Operational Teaching Assistants Pilot (Reference 156)
The Operational Teaching Assistants (OTA) pilot aims to ease the administrative load on teachers and enable them to focus on duties that require their professional skills and judgement.
Under the pilot, OTAs are employed in Victorian government schools from Term 3 2025, until the end of Term 2, 2027.
OTA roles and responsibilities were designed to align with those of an Education Support Level 1, Range 2 position in accordance with the 2022 Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA), and the scope of the role has not change under the current 2026 VGSA.
The role does not involve working directly with students. Instead, OTAs take on administrative and operational tasks performed by teachers to reduce teacher workload. Schools participating in the pilot must tailor the role within the parameters of the 2026 VGSA, the program guidelines and the unique context of their school.
Eligibility
OTA funding is provided to schools that are participating in the OTA pilot.
All Victorian government schools were eligible to apply for the pilot via an Expression of Interest process in May 2025.
Funding
Australian Government Funding has been provided to cover 50% of the employment and oncosts of the OTA roles, with participating pilot schools required to cover the remaining 50% of the costs.
OTA funding allocations are calculated based on 50% of Full-time Equivalent (FTE) Education Support Level 1 Range 2-midpoint salary + school on‐costs (12.20% superannuation and 5.40% payroll tax). For example, this equates to $21,329 for the first half of 2027 for each 1 FTE Operational Teaching Assistant.
The government funding portion will be provided to schools through the SRP Indicative and Revised budget cycles via credit.
Further information
Updated