• The IEU’s current Single Interest Authorisation application before the Fair Work Commission covers 24 Catholic education employers. The final hearing concluded at the end of Term 2. It is now up to the Commission to make a determination, which will be sometime in the upcoming weeks or months. The IEU is now preparing to bring the remaining employers into the SIA process. 

• The IEU will be collecting petitions of support at the start of Term 3, for the remaining employers not covered by our current SIA application. The IEU will seek to bring every employer where a majority of staff sign the petition into the SIA process, further strengthening collective bargaining across Victorian Catholic education. 

• The IEU is having regular bargaining meetings with Catholic employers. The employers presented the IEU with an offer, which failed to match what the government offered to their staff and would significantly erode conditions. 

The IEU’s current Single Interest Authorisation application before the Fair Work Commission covers 24 Catholic education employers. The final hearing concluded at the end of Term 2. It is now up to the Commission to make a determination, which will be sometime in the upcoming weeks or months. The IEU is now preparing to bring the remaining employers into the SIA process. 

The current application does NOT include CESL (Sandhurst), Catholic College Sale, DOBCEL (Ballarat), DOSCEL (Sale), FCJ College Benalla, Mackillop Family Services, MACS (Melbourne), MACS Specialist Schools, St Bede's College, St Columba's College and the VCEA. 

We are confident of strong majority support at these employers. Because of serious problems with employer workforce data, the further work it would have taken to prove this to the Fair Work Commission using last year’s petitions would have risked months of further delay. 

The IEU is now preparing to bring the remaining employers into the SIA process. 

Staff at these employers  will again have the opportunity to strengthen our voice for fair pay and conditions won through fair bargaining under a SIA, by signing a petition in support. 

The IEU is confident of majority support at your employer for a SIA.  Because of serious problems with employer workforce data, the further work it would have taken to prove this to the Fair Work Commission using last year’s petitions would have risked months of further delay. 

That delay would not help members. 

The fastest way forward is to demonstrate your support again — clearly, quickly and with a strong majority. 

That is why staff at the remaining employers will be asked to sign the new petition of support during the school holidays. 

No. Victorian Catholic education staff are the only cohort of school staff in the country who are not able to take protected industrial action, including strike action, during the bargaining period. 

Due to new legislation effective from 2023, Victorian Catholic education workers now have the capacity to win this right. The IEU collected Statements of Support in Term 4, 2025 to support our case for fair bargaining rights. A majority of Catholic education staff signed Statements of Support. Our case is currently being considered by the Fair Work Commission, following the final hearing at the end of Term 2, 2026.  

Our current application to win these bargaining rights cover 24 employers. In Term 3 we are preparing to join remaining employers to an SIA. If the Fair Work Commission grants an SIA, Victorian Catholic education staff at any employers covered by the SIA will win the right to protected industrial action during this bargaining period. 

Our key goal remains unchanged: a fair Agreement that protects existing conditions, reduces excessive workload pressures and delivers meaningful improvements to salaries, safety and professional autonomy. 

The IEU is confident of majority support for an SIA across Victorian Catholic education. 

However, because of serious issues with employer workforce data, the further work it would take to prove this to the Fair Work Commission would have risked months of further delay.  

The IEU’s objective remains unchanged: a fair Agreement for Victorian Catholic education staff. 

To best achieve that, while we await the Fair Work Commission’s decision on the current application, re-establishing clear majority support at the remaining employers means we will be ready to bring them into the SIA, if it is granted. 

We know many members and Reps will be frustrated to be asked to do this again after last year’s extraordinary Statements of Support campaign. 

We share that frustration - but this is the fastest and most effective way forward. 

More staff than ever understand what an SIA is, why it matters and why signing the petition in support matters. Every petition signature is a clear statement that Catholic education staff want a fair agreement with fair outcomes on wages and conditions. 

The quicker and stronger the response, the stronger our collective voice in bargaining. 

To win an Agreement that delivers both fair conditions and meaningful wage increases, Catholic education staff need a real voice in bargaining. Employers have shown they will not agree to the improvements staff need without you making your voice heard. 

‍An SIA is important because it means we negotiate with the employers on a level playing field, without one hand behind our back. If granted by the Fair Work Commission, an SIA provides access to important bargaining rights, including good faith bargaining orders and, if bargaining reaches an impasse, a pathway to protected industrial action. 

Unlike our colleagues in the government sector, staff in Victorian Catholic education do not bargain with one employer across the whole system. Under current legislation, this means that without an SIA we don’t have the same bargaining rights as our government sector colleagues. While employers could at any stage agree to an SIA, current legislation requires that for a union to unilaterally seek an SIA it must demonstrate majority support at each employer for whom we apply. 

