Over the next few weeks, we’ll highlight important provisions in the new Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement, including some important details you might have missed which could significantly enhance your working life.

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 Commision approved document which legally enforces wholescale improvements to workload regulation, leave entitlements and much more.

For the first time under this Agreement, the many hours of employer-directed work outside of normal hours undetaken by teachers in Victorian Catholic schools are accounted for and acknowledged.

All employees apart from casuals with a personal leave balance will be eligible for one day (7.6 hours) paid leave for personal reasons to be taken at a time approved by the principal.

The CEMEA makes a commitment at the outset to minimise the use of fixed-term employment in its schools. This guiding principle is followed by strict specifics.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll highlight important provisions in the new Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement, including some important details you might have missed which could significantly enhance your working life.

The CEMEA increases the entitlement to paid family and domestic violence leave for employees other than casual employees, to up to 20 days per school year.

Lurking at clause 9.3 of CEMEA is an important statement: “The parties are committed to working together in development strategies to support the workload of Teachers and Principals…”

Under CEMEA, all Education Support Staff previously on Level 1 have been classified to Level 2, lifting the top pay point in their incremental scale from $55,374 (Category B 2021) to $68,260 in July and then to $72,460 in July 2025.

This is a huge change - for the first time, this Agreement defines the working week of teachers, and protects their professional autonomy by putting strict limits around the amount of time in any week that a teacher can be directed by their employer.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll highlight important provisions in the new Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement, including some important details you might have missed which could significantly enhance your working life.

Changes to superannuation and leave directly tackle the gender pay gap and low super balances for female workers.

there’s no benefit from working fewer hours if you don’t end up with any free days.

All the articles laying out the benefits of the CEMEA Victorian Catholic Schools Agreement are collected here.

Principals are grappling with “the highest rates of burnout, sleeping troubles, stress, and depression in a decade”.

The ACTU’s first all-union get-together since 2017 was a rousing celebration of collectivism and the campaign for a Yes vote in the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum.

The IEU's new leaders General Secretary David Brear and Deputy General Secretary Kylie Busk are thrilled that 78.5% of voters have supported the new Agreement in 453 MACS+ Victorian Catholic Schools.

IEU Rep Con Chrys has changed his position on the Victorian Catholic Agreement after taking a closer look at how it regulates teacher workloads.

There’s a LOT to unpack in this proposed Agreement. Here are a few of the most common concerns we are hearing about the proposed Agreement, with our responses: