keep teachers teaching​
The union argues that without full and fair funding, governments are effectively asking teachers to “do more with less” indefinitely.
5. More support staff and allied health professionals in schools
The AEU’s campaigns emphasise that teachers cannot meet every need alone. They call for more education support personnel and allied health staff across public schools.
The federal workload campaign lists several key asks:​
- More education support staff in classrooms.
- Additional allied health professionals (for example, speech pathologists, psychologists, occupational therapists).
- System‑wide support for students with disability and those with higher learning or behavioural needs.
Victorian claims mirror this, calling for:​
- Increased allied health and classroom support for students.
- Significant improvements to working conditions, including less administrative work so teachers can focus on teaching.
The Victorian union summarises this in its workforce shortage article:​
35% pay increase and improved conditions required to address public school workforce shortages​
The Tasmanian log of claims page also highlights how support staff and planning protections are core to sustainable workloads:​
Our Log of Claims – Australian Education Union Tasmania​
6. Stronger voice for teachers through log‑of‑claims processes
A lot of the AEU’s demands are shaped by extensive member consultation through formal log‑of‑claims processes for enterprise agreements.
Examples include:
- In the ACT, the teaching staff log of claims for 2025/6 bargaining was developed after surveys, workplace visits, and meetings with teachers and school psychologists.
- In Victoria, the VGSA log‑of‑claims process invites sub‑branches to propose additions and changes, with drafts circulated and debated across regions.
- In Tasmania, the union reports receiving extensive member input that directly shaped the weighting of workload versus professional activity days in their claims.​
You can see how the Victorian process is structured here:
The ACT branch outlines its 2025/6 bargaining and teaching staff claims on this page:
2025/6 Teaching Staff Bargaining – AEU ACT Branch​
An AEU ACT social post also notes that the final log of claims was the culmination of consultation with over 1,400 survey responses and numerous sub‑branch meetings.​
7. Secure employment and better conditions to stop teachers leaving
The AEU consistently links workforce shortages to job security and conditions, not just pay.
In its submission to the federal government and subsequent campaign work, the union highlights that:
- Many teachers work on fixed‑term contracts or in insecure roles, which discourages people from staying in the profession.
- Unrelenting workloads and stress cause significant proportions of teachers to leave early—some figures suggest one in four teachers leave the profession earlier than planned.
- Beginning teachers lack structured induction, mentoring, and professional support.​
The federal union’s article “Urgent action needed on workforce shortages” spells out the scale of the problem:​
Urgent action needed on workforce shortages​
The AEU argues that to keep teachers teaching, governments must deliver:
- Secure permanent jobs rather than revolving short‑term contracts.
- Competitive and predictable salary structures.
- Reasonable working hours and real workload safeguards.
8. Modern, flexible working arrangements (not just more demands)
In addition to pay and staffing, many AEU logs of claims include demands for modern and flexible working arrangements.
The Victorian log of claims specifically lists:​
- Modern and flexible working arrangements for teachers and school staff.
- Significant improvements to working conditions, including real workload reductions and less unnecessary administration.
The union emphasises that “flexibility” should not mean teachers being asked to be available 24/7 or to constantly absorb new tasks without time or pay. Instead, it argues for:
- Clarity around duties and expectations.
- Protected planning and professional learning time.
- Genuine consultation about new initiatives and reforms.
You can see how the Victorian branch frames these demands in its workforce shortage article and log‑of‑claims pages:
- Your next Schools Agreement: VGSA log of claims​
- 35% pay increase and improved conditions required to address public school workforce shortages​
9. A national, long‑term plan to fix the teaching profession
Underpinning all these demands is a call for coordinated national action to fix the teaching profession, not piecemeal state‑by‑state patches.
The AEU’s national work on schools focuses on three big pillars:
- Fair funding – ensuring public schools are fully funded to the Schooling Resource Standard through agreements like the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement 2025–2034.
- Decent pay and conditions – raising salaries, reducing workloads, improving support staffing, and securing jobs so teaching is a sustainable career.
- Respect for professional voice – making sure teachers, principals, and education support staff are consulted on reforms, curriculum, assessment, and accountability measures.
Together, these 9 major demands from the AEU Australia amount to more than a pay dispute—they’re a blueprint for fully funded, properly staffed public schools where teaching is a sustainable career and every student gets the support they need. As new agreements, funding deals and workload protections roll out, they’ll flow not just through primary and secondary classrooms but also through vocational and tertiary education hubs around the country. If you want to see how some of these shifts are already shaping specific campuses, especially in the VET sector, check out Campbelltown TAFE Update: Big Changes for Students in 2026 for a snapshot of what’s coming next for TAFE students.