An SIA gives Catholic education staff important rights to be able to negotiate on a level playing field, without one hand behind our back. That is why the petition of support is so important. 

Yes. The petition of support reflects the most recent circumstances for staff at the remaining employers. You’ll be able to refer to the petition and enclosed official IEU information when you sign. Right now, it only needs to be signed by staff at the remaining employers not covered by our current SIA application. We are collecting the same information as before, and this information will be kept confidential. 

No. The Petition of Support is for ALL staff at the remaining employers. You do not need to be an IEU member to sign.

Your employer will not see who has signed the petition. 

We need every possible signature to win the biggest majority possible to help secure the stronger bargaining rights needed for a fair Agreement.

If you work at one of the following employer groups we are asking you to submit a new petition of support:  

• CESL (Sandhurst), Catholic College Sale, DOBCEL (Ballarat), DOSCEL (Sale), FCJ College Benalla, Mackillop Family Services, MACS (Melbourne), MACS Specialist Schools, St Bede's College, St Columba's College and the VCEA. 

If you work at one of the 24 employers included in the current SIA application – congratulations!  You do not need to sign another petition for your employer at this stage, as we now await the outcome of the Fair Work Commission hearing.

If you work at one of the employers not currently included in the SIA application, please sign now at www.ieuvictas.org.au/sign-pos and refer to the official IEU information there. 

‍The sooner you sign the petition, the sooner you formally affirm your support for fair bargaining for a fair Agreement under a Single Interest Authorisation. In campaign terms, it is the next step in our Statements of Support campaign. 

If you signed a Statement of Support last year - well done. You are already a supporter. Please quickly reconfirm your support by signing the new petition so you can be counted again. 

If you did not sign last year - now is the time to add your voice. This is an important second chance to help win the stronger bargaining rights needed to win a fair Agreement. 

Once you have signed, urge colleagues who want fair bargaining for improved pay and conditions to sign the petition too. 

Congratulations! You do not need to sign another petition for your employer at this stage, as we now await the outcome of the Fair Work Commission hearing. 

There are other ways you can support your colleagues in the remaining employers – you can help amplify our message through our social media channels, and you can remind anyone you know working in a relevant school of the importance of putting their name to the new petition. 

If you’re ready to take your support to the next level, there will be opportunities for members to help with phone-banking efforts and other activities – contact us at info@ieuvictas.org.au if you want to learn more! 

The IEU is having regular bargaining meetings with Catholic employers – there have been over 20 meetings. The employers presented the IEU with an offer, which failed to match what the government offered to their staff, and which would significantly erode conditions.  Meanwhile, the employers outright opposed 101 of 113 of our members’ claims. 

Bargaining negotiations continue, with the latest employer proposal failing to meet the expectations of staff who have spent years carrying increasing workloads while supporting school communities through challenging circumstances. 

The employer offer would weaken a range of conditions IEU members have fought hard to win over decades. 

Key concerns include: 

• increased teacher workload and reduced preparation time 

• reductions to overtime and time-in-lieu protections for education support staff 

• inadequate camp allowances and weakened time-in-lieu arrangements 

• restrictions on teacher flexibility to work off-site 

• a salary proposal that falls short of our members’ claim 

• reduced control over professional practice days 

• technical changes adversely affecting part-time and fixed-term employees 

• a lack of improvements to workplace safety and student behaviour support measures. 

The proposal demonstrates that Catholic education employers remain unwilling to properly address the growing pressures facing staff across the sector. 

Catholic education staff deserve a fairly-negotiated Agreement that improves working lives, not an employer-driven process that weakens conditions won over decades. 

The IEU’s goal has always been clear: a fair and timely Agreement that delivers on pay increases and protects conditions members fought hard to win over decades. 

Bargaining could have begun much earlier last year if employers had agreed to single-interest bargaining. Instead, they opposed it, then attempted to bypass genuine negotiations with a premature "offer". This year, they’ve shown their attitude towards the negotiations by opposing 101 of 113 of our members’ claims outright, even after 20 meetings. Meanwhile, their latest offer tabled in June seems to fall well short and would significantly erode hard-won conditions.   

The result? Unnecessary delays to reaching agreement resulting in delayed pay rises for staff. 

The historical record is equally clear. Every Victorian Catholic bargaining round in recent memory has been significantly delayed. In 2021, employers took months to begin negotiations in earnest, dragging bargaining well into 2022 and even into early 2023, forcing members into an escalating campaign, and leaving staff waiting a year longer than government educators for a new Agreement. 

The lesson is simple: employers only move when staff stand together and apply collective pressure.