Tasmanian health and education workers escalate strikes over stalled government pay talks

Tasmania’s public sector wage stoush is amping up with teachers set to walk off the job for a second time in two months, saying they want better conditions.

Health and Community Services Union stop-work action 4/12/25. Picture: supplied

Teachers will walk of the job this Friday due to planned industrial action by the Australian Education Union, Education Minister Jo Palmer confirmed.

She confirmed most government schools would be temporarily closed until 12pm on Friday, December 12.

It will be the second walkout in two months as educators push for “fair pay for support staff, workload relief, and solutions to the growing school violence crisis”.

AEU Tasmania said members were furious support staff were heading into Christmas with “no confirmed pay rise”.

“School violence, crushing workloads and staff burnout continue to escalate, yet the government has stalled bargaining by sending in a negotiator with no authority,” the union said.

Education Minister Jo Palmer said schools were working to keep pre-planned end-of-year events running where possible and encouraged the union to return to negotiations.

“This industrial action will disrupt student learning, families and the small business community.

“We encourage the union to remain at the negotiating table.”

Health workers strike at Roy Fagan Centre

Industrial action across Tasmania’s public sector has continued, with health workers staging fresh stop-work actions and the education union preparing for another walkout later this week over stalled wage negotiations with the state government.

Workers at the Roy Fagan Centre in Lenah Valley were the latest to strike on Monday, holding a one-hour stop-work action at 11.30am.

The in-patient facility treats elderly people experiencing mental illness and dementia, with its workers facing some of the highest rates of workplace violence in the state, according to the Health and Community Services Union.

The walk-out was the latest in a series of stop-work actions across the health sector, which last week saw pharmacists, podiatry staff and medical physicists walk off the job at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

HACSU president Lauren Vanier said workers “across the board” were fed up with unsafe workloads and a lack of progress in wage negotiations.

“We’re getting really frustrated, and the stalling from the government is driving us crazy,” she said.

“We all just want to focus on patients, but that’s hard to do because it feels like the government is playing a game with us.”

The latest stop-work comes after public sector unions and the government passed an agreed target date to settle a pay deal.

The government’s current offer remains at three per cent, which unions say will leave Tasmanian workers falling further behind those on interstate.

“The obvious outcome is workers are going to move elsewhere where the wages are higher,” Ms Vanier said.

“Tasmania needs a functioning healthcare system, and to keep it sustainable we need pay parity.

“We’re asking for really reasonable things.”

Health Minister Bridget Archer defended the three per cent wage rise offer as “fair and reasonable”.

“We want public sector workers to have a pay rise, and we’ll continue to negotiate in good faith,” she said.

“For me personally, I continue to meet very regularly with nurses and unions.

“There is more work to do and we’re committed to working with our workforce to get a better outcome for all Tasmanians.”

Originally published as Tasmanian health and education workers escalate strikes over stalled government pay talks