Victorian teachers and school support staff represented by the Australian Education Union began the first day of Term 2 with coordinated strike action on Friday, after union leadership confirmed that negotiations with the Allan government over pay and workload conditions had failed to produce a breakthrough during the school holidays.

AEU Victorian branch president Meredith Peace confirmed the stoppage at a rally in Melbourne's CBD, telling members that the government's latest offer 'remains well short of what teachers deserve and what our schools need.' The union had flagged the possibility of 'serious escalation' in the final week of Term 1, and officials made good on that warning by calling a full-day statewide strike affecting hundreds of government schools.

The Victorian Department of Education advised parents earlier in the week to make alternative arrangements for their children, acknowledging that a significant number of schools would be closed or operating with severely reduced staffing. The department said it was 'disappointed' the union had not returned to the bargaining table, and called on the AEU to resume talks before further disruption occurred.

Education Minister Ben Carroll reiterated the government's position that its offer — which includes above-inflation pay rises over four years — was 'responsible and fair.' However, union negotiators argued that workload reduction measures, not just pay, remained the central sticking point, with teachers citing unsustainable administrative burdens driving staff out of the profession.

Opposition education spokesperson in Victoria used the stoppage to press Premier Jacinta Allan on the government's handling of the dispute, calling for urgent intervention. Parent groups expressed frustration at the timing, noting that the start of a new term compounded the difficulties of arranging last-minute childcare. The AEU indicated further rolling strikes could follow if the government did not return with a substantially improved offer by the end of the coming week.