Year in review, 2025: Education Support staff
The so-called ‘offer’ from Victorian Catholic employers contained no ES-specific measures — showing why the IEU’s work with this crucial cohort is so important.
The message we took into every meeting was simple: you can’t run a contemporary school on yesterday’s structures.
It’s time to get classy
ES staff keep schools running – coordinating timetables, supporting complex student needs, overseeing VET programs, managing libraries and laboratories, and providing critical wellbeing services. Yet too many are still placed in outdated classifications that hide the complexity and responsibility of their work.
Throughout 2025, the IEU pressed employers to update Agreements, so contemporary ES roles are explicitly recognised and fairly remunerated. Proper classification is about more than pay; it’s about respect, professional recognition, and ensuring schools can attract and retain skilled staff.
There is progress to build on. The 2022 Victorian Catholic Agreement reclassified all Level 1 staff (except apprentices and trainees) to Level 2 and created a Health and Wellbeing Services stream with clearer descriptors for first aid officers, nurses, speech pathologists and psychologists.
But roles have continued to evolve. In this round, our priorities include modern descriptors, stronger career pathways and transparent advancement – because a fair structure must recognise growing responsibility and expertise, not freeze it at yesterday’s definitions.
Pay and progression
ES salary comparisons are complicated: descriptors differ across states and systems, making ‘like-for-like’ benchmarking tricky. A snapshot shows many Victorian LSOs start on lower rates than in NSW, but later steps can be higher; conversely, NSW thresholds for reclassification into more complex work are often easier to meet, opening higher pay sooner.
Our goal is clear: nationally competitive wages and progression that reflect the real work ES staff do, supported by descriptors that accurately capture that work.
Member voice powers the agenda
In May, the IEU survey of staff in Victorian Catholic schools exposed the pressures faced by ES staff. Forty-seven percent said they occasionally work overtime; 26% do so frequently and 22% rarely. Sixty-two percent are compensated for extra hours, yet only 31% are always given a choice between payment and Time in Lieu (TIL); 39% are sometimes offered a choice and 30% never are. While 64% say they have the resources to do their job properly, only 40% say they have enough paid time to complete it.
The issues were consistent across roles.
Pay and parity: Many earn less than casual supermarket workers despite high-skill duties; full-time LSOs can earn up to $30,000 less than teachers.
Conditions: Members reported irregular schedules, unpaid or on-duty lunch breaks, excursions without proper breaks, and PD pushed into personal time with no TIL.
Workload and complexity: Rising duties supporting high-needs and sometimes violent students — without adequate training, recognition or planning time.
Career progression: Rigid structures trap experienced staff at Levels 2 and 3, with barriers to reclassification and limited recognition when moving between schools.
Member-suggested solutions:
• Fewer barriers to automatic annual progression
• Align pay with interstate benchmarks
• Clarify classification guidelines to reflect real duties
• Strengthen workload consultation – on timetables, student allocations and duties – and ensure ES voices are directly represented at the bargaining table.
• Don’t treat ES as an afterthought, and build ES-specific measures into every offer.
Engagement wasn’t confined to surveys. On 30 June, the IEU hosted an ES Day event that celebrated the profession and doubled as a rights workshop. Organisers led practical sessions on contracts, breaks, overtime and TIL; end-of-year arrangements and reportable conduct; OHS and duty of care; flexible work; and classification audits. The open forum affirmed top EBA priorities – salary increases, updated descriptors and a simpler, fairer reclassification process – and built solidarity across schools.
The message is unmistakable
ES staff are essential, organised and ready to win the respect, pay and conditions their work warrants. Our bargaining strength depends on the size, strength and involvement of our ES membership.
If you’re an ES worker, join the union. If you’re a member, ask a colleague to join – so that together we can secure the ES-focused policies that cannot wait.
