The VGSA 2022's nominal expiry date was 31 December 2025 and 1 July 2025 is the last salary column it makes. The department has not published a newer schedule, so the rates below are what is published and payable.
Staff approved the proposed Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2026 in a ballot announced on 17 September 2026: 80,742 employees voted (77.1% of those eligible) and 93.1% voted yes. It lifts the top classroom teacher step from $118,063 to $133,456 from the first pay period on or after 1 October 2026 and to $151,419 by November 2029, plus a $2,000 lump sum. The department lodged its application for Fair Work Commission approval on 23 September 2026 (AG2026/2746). It was listed at "initial assessment" on 24 September 2026 and at "member consideration" on 14 October 2026, which means the Commission has passed it to a Commission Member to consider; it is not yet approved. The government says approval can take up to six weeks, and the agreement starts operating seven days after approval. The proposed rates are tabled in the 2026 pay rise section; the tables further down stay on the VGSA 2022 until the new agreement operates.
Victoria teacher pay scale 2026 — every step
Victorian government school teachers are classroom teachers in Range 1 and Range 2 of the Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA). Each pay point is written as a subdivision, from 1-1 (graduate entry) to 2-6. Leading teachers and learning specialists sit in Range 3.
Full-time annual salaries before tax and before superannuation. Part-time teachers are paid these rates pro rata on their time fraction.
Classroom teachers — Range 1 and Range 2
The classroom teacher classification has two salary ranges, each divided into subdivisions. This is the scale every Victorian government school teacher starts on, primary and secondary alike.
| Subdivision | Annual salary | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | $79,589 | Graduate entry point |
| 1-2 | $81,676 | |
| 1-3 | $84,690 | |
| 1-4 | $87,814 | |
| 1-5 | $91,056 | Top of Range 1 |
| 2-1 | $94,415 | |
| 2-2 | $97,899 | |
| 2-3 | $101,512 | |
| 2-4 | $105,258 | |
| 2-5 | $109,142 | |
| 2-6 | $118,063 | Top of the classroom teacher scale |
Every salary links to its take-home figure. Where a salary is not a round $5,000 the link goes to the nearest amount the calculator publishes.
Victorian teachers pay rise 2026: the new agreement's rates
Voted up, not yet in force. Staff approved the proposed Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2026 in a ballot announced on 17 September 2026: 80,742 employees voted (77.1% of those eligible) and 93.1% voted yes. The department lodged it with the Fair Work Commission on 23 September 2026 (AG2026/2746, at member consideration when checked on 14 October 2026). It starts operating seven days after the Commission approves it. Until then the VGSA 2022 rates further down this page are what is paid.
The rates below are Schedule 1 of the proposed agreement the Department of Education published for the ballot, read on 23 September 2026. Salaries rise at five dates — each from the first pay period on or after the date — for a total of 28.3% to 32.4% over the agreement, depending on classification. Every full-time employee also gets a $2,000 lump sum when the agreement starts (pro rata for part-time staff).
| Step | Now (VGSA 2022) | From Oct 2026 | From Nov 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graduate (1-1) | $79,589 | $92,882 (+$13,293) | $105,384 |
| Top of Range 1 (1-5) | $91,056 | $104,154 (+$13,098) | $118,173 |
| Top classroom teacher (2-6) | $118,063 | $133,456 (+$15,393) | $151,419 |
| Leading teacher / learning specialist (3-2) | $129,544 | $146,439 (+$16,895) | $166,150 |
When each increase applies
| From the first pay period on or after | Salary increase |
|---|---|
| 10 August 2026 | 3.00% to 6.33% |
| 1 October 2026 | 9.75% |
| 1 November 2027 | 4.00% to 7.12% |
| 1 November 2028 | 4.00% |
| 1 November 2029 | 4.90% |
Percentages are the department's own summary in its Agreement Explanation. The first increase is larger for lower steps (6.33% at graduate 1-1, 3% at 2-6), which is why a graduate's rise over the agreement is bigger in percentage terms than a top-step teacher's. Clause 8 makes each increase payable from the first pay period on or after its date — including the two dates that fall before the agreement can start operating.
