Up to 35,000 striking teachers have rallied in Melbourne, with classes at about 500 public schools cancelled, as their union warns of further action in their fight for better pay and conditions.
In what unions described as the largest ever rally by Victorian teachers, an estimated 35,000 protesters created a sea of red that travelled from Trades Hall to the steps of parliament house in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The crowd, clad in Australian Education Union (AEU) T-shirts, chanted: “What do we want? A fair deal! When do we want it? Now!”. Some carried signs reading: “Allan government, see me after class”, “My preps can count, why can’t the government?” and “To be paid or not be paid, that is the question”.
Major CBD roads were closed to traffic, while bus and tram services were affected before resuming about 1.30pm. A spokesperson from Victoria police said the force was generally happy with the behaviour of those who attended.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailThe AEU had earlier warned that about 500 schools had either closed or been “significantly impacted” by the strike – its first in 13 years.
Its Victorian vice-president, Briley Stokes, on Tuesday said more than 32,000 AEU members were taking part in the 24-hour stop-work action, including 135 staff from Balwyn high school, 126 from Braybrook College, 125 from Vermont secondary college and 120 from Montmorency secondary college.
She said the entire teaching cohort had gone on strike at some schools, effectively closing them. This included the Footscray West, Fairhills, Newmerella and MacArthur primary schools.
“[The] government likes to say all schools are open. We say, how can they be?” Stokes said. “Look around you – 32,000 people stopping work means that every single school is impacted today.”
Luke Hilakari, the secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall council, said the rally was the biggest in the union’s history. The Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary, Sally McManus, described it as the “biggest strike this state has seen for a very long time”.
“That’s what happens when you disrespect teachers,” McManus said.
The AEU’s Victorian president, Justin Mullaly, warned the union will “escalate our action if that’s what we need to do”, with “rolling regional stoppages” the next step. He told the crowd of a “chronic shortage” of public school teachers, who were leaving the workforce at “double the rate” of that prior to the pandemic.
“The government has relied on your passion and your commitment to cover the funding gap, to cover the staff shortages and they’ve been doing it for way too long,” he said.
The AEU went into EBA negotiations about eight months ago, seeking a 35% pay rise over four years, smaller class sizes and improved mental health and classroom support.
The government responded with an 18.5% pay offer after the union moved to strike. This offer included an 8% pay rise for teachers and 4% for education staff to come into effect in April, followed by a 3% rise for each of the following three years, as well as a 1.5% overtime allowance.
Joyce Buckley, an education support worker, told the crowd that the offer was an attempt to “divide education staff and teachers”.
James Woodward, a technology teacher at a regional secondary school, said he was forced to rely on donated materials to resource his classes.
“How can this be acceptable in the so-called education state?” Woodward told protesters.
Edward Arthur, the primary leader at the Victorian school for the deaf, said teachers were more stretched than ever before.
“The main driver for that is that there’s not enough teachers, and we feel like teachers are moving interstate because there’s higher pay,” Arthur said.
He said a large group of teachers from the school were at the strike and a “lot of the parents on our side”.
“I got a message from a mum the other day who said, ‘I’ll keep my child home, you go get a pay rise,’” Arthur said.
The education minister, Ben Carroll, said the government did “everything” to avoid the strike.
“There were meetings with the union yesterday and there are meetings with the union tomorrow. I’ve always said to the union, please prioritise making sure that kids go to school, let’s not disrupt them,” Carroll told reporters on Tuesday.
Few students turned up at schools on Tuesday morning, with the education department even conceding some wouldn’t be able to support all children.
Helen Bell, a teacher in the Catholic system – which was not part of the action – brought her children to the rally to support their teachers from Brunswick East primary school, which was forced to close. They held up signs that read “we love our teachers” and “pay our teachers more”.
“We are here in our droves … all the parents I know are in full support of the strike,” Bell said.
• This article was amended on 24 March 2026. An earlier version quoted rally-goers as chanting “What do we want? A pay deal”; however, the crowd were shouting “A fair deal”.
