State of our schools
// Annual survey shows more funding needed
Teacher shortage // New initiatives are a good start
Pressure builds // Students with disability let down
Improving conditions // Queensland’s new First Nations language and culture guidelines
Clock ticking as election looms
Rosemary Richards, as a committed feminist and teacher unionist, strongly believed in the power of a federation, and that women working collectively together was the best hope of winning change in education workplaces and in education unions.
The Rosemary Richards award honours her legacy.
Who
The award is for emerging women leaders to work on a project to improve gender equity by engaging women in the union.
The award will go to a pair from the branch or associated body:
•One of whom will be a woman from the rank-and-file membership, such as a workplace delegate, women’s contact officer, union committee member or similar.
•One of whom will be a woman that is an elected leader or senior officer within the branch or associated body.
The pair will work together on a targeted gender equity project that aligns with the strategic priorities of that branch or associated body over a calendar year. This will be supported by structured mentoring by the AEU Federal Office across the year.
How to apply
Applications open in the first week of October. Contact the Women’s Officer in your branch for the application guide.
For Every Child campaign calls for support to fully fund our public schools.
06
NEWS IN BRIEF
• Support for Palestinian teachers and students
• Navigating cultural protocols
• Resources for gender equality in sports
• Science world view
08
CLOCK TICKS ON FUNDING
The federal government has issued an ultimatum to the states and territories: take it or leave it.
12 STATE OF OUR SCHOOLS
Annual survey reveals shocking results.
16 FILLING CRITICAL TEACHER GAPS
Solving the teacher shortage crisis won’t be easy but encouraging new initiatives is a good start.
22 RECOGNISING AND VALUING FIRST LANGUAGES TEACHERS
Moves are underway to improve employment conditions for First Nations language and culture teachers and educators.
24
PRESSURE BUILDS ON SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS
Students with disability and their teachers are being let down by a lack of funding.
28 TACKLING NEW STRATEGIES
The latest updates from four early career educators.
34
GLOBAL TEACHER SHORTAGE CRISIS TOPS CONGRESS AGENDA
The AEU calls on union members to continue efforts towards building a better future through quality public education.
36 ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE A review of Thomas Mayo's new book investigates what's next for reconciliation and justice in Australia.
REGULARS
04 From the president
05 Know your union 38 Recess
For a better and fairer education system, the time to fully fund public schools is now.
Term 3 has brought international solidarity, outspoken support, government ultimatums and urgency to the fight for properly resourced, fully funded public education.
Australia’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) –specifically SDG4, to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education by 2030 – will not be met with the federal government’s current o er to fund 22.5 per cent of the minimum public school funding required in each state.
There’s a disconnect between the intentions of federal education minister Jason Clare and the financial commitment of the Albanese government.
“I want to invest billions into our public schools and I want to make sure that money makes a di erence to the kids who really need it,” says Clare. “That means tying that funding to the sort of things that will help more kids catch up, keep up and finish school.”
Yet the Albanese government's o er will not fix the inequality for Australia’s schools legislated by the Coalition in 2017.
Australia is not alone in this conundrum. As Education International (EI) says: “Education status is a national bellwether. It tells us most precisely the prospects for children, the health status of the population, the income and civil rights of women, the likelihood of innovation and entrepreneurship, and its ability to respond and adapt to crises including conflict, climate change and natural disaster."
The urgency of this crisis led to United Nations secretary-general António Guterres convening a HighLevel Panel on the Teaching Profession, composed of international experts and supported by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNESCO.
The Panel issued 59 recommendations to address the teacher shortage, focusing on reversing precarious
Australian Educator (ISSN: 0728-8387) is published for the Australian Education Union by Hardie Grant Media. The magazine is circulated to members of the AEU nationally.
Heads & Tales
Ground Level, Building 1
658 Church St, Richmond 3121
Tel: (03) 8520 6444
Fax: (03) 8520 6422
Email: educator@hardiegrant.com
employment, reducing workload, and increasing salaries. The recommendations include involving teachers in policy decisions, strengthening social dialogue, creating national commissions to improve working conditions and salaries, investing in teacher training and professional development, promoting inclusion and gender pay equity, and transitioning contract and unqualified teachers to permanent, qualified positions.
The recommendations call for immediate action to be taken on areas spanning pay, conditions, and job security; professional practice; gender, equity, and diversity; social dialogue and collective bargaining; technology and the future of work in education; and education financing.
The Panel recommended that public education funding be guaranteed as at least 6 per cent of GDP and 20 per cent of total government expenditure, as set out in the Education 2030 Framework for Action, and should allow for increasing investment per capita. Further, that tax revenue should allow for sustainable education financing.