Proposed: Classroom teachers — Range 1 and Range 2
| Subdivision | Now | Aug 2026 | Oct 2026 | Nov 2027 | Nov 2028 | Nov 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-1Graduate entry point | $79,589 | $84,631 | $92,882 | $96,598 | $100,462 | $105,384 |
| 1-2 | $81,676 | $86,848 | $95,316 | $99,128 | $103,094 | $108,145 |
| 1-3 | $84,690 | $89,454 | $98,175 | $102,102 | $106,186 | $111,390 |
| 1-4 | $87,814 | $92,137 | $101,121 | $105,165 | $109,372 | $114,731 |
| 1-5Top of Range 1 | $91,056 | $94,901 | $104,154 | $108,320 | $112,653 | $118,173 |
| 2-1 | $94,415 | $97,274 | $106,758 | $111,028 | $115,469 | $121,127 |
| 2-2 | $97,899 | $100,863 | $110,697 | $115,125 | $119,730 | $125,597 |
| 2-3 | $101,512 | $104,585 | $114,782 | $119,373 | $124,148 | $130,232 |
| 2-4 | $105,258 | $108,444 | $119,018 | $123,778 | $128,729 | $135,037 |
| 2-5 | $109,142 | $112,446 | $123,409 | $128,346 | $133,480 | $140,020 |
| 2-6Top of the classroom teacher scale | $118,063 | $121,600 | $133,456 | $138,794 | $144,346 | $151,419 |
Proposed: Leading teachers and learning specialists — Range 3
| Subdivision | Now | Aug 2026 | Oct 2026 | Nov 2027 | Nov 2028 | Nov 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-1 | $123,966 | $127,690 | $140,140 | $145,745 | $151,575 | $159,002 |
| 3-2 | $129,544 | $133,430 | $146,439 | $152,297 | $158,389 | $166,150 |
What else changes for teachers
- Meetings halved. From the 2027 school year, no more than 40 hours a year (and no more than two hours in any week) can go to meetings outside the seven-hour day, down from 80. Another 40 hours a year is set by the teacher for planning, preparation, assessment and collaboration.
- Professional practice days. One in 2026, then four a year from 2027 (pro rata for part-time), taken on student-free days. Education support staff get four a year from 2027 for the first time.
- Face-to-face limits written in. The existing maximums — 21 hours a week in primary and special schools, 18.5 hours in secondary — move into the agreement itself.
- School camps. From 2027 an overnight school camp allowance replaces time in lieu for overnight camps.
The agreement's nominal expiry date is 10 August 2030. For how the deal was reached — two statewide strikes, a rejected in-principle offer and the final ballot — see Victorian teachers pay rise 2026: what the new agreement pays and when.
VIC teacher salary 2026 at a glance
Full-time annual salaries from the first pay period on or after 1 July 2025, read from the Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022 (VGSA 2022). Tap a classification for every step, or a salary to see it after tax.
| Classification | Steps | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classroom teachers — Range 1 and Range 2 | 11 | $79,589 | $118,063 |
| Leading teachers and learning specialists — Range 3 | 2 | $123,966 | $129,544 |
| Assistant principals — Range 1 to Range 4 | 16 | $136,022 | $191,811 |
| Principals — Range 2 to Range 6 | 20 | $156,335 | $238,676 |
Victoria principal salary 2026
Principals are paid on their own scale, separate from the classroom teacher steps above. The figures below are read from the same Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022 (VGSA 2022) schedule as the rest of this page and apply from the first pay period on or after 1 July 2025.
| Principal scale | Lowest | Highest | Pay points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principals — Range 2 to Range 6 | $156,335 | $238,676 | 20 |
A principal position's salary range is set by the school's Student Resource Package budget: Range 2 at the bottom, Range 6 for schools with a budget above $15,526,127 (2025 threshold).
Every principal pay point is in the full table further down this page.
VIC leadership, specialist and other pay scales
Leading teachers and learning specialists — Range 3
Both classifications sit in Range 3 and are paid identically. They are fixed-term appointments made by the principal, not a step you age into.
Every salary links to its take-home figure. Where a salary is not a round $5,000 the link goes to the nearest amount the calculator publishes.
Assistant principals — Range 1 to Range 4
The principal, having regard to the duties and the funding available in the school, determines how many assistant principal positions there are and which range each sits in.
| Range and subdivision | Annual salary | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | $136,022 | |
| 1-2 | $138,782 | |
| 1-3 | $142,806 | |
| 1-4 | $147,347 | |
| 2-1 | $148,890 | |
| 2-2 | $152,165 | |
| 2-3 | $155,514 | |
| 2-4 | $161,584 | |
| 3-1 | $165,139 | |
| 3-2 | $168,772 | |
| 3-3 | $172,485 | |
| 3-4 | $175,820 | |
| 4-1 | $179,688 | |
| 4-2 | $183,642 | |
| 4-3 | $187,682 | |
| 4-4 | $191,811 |
Every salary links to its take-home figure. Where a salary is not a round $5,000 the link goes to the nearest amount the calculator publishes.
