Mid-range teachers would earn $104,410 per annum by the end of the three years of incremental raises under the AEU’s revised demands announced yesterday.

The figures confirmed by the AEU are based on the union’s updated bargaining position, which would see teachers receive a 6 per cent raise in the first year of the enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA), 5 per cent in the second year and 4 per cent in the third.

Mid-range teachers (Step 5) would be about $14,000 better off at the end of the three-year agreement, while teachers at the top of this pay range (Step 9) would be on $125,522 annually if accepted by the government.

Currently, mid-range teachers earn $90,202 per year while top tier teachers at Step 9 earn $108,441 annually. Top band Principals can earn just over $190,00 per year.

According to the Department of Education there are 11,577 teachers employed by the government, of which 4,150 sit in the Step 9 category while 680 are at the Step 5 level.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ most recent data on national wages shows the average Australian full-time adult worker currently takes home $1838 per week, or $95,576 per year.

In South Australia, average wages are much lower at $1679 per week ($87,256 per year).

For top teachers (Step 9)

Current annual salary is $108,441

For mid-range teachers (Step 5)

Current annual salary is $90,202

South Australian Treasurer Stephen Mullighan this morning said the state government had “already put a substantial amount of money on the table”.

The government’s last offer – worth approximately $1.4 billion in total – would have seen Step 5 teachers $8837 better off over the course of the three years and would close out the EBA with an annual salary of $99,039.

“We’ve already put offers on the table of an additional $1.4 billion over the forward estimates for not only a pay increase but also additional resources to recruit more teachers so that they can reduce the amount of face-to-face teaching time over a period of years,” Mullighan told ABC Radio Adelaide this morning.

“Overall, I think we’re just pleased that they’re back around the negotiating table and we’re looking at getting this resolved – hopefully in good faith – as quickly as possible.”

Last week’s strike saw teachers hit city streets to demand improved  pay and working conditions, forcing the closure of more than 170 schools.

“We want to give them more resources to try and lighten their ever-increasing load in the classroom, but we also want to give them a decent pay raise,” Mullighan said.

“I’m pleased that Andrew Gohl and the AEU are intent on getting back around the table with the government now.

“It’s not just the teachers that we’re dealing with right now, we’ve got future enterprise bargaining negotiations with key public sector groups over the next 18 months, so there is a heightened expectation for wage outcomes.”

His comments come after the AEU yesterday announced teachers would accept a lower pay increase, but threatened industrial action if there isn’t “significant progress” made on the deal by December 1.

“The Premier has made it clear that a salary increase of 8.64 per cent is not something they will deliver, so we have revised our position to reach an agreement soon,” union SA/NT president Andrew Gohl said.

“15 per cent over three years would take SA educators from Australia’s lowest paid to a level closer to the national midpoint, which is a reasonable ask of a government that will otherwise continue to lose teachers at an alarming rate.”

In a statement sent to InDaily, minister for education Blair Boyer said he welcomed the AEU returning to negotiate.

“The State Government will continue our negotiations with the union in good faith, with the aim of delivering an outcome which is best for students, teachers and parents,” Boyer said.

“However, as the State Government has stated all along, any agreement must be affordable for taxpayers and possible to deliver.”