According to World Bank figures, in 2022, Australia spent 5.2 per cent of its GDP on education, of which 0.7 per cent of GDP went to private schools. Public education deserves and needs more..
In addition to keeping pressure on governments to meet promises and prioritise public education funding, education financing activists have looked at how governments can transform their funding processes and are calling for enhanced education financing through the '4 S’ approach:
• Share Increase the budget allocation for education as a share of government spending.
• Size Increase the overall amount spent on education.
• Scrutiny Improve transparency of education budgeting to ensure accountability.
• Sensitivity Ensure education financing is used e ectively and equitably.
AEU and subscription enquiries
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Editor Kevin Bates
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Account manager Christine Dixon
Managing editor Georgia Lejeune
Commissioning editor Tracey Evans
Subeditor Leanne Tolra
Design Dallas Budde & Robert Bertagni
Building on global collectivism and centring on EI’s Go Public! Fund Education campaign, which calls for governments to invest more in public education and in teachers, the 10th Education International World Congress adopted a broad and ambitious resolution to tackle the global teacher and education support personnel shortage.
“Without enough qualified teachers, we cannot provide the quality education that every student deserves and our societies desperately need,” says EI general secretary David Edwards. “It is imperative to increase public funding for public education and invest in teachers ... It is also imperative to respect the profession, value teachers’ pedagogical expertise, and involve teachers in decision-making processes.”
Education minister Clare's ultimatum demands the states accept an o er of an additional 2.5 per cent Commonwealth share of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) or face no additional investment until 2034. But to close the funding gap, the Commonwealth needs to provide an additional 5 per cent along with the states and territories contributing 75 per cent of the SRS. In response, the AEU called on the Albanese government to meet its election promise to fully fund every public school.
With only 1.3 per cent of public schools funded at the SRS minimum benchmark, the stark reality is that public schools have waited more than a decade for the vital resources that they need to deliver high-quality education for every child.
Delivery of full funding must be a joint commitment from both the Commonwealth and the state and territory governments. The fact that five states and one territory are refusing to sign the current deal is a clear sign that the Albanese government’s o er is not good enough.
This too is evidenced in the 2024 NAPLAN results, which show that the decade-long delays in fully funding public schools have left "priority cohorts" of the country’s most vulnerable students without the essential funding needed for teaching and learning.
The time is now to fully fund public education and AEU members' ongoing campaigning and activism, with the support of community groups and business leaders, is vital in the For Every Child campaign to fully fund our public schools.
Correna
Haythorpe AEU federal president
Advertising manager
Kerri Spillane
Tel: (03) 8520 6444
Email: kerrispillane@ hardiegrant.com
With a federal office and branches or associated bodies in every state and territory, the AEU represents more than 195,000 members industrially and professionally.
AEU FEDERAL
120 Clarendon St, Southbank, VIC, 3006
Phone: +61 3 9693 1800
Email: aeu@aeufederal.org.au
Web: aeufederal.org.au
AEU ACT BRANCH
Branch president
Angela Burroughs
Branch secretary
Patrick Judge
1/71 Leichhardt Street
Kingston ACT 2604
Phone: 02 6272 7900
Email: aeuact@aeuact.org.au
Web: aeuact.org.au
AEU SA BRANCH
Branch president
Jennie-Marie Gorman Branch secretary
Matthew Cherry
163 Greenhill Road Parkside 5063
Phone: 08 8172 6300
Email: aeusa@aeusa.asn.au
Web: aeusa.asn.au
AEU VIC BRANCH
Branch president
Meredith Peace
Branch secretary
Erin Aulich
126 Trenerry Crescent
Abbotsford 3067
Phone: 03 9417 2822
Email: melbourne@aeuvic.asn.au
Web: aeuvic.asn.au
NEW SOUTH WALES TEACHERS FEDERATION
President
Henry Rajendra
General secretary
Maxine Sharkey
23-33 Mary Street
Surry Hills 2010
Phone: 02 9217 2100
Email: mail@nswtf.org.au
Web: nswtf.org.au
Federal president Correna Haythorpe
Federal secretary
Kevin Bates
AEU NT BRANCH
Branch president
Michelle Ayres
Branch secretary
Rachael Metcalfe
3/8 Totem Road
Coconut Grove 0811
Phone: 08 8948 5399
Email: admin@aeunt.org.au
Web: aeunt.org.au
AEU TAS BRANCH
Branch president
David Genford
Branch state manager
Brian Wightman
1/32 Patrick Street
Hobart 7000
Phone: 03 6234 9500
Email: support@aeutas.org.au
Web: aeutas.org.au
QUEENSLAND
TEACHERS’ UNION
President
Cresta Richardson
General secretary
Kate Ruttiman
21 Graham Street
Milton 4064
Phone: 07 3512 9000
Email: qtu@qtu.asn.au
Web: qtu.asn.au
STATE SCHOOL
TEACHERS UNION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
President
Matthew Jarman
General secretary
Mary Franklyn
1 West Street West Perth 6005
Phone: 08 9210 6000
Email: contact@sstuwa.org.au
Web: sstuwa.org.au
Education International (EI), backed by its member teacher unions from around the world, is continuing to provide financial and wellbeing support for the teachers, students and their communities suffering in the continuing war in Gaza.