Principals — Range 2 to Range 6
A principal position's salary range is set by the school's Student Resource Package budget: Range 2 at the bottom, Range 6 for schools with a budget above $15,526,127 (2025 threshold).
| Range and subdivision | Annual salary | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2-1 | $156,335 | |
| 2-2 | $159,773 | |
| 2-3 | $163,289 | |
| 2-4 | $169,664 | |
| 3-1 | $173,396 | |
| 3-2 | $177,211 | |
| 3-3 | $181,109 | |
| 3-4 | $184,611 | |
| 4-1 | $188,672 | |
| 4-2 | $192,824 | |
| 4-3 | $197,066 | |
| 4-4 | $201,401 | |
| 5-1 | $207,782 | |
| 5-2 | $211,937 | |
| 5-3 | $216,176 | |
| 5-4 | $220,499 | |
| 6-1 | $224,910 | |
| 6-2 | $229,408 | |
| 6-3 | $233,996 | |
| 6-4 | $238,676 | Top of the principal class |
Every salary links to its take-home figure. Where a salary is not a round $5,000 the link goes to the nearest amount the calculator publishes.
Which agreement sets VIC teacher pay
Victoria public school teacher salaries are set by the Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022 (VGSA 2022), the instrument Victorian Department of Education pays against. The rates below took effect from the first pay period on or after 1 July 2025 and were read from that instrument on 14 October 2026.
Next scheduled increase: pending Fair Work Commission approval of the VGSA 2026. 1 July 2025 is the final salary column the VGSA 2022 makes. The proposed VGSA 2026 was approved by staff ballot (93.1% yes, announced 17 September 2026) and the department lodged it with the Fair Work Commission for approval on 23 September 2026 (matter AG2026/2746, passed to a Commission Member for consideration when checked on 14 October 2026, and not yet approved). Its Schedule 1 sets new rates from the first pay period on or after 10 August 2026 and 1 October 2026, then each 1 November from 2027 to 2029 — see the 2026 pay rise section.
These are the government (public) school scales. Catholic systemic and independent schools in Victoria negotiate their own agreements and are not covered here.
Which step am I on?
This is the part most teachers get wrong on their own payslip. Progression in Victoria is not simply one step per calendar year — the rules below are what Victorian Department of Education actually applies.
Progression happens once a year, on 1 May
Within every teaching service classification, salary progression is available on 1 May each year, up to the maximum subdivision of your salary range. The progression cycle runs 1 May to 30 April, and a performance review is done at the end of each school year.
It is not automatic. Progression is based on the annual assessment of your performance under the performance and development process. The VGSA 2022 does, however, forbid the employer from imposing a quota on how many staff can progress in a year — the decision rests solely on each person's own assessment.
You need six months of eligible service
An employee with six or more months of eligible service at or above a subdivision in a progression cycle is eligible to move up. Eligible service includes duty (including time on higher duties), paid leave, and unpaid leave that has been approved to count as service.
If you were promoted in the six months before 1 May you are not eligible to progress that year — unless you had been on higher duties at or above the promotion level earlier in the same cycle, which does count.
Range 1 to Range 2 is not a time-served step
VGSA 2022 clause 16(3): advancement from classroom teacher salary range 1 to classroom teacher salary range 2 is subject to the teacher satisfying the requirements of salary range 2. Reaching 1-5 does not roll you into 2-1 on the calendar.
Range 2 classroom teachers are expected to play a significant role in improving student performance across the school and to build other staff's knowledge of high quality instruction — that is what the requirements test.
Leading teacher and learning specialist are appointments
Range 3 is not the next rung of the classroom teacher scale. Leading teacher and learning specialist are positions the principal creates and fills for a fixed term, and both are paid on the same Range 3 rates.
When a leading teacher or learning specialist appointment expires without renewal, transfer or promotion, the employee becomes a classroom teacher at subdivision 2-6.
If you are told you will not progress
A teacher assessed as not meeting the requirements does not progress that year — but only if they were told in writing before 1 March what standard was expected, where their performance fell short, what the consequences are, and were given the chance to improve.
Progression for everyone else is processed centrally on the payroll.
