On this page (6 sections)
The short answer
In October 2026 the AEU SA moved its 'EA27' campaign into a new phase: a petition to Education Minister Lucy Hood before formal bargaining on the next public school agreement. No government offer had been made. SA's last scheduled rise, 3%, was paid from 8 May 2026: Step 1 earns $84,971 and Step 9 $123,236. Separately, SA Catholic staff took protected action in September.
- The current SA school EA 2024 nominally expires around late March 2027.
- It keeps applying until it's replaced, so pay doesn't drop.
- Catholic employers offered 3% a year; the IEU wants 6% a year.
- IEU members stopped work at Rostrevor College on 23 September 2026.
What happened
On 7 October 2026 the Australian Education Union SA Branch said the next phase of its EA27 campaign was 'the most important yet'. After a year of members building their claims, the union is collecting petition signatures to deliver to Education Minister Lucy Hood before formal bargaining for the 2027 agreement begins.
The union's detailed claims weren't set out in the material we could check, so we haven't listed them here. What's clear is the timing: the current agreement runs out on paper in early 2027, and every rise in it has now been paid.
Work out your pay rise and back pay
⚙Your details
New pay rates
Default: the new rates' operative date, 8 May 2026.
When the back pay lands. Default: six weeks from today. New rates apply from the following pay.
E.g. a sign-on or cost-of-living payment in the agreement (gross).
Back pay owed (before tax)
$1,509
New salary
$84,971
+3.0% on $82,496
Rise per fortnight
$95
$65 after tax
Tax on back pay
$483
32% of the lump
Back pay in hand
$1,026
What this means
From 8 May 2026 you should have been paid $95 more each fortnight. Because the new rates weren't paid yet, the difference builds up and arrives as one back payment: about $1,509 before tax. After that, your fortnightly take-home goes from $2,522 to $2,587.
Payroll taxes back pay at your marginal rate rather than spreading it, so roughly 32% comes off. That's your actual tax on the money: it doesn't push the rest of your salary into a higher bracket. These are the latest rates already in force: if they are on your payslip, nothing is owed. This shows what you're owed if payroll was late applying them.
Estimate only. Back pay = (new − old) fortnightly pay × fortnights between the two dates, using the pay column in force at the start of each fortnight. Tax uses the ATO marginal-rate method on your annual salary for 2026–27; back pay for an earlier financial year over $1,200 may be taxed differently and is reported as a lump sum E. Old rates: 1 May 2025 column; South Australian School and Preschool Education Staff Enterprise Agreement 2024, verified 16 October 2026.
Background: the SA School and Preschool Education Staff EA 2024
SA public school teachers are covered by the South Australian School and Preschool Education Staff Enterprise Agreement 2024, approved by the SA Employment Tribunal and in force from 25 March 2024. The tribunal order gives it a nominal life of 36 months, which puts its nominal expiry around late March 2027. That's our calculation; the agreement doesn't state an exact day.
Source: EA 2024 Schedule 1.1 and DfE School Teacher Web Rates effective 8 May 2026.
What it means for your pay
Nothing changes until a new agreement is made. The 8 May 2026 rates keep being paid, and annual increments continue up to Step 8. Step 9 isn't automatic: you apply with a Professional Development Plan after 207 duty days on Step 8.
*2026–27 income tax after LITO plus 2% Medicare, no HELP debt, from our tax engine. Full scale on the SA pay page.
What each 1% of an EA27 rise would be worth (illustration only)
- Step 1: 1% of $84,971
- $850 a year gross, about $578 after tax
- Step 9: 1% of $123,236
- $1,232 a year gross, about $838 after tax
Our arithmetic, not a forecast: no offer has been made. Both steps are in the 30% bracket (32c per dollar with Medicare). HELP repayments come on top if you have a debt.
Free calculator
Teacher back pay calculator
When EA27 is settled, check what any back-dated rise is worth to you after tax.
Open the calculatorCatholic schools: protected action over 3% vs 6%
SA Catholic school staff are bargaining separately with Catholic Education South Australia (CESA). In August 2026 the Independent Education Union SA said CESA had offered 3% a year, against the union's claim of 6% a year, back-dated to May 2025. On 23 September 2026, IEU members took protected industrial action: wearing union shirts, imposing bans and stopping work, including at Rostrevor College.
Catholic figures are from IEU SA and haven't been checked against the agreement. The IEU says SA Catholic teachers are the lowest paid in Australia.
On the IEU's numbers, a top-of-scale Catholic teacher on $116,160 takes home about $3,403 a fortnight, against $3,588 for a government teacher on Step 9. That's about $4,811 a year less after tax. CESA's 3% a year offer would close that gap at the top, according to the IEU's own figures. See SA Catholic school teacher pay.
What happens next and dates to watch
Watch for
- The AEU SA petition being delivered to the minister, then the start of formal bargaining.
- A government offer. None had been made by 16 October 2026.
- Around late March 2027: EA 2024 reaches nominal expiry. Pay continues at current rates after that until a new agreement is approved.
- May 2027: the month SA teacher rises have fallen in since 2023. Nothing is scheduled for it under the current agreement.
- Catholic sector: further protected action or a revised CESA offer.
Workload changes under EA 2024 continue regardless: the 60-minute cut to maximum face-to-face teaching reaches Index Category 3 schools in 2026 and Category 4 in 2027, where schools can recruit the staff to cover it. Track every state's deal on the pay rise tracker.
Frequently asked questions
What is the AEU SA EA27 campaign?
When is the next SA teacher pay rise?
When does the SA teachers' enterprise agreement expire?
How much does a graduate teacher earn in SA?
Why are SA Catholic teachers taking industrial action?
Sources we checked · last verified 2026-10-17
- 1.AEU SA: The next phase of our EA27 campaign is the most important yet (Oct 2026)
- 2.SAET: SA School and Preschool Education Staff Enterprise Agreement 2024 (ET-24-00640)
- 3.SA DfE: School teachers pay rates, effective 8 May 2026 (PDF)
- 4.IEU SA: Catholic EB24, it's more than just numbers (Aug 2026)
- 5.IEU SA: Members show their numbers in Catholic industrial action (Sep 2026)
- 6.IEU SA: Same Work, Different Pay (Mar 2026)
Work out your pay rise and back pay
CalculateAbout this page
Written and fact-checked by the TeacherPay AU Editorial Team against the enterprise agreements, awards and official pages listed in the sources. It is general information, not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it, usually within a day. See our editorial policy and how we calculate.