EI is helping to fund unions in Palestine to develop tools and training to support teachers’ mental health.
The EI Teachers Empowerment Initiative began in January and has trained teachers to design social-emotional activities into their lessons.
More than 38,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began a bombing and ground campaign in response to Hamas’s deadly October 7 attack, according to the latest reports from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The figures include almost 8000 children. In July, four United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools were
hit by missiles in four days. Since the war began, 80 per cent of UNRWA schools in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed in what the UN is calling ‘scholasticide’.
The Gaza Strip’s 2.15 million people face acute food insecurity and an estimated 22 per cent are on the brink of starvation.
Despite the horrific conditions, many teachers continue to be engaged with their students.
But hundreds of thousands of children are being deprived of education in Gaza, tens of thousands of teachers have lost their jobs and hundreds of schools have been totally or partially destroyed. The wages for teachers in both Gaza and the West Bank have been withheld since October because Israel has refused to pay tax revenue to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. You can donate and find out more about the Teachers Empowerment Initiative at tinyurl.com/yc5fdfff
Some teachers who are not from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds can be hesitant to include First Nations content in their lesson planning for fear of causing offense or teaching the wrong material.
But a study by Curtin University researchers has come up with some guidelines that can help teachers engage in teaching Aboriginal content and Torres Strait Islander content.
The study was based on interviews with a group of students completing a Master of Teaching postgraduate degree. The researchers – Carly Steele, Graeme Fowler and Sophie Benson – distilled the responses into three strategies: follow ethical protocols, be learners (not just teachers) and put First Nations voices first.
Six students were interviewed about their experiences of including Aboriginal content and Torres Strait Islander content in a sequence of four comprehensive lesson plans and the results were published in a paper, Non-Indigenous initial teacher education students navigating the cultural interface
All of the interviewees were concerned about the cultural protocols of inviting an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander into the school, knowing the current terminology to use and avoiding false or offensive information, the paper says. The students found that being “dedicated researchers” helped them ethically navigate cultural protocols and be more confident in incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander curriculum into their teaching.
tinyurl.com/ewuns83h tinyurl.com/3khurykm
The rise of women’s soccer in Australia and the players’ fight for equality has been documented in a new film called Trailblazers
The film features Australia’s national team the Matildas from the early days when they played to small crowds, to their appearances in sold-out stadiums and being watched on TV and online by more than 11 million people during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Cool.org in collaboration with Documentary Australia, MECCA M-POWER and Equity Trustees have developed 15 free lesson plans to promote gender equality in sports and beyond, with impactful and inspiring stories.
Cool.org’s CEO Thea Stinear says the teaching resources are curriculum aligned and present positive and inspirational role models to students.
“This initiative stands to make a lasting impact on students and contribute to a more inclusive and equitable society,” she says.
A campaign launched by the filmmakers encourages students to “blaze a trail” to help drive change for gender equality in communities, clubs, schools and other organisations.
The AEU partners with Cool.org to provide resources to first-year teachers.
cool.org
trailblazersfilm.com.au
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has developed a professional development course to strengthen understanding about science.
This course aims to give teachers the resources to provide a comprehensive scientific world view, says ACARA. It focuses on three areas: science understanding, science as a human endeavour and science inquiry.
“It allows for students to learn to engage in detailed inquiry practices and be challenged to understand and apply scientific concepts both critically and creatively,” ACARA says.
The course, Australian Curriculum Version 9.0: Developing a deeper understanding – Science, is published on ACARA’s online Professional Learning Hub. learning.acara.edu.au
TAFE Day 1 – 31 October Dyslexia Awareness Month
13 – 19 October
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
22 – 28 October Enviroweek 25 October World Teachers’ Day 11 – 17 November
National Recycling Week
25 November
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women 1 December World AIDS Day
3 December
International Day of People with Disability
The AEU is calling for both the Commonwealth and the state and territory governments to commit to full funding.
The federal government’s $737 million funding deal is a game changer for Northern Territory public schools. Despite this the federal government is only o ering to lock the states into a decade of underfunding, teacher shortages and less help for kids who need it most.
While campaigning to become Prime Minister in 2022 Anthony Albanese committed to working with state and territory governments to ensure that schools received “100 per cent of their fair funding level”.