Accelerated progression exists but is rare
Where a principal considers a teacher is performing well above normal expectations, or where retention is a concern, they can approve accelerated progression within a salary range. It takes effect from 1 May of that cycle and can only come out of the performance and development process.
It is confined to the school that granted it: change schools and your salary reverts to what it would have been without the acceleration, unless the new principal determines otherwise.
Checking your payslip: find the classification code on your payslip, match it to the first column of the tables above, and compare the annual figure. If your gross fortnightly pay does not divide back to the annual salary for your step, you are either on the wrong step or being paid pro rata on a time fraction. The VIC pay calculator will convert an annual salary to fortnightly for you.
What a VIC teacher salary is worth after tax
Gross salary is not what lands in your account. A graduate on $79,589 and a top-of-scale teacher on $118,063 both pay income tax and the Medicare levy, and most also have a compulsory HECS-HELP repayment deducted at these income levels. Every salary in the tables above links to its take-home figure — start with take-home pay on $80,000 or take-home pay on $120,000.
Superannuation sits on top of these salaries rather than inside them. Check the exact figure for your own step with the take-home pay calculator, and if you have a study debt the HECS repayment calculator shows what comes out at your income.
To check the PAYG amount on a single payslip, look up your gross pay in the ATO fortnightly tax table or, if your school pays monthly, the monthly tax table.
Salary packaging available to VIC teachers
Public school teachers can salary sacrifice into superannuation, which reduces taxable income at your marginal rate. Because the classroom teacher scale runs through the 30% and 37% brackets, the saving is meaningful at the top of the scale and smaller at the graduate step. Work out your own number with the salary sacrifice calculator.
Salary sacrificing also lowers the income your compulsory HECS-HELP repayment is assessed on only in limited cases — reportable fringe benefits and reportable super contributions are added back for that test. If you are packaging, check the effect on repayment income before assuming a saving.
What this page does not show
We publish only what we could read from a primary source. These are deliberately left off rather than estimated:
- Principal, assistant principal and liaison principal rates under the proposed VGSA 2026 — published in its Schedule 1 but not tabled here; read them in the proposed agreement itself.
- Casual relief teacher (CRT) rates — published on a separate departmental schedule not read for this page.
- Paraprofessional and education support class scales, which are separate classifications.
- Liaison principal rates, which mirror the principal ranges but are a distinct classification.
For anything in that list, go to Victorian Department of Education.
VIC teacher salary questions
Teacher salaries in other states
How this page is sourced▼
Every salary on this page was read from the Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022 (VGSA 2022) or from Victorian Department of Education’s own published salary schedule on 14 October 2026, and applies from the first pay period on or after 1 July 2025. Nothing is estimated, averaged or interpolated: a step we could not read from a primary source is listed under “What this page does not show” rather than filled in.
State scales step up on dates written into the agreement, so re-check after the next scheduled increase. Take-home figures come from the site’s own calculator using ATO rates; because those pages exist in $5,000 steps, a salary that is not a round $5,000 links to the nearest one and says so.
Sources & References
- 1Proposed Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2026 (Schedule 1: Salary Rates)— Victorian Department of Education
- 2
- 3Enterprise Bargaining: Overview (ballot result, updated 17 September 2026)— Victorian Department of Education
- 4Labor Seals The Deal For Education Staff Pay Rise (17 September 2026)— Premier of Victoria
- 5Salary Rates: Overview (teacher and principal class salary schedules)— Victorian Department of Education
- 6Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022— Victorian Department of Education
- 7Remuneration — Teaching Service: Annual progression— Victorian Department of Education
- 8Career Structure — Teaching Service: Policy and Guidelines— Victorian Department of Education
- 9Labor Is Giving Education Workers A Payrise (17 August 2026)— Premier of Victoria
Last verified: 14 October 2026. Our content is based on the latest information from official Australian government sources.
Anita Bell
AuthorFounder & Senior Bookkeeper
Accountancy degree (2015); certified in Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB, Saasu, Zoho and Reckon One
Anita Bell earned her accountancy degree in 2015 and has worked as a senior bookkeeper with Prime Bookkeeping for over 5 years. This built her skills in Australian and New Zealand tax legislation and industry regulations. She is certified in Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB, Saasu, Zoho and Reckon One, and works with payroll and rostering software including Gusto, Deputy, Tsheets and KeyPay. She has strong experience in hospitality, building and construction, financial services, real estate, ecommerce, and medical and health services.
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