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Thousands of NSW teachers are striking for 24 hours in a bid to increase their pay and reduce their workload.

Public schools remain open on Wednesday but parents were urged to keep children at home as there will be minimal supervision.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell says the disruption to students and parents caused by the strike is "frustrating and disappointing".

She had asked the union to cancel the industrial action after Premier Dominic Perrottet indicated he would lift the 2.5 per cent wage cap increase for public sector workers in the June 21 budget.

"We are actively looking at this as part of the budget and not just for teachers, but all our frontline staff and we made that clear," Ms Mitchell told the Nine Network on Wednesday.

"We understand cost of living and household budgets.

"We want to get the right result for our frontline staff.

"We're committed to doing that as part of the budget process."

Labor education spokeswoman Prue Car accused the government of being out of touch with workers after revealing it had created a new salary band for the chiefs of staff of some ministers, effectively giving them a 10 per cent pay rise, with the top salary increasing from $320,000 to $354,201.

Ms Mitchell said that figure is an upper limit.

"My understanding is that those bands are effectively like a limit on what can be paid to staff ... and there aren't any ministerial staff who are being paid at the top of that top band," she told Sydney radio 2GB.

Teachers will rally outside NSW Parliament House on Wednesday, seeking provision for two hours of extra planning time and a pay rise of between five and 7.5 per cent.

NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos says the main reasons teachers do not want to stay in the profession are unsustainable workloads and uncompetitive salaries.

Public sector pay increases have been capped at 2.5 per cent per annum for more than a decade.

Mr Gavrielatos refused to call off the strike, saying the promise to address wages in the budget was not a guarantee and teachers had been patient with the government in attempts to negotiate since February last year.

Ms Mitchell on Tuesday directed her department not to push ahead with a 2.04 per cent annual pay rise that was due to go before the Industrial Relations Commission next week.

Public sector workforce wage rises amount to billions of dollars and the government has competing priorities that need to be balanced, Ms Mitchell told 2GB on Wednesday.

"These are major decisions that should actually be made as part of a proper budget process, not in response to union demands," she said.

McKell Institute CEO Michael Buckland said the offered wage increase would deliver a significant pay cut in real terms, with the median teacher losing more than $2000 a year.

"It is reasonable to conclude that such a fall in wages, especially to other professions, would make addressing teacher shortages far more difficult," he said.

© AAP 2022

The prime minister has moved to freeze the deeming rate for almost 900,000 social security recipients in the wake of the central bank raising interest rates for the first time in more than a decade.

The deeming rates used to determine income from financial assets will be frozen for the next two years, in an attempt to ensure payments for aged pensioners and other recipients won't be reduced.

The deeming rate freeze is expected to apply to 885,000 people, with the lower deeming rate set to remain at 0.25 per cent, while the upper deeming rate will stay at 2.25 per cent.

It comes after the Reserve Bank of Australia raised the official cash interest rate from a historic low of 0.1 per cent to 0.35 per cent - the first time rise since 2010 - ahead of the May 21 federal election.

Scott Morrison expressed sympathy with mortgage holders facing increased monthly repayments as a result.

The opposition pounced, with Labor leader Anthony Albanese saying it will make it harder for millions of Australians to make ends meet.

Mr Morrison said the freeze on deeming rates for social security payments would ensure people could deal with rising costs.

"This is another shield to help protect Australians from the cost of living pressures people could feel from an increase in interest rates," he said.

"We will guarantee the rate of income for people who could otherwise see their social security income drop because of the increase in interest rates."

However, RBA governor Philip Lowe warned of further rate hikes in the coming months.

"It's not unreasonable to expect the normalisation of interest rates over the period could see them rise to 2.5 per cent," he said.

"How fast we will get there will be determined by events."

Asked what difference it would make whichever party was in government, shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government doesn't understand the pressure people are under.

"We think the difference between Labor and the government is that the government is trying to wash their hands of this challenge ... they don't understand the pressure," he told Nine Network on Wednesday.

"We do ... Growing the economy without adding to inflation, getting real wages moving again, trying to have something to show from this (government's) budget, which is heaving with a trillion dollars in debt."

Mr Morrison will start campaigning in Melbourne on Wednesday while Mr Albanese will begin in Sydney.

Economic management will be firmly in the spotlight during a treasury portfolio debate on Wednesday.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will square off against Mr Chalmers at the National Press Club.

© AAP 2022

Rapper, singer and songsmith The Kid LAROI has been named songwriter of the year at the APRA awards.

The gong is one of three he took home on the night - or would have, were the 18-year-old not in the middle of a massive global tour.

He also won peer-voted Song of the Year for STAY, the global hit he co-wrote with Justin Bieber, and took out the most performed hip hop/rap category with his song Without You.

"I really appreciate the support and I want to give a quick shout out to fans back home. I'm stoked to be on my way back and I can't wait to perform the End of the World tour with you guys," he said.

In the 40th year of the awards, the accolades were not just for fresh-faced performers, with veterans of the Australian music industry also recognised.

Angus Young and the late Malcolm Young won Most Performed Rock Work for Shot In The Dark, from their seventeenth studio album Power Up.

The brothers, along with the late Bon Scott, won a Gold Award at the very first APRA Awards in 1982 for AC/DC's Highway to Hell.

On Tuesday night at the Melbourne Town Hall, Tones And I took home two awards, winning Most Performed Pop Work with Fly Away, and Most Performed Australian Work Overseas with her global hit Dance Monkey.

London-based producer John Courtidis was also a two-time winner for co-writing Head & Heart, the Joel Corry and MNEK UK club hit.

Singer Genesis Owusu was named Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year, a prize that went to the Kid LAROI in 2021.

The Ghanaian-Australian singer from Canberra was recognised for his debut album Smiling with No Teeth, which reached the ARIA Albums Chart top 30.

Amy Shark's Love Songs Ain't for Us, co-written with Ed Sheeran, won Most Performed Country Work, while Vance Joy and Joel Little's song about loved ones separated by the pandemic won Most Performed Alternative Work.

The Wiggles were recognised for outstanding service to Australian music with the Ted Albert Award.

Tim Rogers with rock band The Hard-Ons ended the awards night with a tribute to the late Chris Bailey, lead singer of formative Australian rock band The Saints.

AUSTRALASIAN PERFORMING RIGHT ASSOCIATION MUSIC WINNERS 2022:

* Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year - STAY

* Songwriter of the Year - The Kid LAROI

* Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year - Genesis Owusu

* Ted Albert Award - The Wiggles

* Most Performed Australian Work - Head & Heart

* Most Performed Alternative Work - Missing Piece

* Most Performed Blues & Roots Work - Letting Go

* Most Performed Country Work - Love Songs Ain't For Us

* Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work - Head & Heart

* Most Performed Hip Hop/Rap Work - Without You

* Most Performed Pop Work - Fly Away

* Most Performed R&B/Soul Work - Higher

* Most Performed Rock Work - Shot in the Dark

* Most Performed Australian Work Overseas -Dance Monkey

* Most Performed International Work - Lasting Lover

© AAP 2022