Liberal MLA Elizabeth Lee brought a motion to the Assembly calling for the Education Minister to direct the Education Directorate to return to the bargaining table in an ongoing dispute over pay, resourcing and workforce conditions for ACT public school teachers.
The motion was introduced due to industrial action taken by educators on Friday 22 May 2026, which the Australian Education Union reported had followed months of frustration with the Government’s failure to meaningfully engage on critical issues including workforce sustainability, adequate staffing levels, support for inclusive training, rising workloads and staff wellbeing.
The Greens moved amendments expanding the calls to also consider outcomes from the “School Assistant Classification Standards Framework” review and address outstanding claims raised by employees and their representatives in a timely way to support staff in not needing to take further industrial action. These amendments were supported unanimously.
The motion, as amended, passed the Assembly without opposition.