It’s alive: the Victorian Catholic Education Agreement is approved at last!

Victorian Catholic IEU members, you have an Agreement. Not a proposal, a draft, or an implementation guide; you are now proud co-owners of a Fair Work Commission approved document which legally enforces wholescale improvements to workload regulation, leave entitlements and much more.

The Catholic Education Multi Enterprise Agreement 2022: Diocese of Ballarat, Diocese of Sandhurst, Archdiocese of Melbourne and Lavalla Catholic College, Traralgon, (which can thankfully be reduced to CEMEA) is signed, sealed, and delivered after so long that it needs to be carbon dated for us to remember when the process began.

The final hurdle was crossed on Monday 31 July, when the Fair Work Commission approved the CEMEA - it becomes legally binding next Monday, 7 August.

The IEU had already negotiated with employers for pay increases to be backpaid to December 2021 and for many improvements to take effect from the start of the 2023, including reduced Scheduled Class Time, improved paid parental leave and much more. Many other improved conditions have been phased in over the first half of the year, including the full counting of TIL accrual. As of 7 August, however, every single condition won and improvement made will be legally enforcable.

This was a very long road. The hard graft done to birth the CEMEA, the major changes it brings, fundamental changes to IR laws, and hopefully some streamlining of employer procedures mean the next bargaining period (not so long into the future) will be swifter and less frustrating for us all.

Congratulations and a huge thank you to all the hard working, persistent, and patient IEU members who toiled through two winters – sending in Report Cards and selfies, braving frigid rallies, embracing the No More Freebies campaign, offering interviews to the local press and The Point, and conducting countless discussions with colleagues and union staff - to make this Agreement a reality. Your efforts won many improvements, and your Yes vote ensured that the painstaking work was not wasted.

The changes won in this Agreement are far-reaching, and have already significantly improved the working lives of staff in Victorian Catholic education. Some, such as the fundamental change to the regulation of the working hours of teachers, will undoubtedly take time to bed down consistently across the state. Teething issues are inevitable, but we are very confident that in the long term they will make a huge difference, and will provide us with a very solid new foundation to build upon in future Agreements.

Find our in-depth Know Your Agreement feature articles here, which are being added to on a weekly basis over the first half of Term 3, 2023.

Other Agreement explainers and resources are available here.