Queensland Catholic teachers vote from 19 to 29 October on a 4%, 3.5% and 3.5% offer

What is happening

Queensland's Catholic school agreements, the Diocesan Schools of Queensland agreement (known as EB10) and the matching Religious Institute Schools agreement, both reached nominal expiry on 30 June 2026. Their replacement, EB11, is being bargained for both groups together. After the employers and the union failed to reach in-principle agreement, the employers have taken their offer directly to staff. The access period, when staff can read the proposed agreement, started on 8 October. Voting opens on 19 October and closes on 29 October.

A ballot like this can go ahead without the union's support. If more than half of those who vote say yes, the agreement goes to the Fair Work Commission for approval. If it fails, bargaining continues.

How bargaining got here

The employers rejected the IEU's main claims: the shorter Proficient 8 wait, higher Graduate and EPT rates, benchmarking to NSW and Victoria, and claims for senior leaders, middle leaders and primary program leaders. Some items have been agreed, according to the IEU's claims-and-responses table of 13 October: a $100 a night camp allowance for teachers on compulsory camps, allowances paid hourly and pro rata, boarding overtime and an increase in cultural leave. The June offer also moved the school officer rise date from 1 May to 1 July and added five days of restricted reproductive health leave.

The two sides

The IEU says the employers 'walked away' from bargaining. Its claims were built around benchmarking Queensland Catholic pay to NSW and Victoria and cutting the three-year wait at Proficient 8, and the offer does neither. The employers' argument is the back-pay warning: if the offer fails, they say, the 2026 rise will not be back-dated. We have not seen employer statements beyond those reported by the union.

What it means for your pay

Current rates under EB10 date from 5 July 2025 at Brisbane Catholic Education. A graduate earns $86,601, Proficient 8 $124,725 and an Experienced Proficient Teacher (EPT) $126,797. Here is what a 4% rise would be worth, on our arithmetic, if the agreement is approved.

Back pay. If the 2026 rise were dated from early July, as the 2025 rise was, a yes vote would bring a lump sum covering the months since then. For an EPT teacher the 4% is worth about $5,072 a year before tax, so four months of back pay would be roughly $1,690 before tax. That is an illustration only, since we have not confirmed the start date. Our back pay calculator will estimate your own figure, and tax on teacher back pay explains how it is withheld.

How this compares with Queensland state schools

Queensland state teachers are in arbitration at the QIRC. In September 2026 most state classroom steps rose 4.75% to award rates from 1 September, and senior classifications got a 3% interim rise from 7 September. That took the state graduate rate to $90,164, about $3,563 above the current Catholic graduate rate and close to the Catholic graduate figure after a 4% rise. The IEU says state arbitration has 'no direct impact' on Catholic bargaining. See our report on the state interim rise and the Queensland pay rise page.

What to do before you vote