IEU wage campaign at Lauriston receives mainstream media coverage

Melbourne’s mainstream media outlets have reported on IEU members at Lauriston Girl’s School taking industrial action in their campaign for better wages and conditions.

“Teachers at one of Melbourne’s most expensive girls’ schools fighting for higher pay say their working conditions fail to support female educators,” The Age report commenced.

“Pay talks at Lauriston, which charges $50,752 for domestic students in year 12, have been under way since May last year, with teachers pushing for an 18 per cent pay rise over three years.

“Last month, teachers rejected the school’s latest offer of a 9 per cent pay increase over three years, with 170 staff voting against the proposed agreement and 30 supporting it. Under their current agreement, teacher salaries at the school range between $95,493 for a level 1 staff member and up to $138,247 for a level 10.”

The Herald Sun also reported on the bargaining impasse: “Staff at one of Melbourne’s most expensive girls’ schools are preparing to walk off the job as Victoria’s teacher pay fight widens”.

“More than 95 per cent of independent Education Union (IEU) members at the school voted ‘yes’ to 15 options for industrial action, including stopping work for up to 24 hours.”

Bargaining at Lauriston has been ongoing since May 2025. The employer’s offer of a 9% pay increase over three years risked staff falling behind the standards set in the current rounds of negotiations in government and Catholic schools, and did not address key claims, including workload and parental leave provisions.

The Herald Sun also mentioned that staff at Gippsland Grammar, a private co-ed school in Sale, “have also rejected a proposed pay agreement over concerns education support staff would be paid significantly below their counterparts in government and Catholic schools”.

And it quoted Scotch College staff saying their offered 2.24 per cent pay rise is “pitiful”.

Independent Education Union general secretary David Brear says, “IEU members in independent schools are increasingly prepared to push back hard on inferior offers from their employers – and we are seeing that in a growing number of ‘no’ votes across the sector in response to proposed agreements that don’t deliver.”

He said Lauriston teachers had rejected the offer presented to them because it failed to address key workload and parental leave issues as well as pay.

“At a time when staff in Victorian government and Catholic schools are campaigning for double-digit increases just to catch up with education salaries in NSW, Lauriston staff refuse to be locked into an inferior three-year deal.”

Saying yes to saying no

Recent successful ‘No’ votes at Lauriston Girls’ School, Aitken College and Gippsland Grammar highlight a growing confidence among IEU members and the broader workforce to demand better offers, reflecting concerns about pay, workload, and working conditions in a challenging economic climate.

Agreements in the state government and Catholic sectors remain key reference points for wage outcomes. However, recent salary proposals have been rejected where they have not kept pace with national benchmarks.

It is no longer sufficient for independent school offers to simply match state or Catholic sector outcomes if those outcomes are viewed as uncompetitive. Staff expectations are increasingly shaped by the strongest-paying sectors nationally, where remuneration better reflects the professional status and demands of educators.

Ongoing cost-of-living pressures, including inflation, rising interest rates, and higher fuel and household costs, mean modest pay increases are increasingly seen as inadequate.