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Catholic Enterprise Bargaining 2024 (EB24) negotiations stalled on Tuesday 28 October after the employers refused to negotiate further on key IEU claims, which include:

• Salary and Allowances
• Workload and Class Size
• Curriculum Extension Activities
• ESO Span of Hours – Stop the employers’ cut to take-home pay
• Country Incentives
• Preschool Conditions

Falling Behind: The Real Cost of Stagnant Wages

Since 2020, CESA teachers have lost $23,580 in real wages!

A teacher at the top of the scale could have earned an additional $40,309 if real wage growth had matched the 20-year average bringing the top rate to $129,401.

The employers’ offer of effectively 3% per annum means teachers would not return to their 2020 real wage level until 2063.

In contrast, the IEU’s claim of effectively 6% would restore real wages to 2020 levels by the end of this agreement.

Where We Stand

Catholic schools in South Australia are near the bottom of the national league table for teacher salaries.

*Source – The Point Term Three 2025, page 2. E&OE.

Even with a salary increase of 3% to match DfE, that only puts SA Catholic teachers ahead of Tasmania and Victoria. In Victoria Catholic school employees are set to reject an employer offer of a 7% increase because it doesn’t get them up to the NSW rate. Their claim is for 17%.

A Question of Fairness

While teachers’ wages went backwards in real terms during COVID and beyond, Catholic schools received $85.6 million in JobKeeper payments, boosting profits by $66 million.

Despite this, teachers were subject to CESA’s pay cutter policy, leaving wages 9.35% lower in real terms than in 2010.

Workloads and work intensity have continued to increase yet the employers’ offer does nothing to address these growing pressures.

The Truth About Inflation

Despite employer claims, their offer does not exceed inflation.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS):

• CPI rose 3.2% in the year to September.
• The Wage Price Index rose 3.4%.
• Bargained wages increased 4.2%.

Catholic employers’ offers remain below inflation, meaning another real wage cut for staff while the cost of living continues to climb.

It’s Time for Fair Pay

Catholic education employees deserve fair pay that reflects the essential and demanding work they do every day.

It’s time for employers to respect and reward the people who keep  Catholic schools running and the Catholic students thriving.

Curriculum Extension Activities

The employer wants their overworked teachers to work after hours and on weekends, undertaking curriculum extension activities for only $45 per hour. They don’t want to have this amount indexed over the life of the agreement.

This is less than a teacher’s hourly rate and it does not reflect penalty rates. We have been told that some coaches that are being employed are paid more.

CESA needs to clarify:

• Why they think it is fair to pay teachers less than their hourly rates for these activities.
• Why weekend work and after-hours work should not attract penalty rates.
• Why they need to be able to require teachers to undertake these additional hours, when they claim that people love to do this work and would do it voluntarily.
• Why this pay should not be indexed.
• Why they are paying some externally contracted coaches more than this rate, but not teachers.

Preschool Conditions

IEU Preschool representative Maree Raphael has attended the bargaining meetings, but CESA has refused to genuinely negotiate with the IEU on preschools conditions.

The IEU settlement proposals for preschool include:

• A preschool definition of Teacher Maximum Children Contact Time that reflects the work of preschoolers.
• Additional leadership time for preschool directors.
• Morning tea breaks of 15 minutes.

We contend that these modest claims are not unreasonable . CESA claims that they consulted with School Principals on these provisions, and they claimed that there were no changes or improvements needed.

This comes at a time when preschools are moving to have 3 year old students, and whilst there is national scrutiny on the early years’ sector. Now is not the time to claim that no changes are necessary.

Country Incentives

While CESA want to pay the Department for Education (DfE) salary rate, they do not want to pay country teachers country incentives, locality allowances and other conditions that are afforded to country DfE teachers.   At the last meeting, CESA were unaware of what DfE country teachers received through their award and agreement.

We are seeking improved country incentives allowances; travel, relocation and housing assistance; and locality allowances and medical travel reimbursement for teachers, spouses and dependants.

Take action on social media

The IEU is currently running a powerful media campaign that has caught the attention of CESA. It has also caught the attention of members and non-members as shown below with these 5 recent targeted posts attracting over 9000 reach.

Using social media to share IEU posts is a deliberate collective action you can take to increase your collective voice and the pressure on CESA to bargain fairly and listen to what their employees actually want.

Your EB24 Bargaining Team

IEU(SA) Officers:
Dan Farmer – Industrial Officer
Emma Johnson – Industrial Officer

IEU(SA) Members:
Sonja Brownridge – Sacred Heart College
Ally Cunningham – School of the Nativity
Louisa Fidock – Saint Ignatius’ College
Anthony Haskell – Saint Ignatius’ College
Tristan Lorensini – Saint Columba College
Maree Raphael – St Joseph’s Memorial Junior School
Jane Gibson – St Joseph’s School – Port Lincoln