Three things are true of the ACT public school system at the moment.
First, it is being centralised. In May 2026, an independent review found 77 of the territory's 92 public schools running over budget, and the government responded the same day by committing to a single "one public education system" model, backed by an initial $9.3 million in the June budget.
Second, its teachers are unhappy. Bargaining has run since July 2025, a June 2026 strike was the ACT's first in 15 years, and the government's third pay offer, 9 per cent over three years, was voted down by the AEU's ACT branch within two days, which warned of further strikes in term four.
