Victorian teacher salary 2026: the pay scale, step by step

Victoria is in an unusual spot this term. The pay you see on your payslip is still the last VGSA 2022 rate, set on 1 July 2025. A much bigger scale has already been voted in, but it can't be paid until the Fair Work Commission (FWC) approves the new agreement. When it does, the Department pays the new rates and back-pays the difference to 10 August 2026.

The table on this page shows both: the rates in force today and the proposed VGSA 2026 columns, marked as proposed. Below we explain how the 11-step scale works, how you move up it, what Range 3 is, and how Victoria stacks up against other states.

VIC teacher pay scale from 1 July 2025

VIC teacher pay rises

Leadership and other roles in VIC

Your VIC take-home pay

How the Victorian classroom scale works

Every government classroom teacher sits on one of 11 subdivisions split into two ranges. Range 1 runs from 1-1 to 1-5 and covers your early years. Range 2 runs from 2-1 to 2-6 and is where most experienced teachers sit. The jump from 1-5 to 2-1 is not just another increment: you have to meet the Range 2 standards. Above the classroom scale is Range 3 (3-1 and 3-2), the pay range for Learning Specialists and Leading Teachers.

A four-year-trained graduate starts at 1-1. If you have approved prior teaching, you start one subdivision higher for each year, up to 2-6. That includes CRT work in Victorian registered schools since 1 January 2005 and equivalent interstate or overseas school experience. Under VGSA 2026 some TAFE teaching will count too. Check your starting step before you sign: it's much harder to fix later.

Moving up: progression and the performance cycle

What changes when VGSA 2026 starts

The new agreement rewrites every column of the scale. The graduate step rises 16.7% by 1 October 2026 and 32.4% by November 2029, to $105,384. The top step rises 13.04% by October 2026 and 28.3% by November 2029, to $151,419. Early-career steps get the biggest boost because the first rise is weighted towards them: 6.33% at 1-1 compared with 3% at the top. The voting history and back-pay estimates are on our Victorian teacher pay rise explainer; take-home at every step is on the after-tax page.

• 10 Aug 2026: first rise (3% to 6.33%). Back-paid.
• 1 Oct 2026: 9.75%. Back-paid.
• $2,000 lump sum once the agreement starts (pro rata for part-timers).
• 1 Nov 2027: 4% for teachers. 1 Nov 2028: 4%. 1 Nov 2029: 4.9%.
• 2027 onwards: meetings capped at 40 hours a year, 4 Professional Practice Days, an overnight camp allowance and the 1% top-of-range allowance.

How Victoria compares with other states and sectors

Right now Victoria is behind: its $79,589 graduate rate trails NSW ($92,882 from 9 October 2026) and Queensland ($90,164 from 1 September 2026). Once approved, the 1 October 2026 column brings the Victorian graduate rate to exactly $92,882, the same as NSW, and the top step to $133,456, $34 above the NSW top of $133,422. The difference is the path: Victoria has 11 classroom steps against NSW's 7, so it takes longer to reach the top. Compare side by side on VIC vs NSW teacher pay or across every state on which state pays teachers the most.

Catholic schools in the Melbourne, Ballarat and Sandhurst dioceses pay under the Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2022, whose rates match government schools ($79,589 to $118,063). A 2026 replacement is still being bargained; employers have offered to match the government's percentage increases. See Catholic school teacher pay in Victoria. Independent schools set their own pay: read private school teacher salary.

How to check your step and pay