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QLD Catholic school staff call for action now on wages

Independent Education Union - Queensland and Northern Territory (IEU-QNT)

Key Facts:

• Queensland Catholic school teachers and support staff seeking 4% annual increase to salaries and allowances, aiming to target NSW Catholic school wage rates.
• School support staff wages require adjustment, having not been properly reviewed for over 30 years.
• New allowances requested for overnight camps and medication administration duties.
• Negotiations affect over 22,000 teachers and support staff across more than 300 Queensland Catholic schools.
• Queensland Catholic school employers yet to respond to employee wages claim, with next negotiation meeting scheduled for 12 May 2026.

Queensland Catholic school teachers and support staff want their employers to deliver fair wage outcomes as negotiations over working conditions continue.

Independent Education Union – Queensland and Northern Territory (IEU-QNT) Assistant Secretary Nicole Kapernick said employees had tabled a three‑part wages claim including a four (4) per cent annual increase to all salaries and allowances.

“First, teachers are seeking wage rates that target levels in a comparable school system – specifically NSW Catholic schools,” she said.

“Queensland Catholic school teacher wages have fallen behind the real value of the work they do and have not kept pace with rising living costs. 

“Second, school support staff are seeking long‑overdue wage adjustments.

“School support staff roles have grown in responsibility, complexity and expectation – yet their wage levels haven’t been properly reviewed in more than 30 years.

“Our claim would phase in fairer school support staff wage rates over the life of the agreement, using Australian public sector benchmarks as a guide given the classification structure is the same in both sectors.

“Third, employees are calling for new allowances for overnight camps and administering medications – duties which carry significant additional responsibility.

“This is particularly the case as more students require complex medical support at school, while overnight camp arrangements currently rely far too heavily on goodwill rather than fair remuneration,” she said.

Ms Kapernick said Queensland Catholic school employers were yet to respond to the employee wages claim, with the next negotiation meeting set for Tuesday, 12 May 2026.

These collective bargaining negotiations represent the largest outside of the Queensland public school sector – impacting more than 22,000 teachers and school support staff working in over 300 Catholic schools statewide.

ENDS

About us:

The Independent Education Union – Queensland and Northern Territory (IEU-QNT) represents over 17,000 teachers, school support staff, principals, early childhood educators as well as VET and RTO workers across Queensland and the Northern Territory. www.ieuqnt.org.au

Contact details:

Laura Wise, IEU-QNT Communications Manager - [email protected] / 0419 653 131