University of Melbourne staff are gearing up for an industrial action campaign later this month, after its National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) branch voted to strike on Thursday 27 August.

The strike, which will run from 12pm, followed by an on-campus rally, marks an escalation in the months-long bargaining dispute between the NTEU branch and University management. 

It follows a more limited stop-work action planned for Thursday 13 August from 2pm, which will allow individual NTEU members to take action and join organising activities.

Members approved the 27 August stoppage, set for Week 5 of semester, at a branch meeting on Thursday 6 August, with the branch committee confirming the date this week. 

Following the vote, in a letter to University Provost Jane Gunn, NTEU Branch President David Gonzalez said that the resolution “[reflected] the growing frustration of members with the pace of bargaining and the absence of meaningful progress on the issues they have consistently identified as their highest priorities.”

“We hope the University will use the coming weeks to make meaningful progress on the issues that matter most to staff and, in doing so, avoid the need for industrial action.”

More than 2,500 University of Melbourne employees are represented by the NTEU, which began bargaining for a new enterprise agreement in November 2025 after the previous agreement expired in April. 

The branch is pushing for changes including a flat 20% salary increase, a four-day work week for professional staff, improved conversion pathways and sick leave for casual staff, and the creation of democratic academic workload committees across all faculties of the University. 

The proposed workload committees would give academic staff greater control over how their workload is allocated, including the balance between teaching, research, and administrative duties, a balance which Gonzalez describes as currently “unmanageable and unsustainable.”

The previous enterprise agreement was achieved after multiple unprecedented week-long strikes by University staff in August and October 2024. 

The strikes were successful in delivering key demands, including an 8.5% pay increase over two years, 36 weeks of parental leave, right to disconnect provisions, and critically, a commitment to a baseline of 75% of staff being employed on an ongoing basis. 

Ahead of the 27 August strike, the branch is encouraging members to participate in smaller forms of industrial action, including making statements about the NTEU’s campaign in lectures and tutorials. 

From Friday 14 August, members will be able to make statements in the workplace about the dispute, including in tutorials and lectures.

In an email to students on Wednesday afternoon, Provost Jane Gunn said the University anticipated the stop-work action to have minimal impact on students.

“We anticipate that the impact of this industrial action on our students and staff will be minimal. However, we regret any inconvenience that it may cause you and any members of the University community,” the statement said.

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