He told the National Press Club Labor sees education as about creating opportunity. Liberals see it as about “entrenching privilege”.
Now we are approaching a fifth federal election without the fair school funding model devised by the Gonski Review
being implemented, and the Albanese government has issued an ultimatum to the states and territories over a new decadelong national school funding agreement. The federal government says the states and territories must accept only 2.5 per cent additional funding, or receive nothing at all.
The o er is part of the government’s Better and Fairer Schools Agreement and takes the federal government’s share of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to 22.5 per cent, leaving the states to carry the burden of closing the resource gaps to achieve a full 100 per cent SRS.
Only 1.3 per cent of public schools are funded at the benchmark level while 98 per cent of private schools receive their entitlement.
AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe says the federal government’s o er is woefully inadequate.
“Delivery of full funding must be a joint commitment from both the Commonwealth and the state and territory governments. The fact that five states and one territory are refusing to sign the current deal is a clear sign that the Albanese government’s o er is not good enough,” Haythorpe says.
The critical funding and support needed for public school staff and students shouldn’t be delayed or denied for yet another generation of students.
Reports of students missing out on the support they need are common as schools try to find funds to meet student needs.
Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president
Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have until the end of September to sign on, under the Albanese o er. The Northern Territory and Western Australia have inked a deal with the federal government to increase funding, in the Northern Territory by 2029 and in Western Australia by 2026.
However, neither of these agreements achieve full funding at the SRS benchmark. The Western Australian and Northern Territory funding shares have been artificially inflated by a loophole, allowing state/territory governments to write o 4 per cent of their SRS share for spending on non-school costs such as capital depreciation, regulatory authorities and in some cases, Early Childhood provision.
With a federal election looming and the previous funding agreements with states and territories about to expire, time is fast running out, says Haythorpe.
“The critical funding and support needed for public school sta and students shouldn’t be delayed or denied for yet another generation of students,” she says.
While the Commonwealth quibbles over lifting its contribution from 2.5 per cent to 5 per cent, teachers regularly put their hands in their own pockets to make sure that classroom resources are provided.
We heard from teachers and community members who are frustrated and dismayed by the way students and their schools are a ected by inadequate funding.
Teaching in the NT, one in four students in my classroom are not funded at all. This is especially telling when it comes to accessing technology. The 21st century will be the ‘digital century’. However, many of my students are lagging behind because our school does not have the funds to secure enough technology. I worry that my students will not be able to secure the jobs of tomorrow because they cannot access the technology of today.
Back when I used to be a teacher, I saw how children with special needs could easily fall between the cracks. I worked incredibly hard myself to try to make up for the funding gaps in the public school system. Now as a parent and grandparent of children with special needs, I see the situation is still not fair and equitable for them. Only by adding extra resources and funding can these children be given the quality education they deserve.
With over 35 years in education, I've observed that students with additional needs are often overlooked. Currently, only students diagnosed with autism receive funding, which is grossly insu icient as autism support needs to extend beyond just part of the school day. Moreover, students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), emotional challenges, or other forms of neurodiversity receive no funding at all. These issues are increasingly prevalent, placing immense pressure on public school systems and leading to teacher burnout due to inadequate support. It's crucial that we address these disparities immediately to ensure all students receive the support they need.
Everyone deserves more than just to get by – they deserve to thrive. However, this is currently unachievable without full funding for public education. Consider other professions: a civil engineer cannot build a bridge with only 95 per cent of the required funds; a concreter cannot lay a driveway with just 95 per cent of the concrete; a pharmacist cannot produce lifesaving drugs with only 95 per cent of the necessary ingredients. So why is it acceptable for teachers to work with only 95 per cent of the resources they need? Full funding is essential for our students’ success.
I am 63 years old and owe my success to my public school education. I began learning to read and write in primary school in 1966 and left high school in Year 10 in 1977. I started an apprenticeship as a fitter/machinist that December and never looked back. At 47, I completed another apprenticeship in the water industry. The foundation of my success was my early public school education. The equation is simple: "The more you learn, the more you earn." If public education is underfunded, future generations will face significant challenges.
I currently have a class of 25 Year 5 students. Nineteen of them are below or on the cusp of the expected ability level for their age. Nine of them have special needs, and six are on identified Education Adjustment Programs. I have intermittent access to one Special Education Support Assistant who is shared across the 50 students in two other classes in the same building. The support is not there "because of the budget". The money is never there for the students, let alone those who have been clinically diagnosed or have data supporting the need for additional help. Doing a "good" job isn't enough anymore – I want to be successful. I feel that if the schools
I worked in had a higher budget, we could employ more support sta , improve facilities, upgrade resources, and make the learning space more enjoyable. Proper funding is crucial for meeting the diverse needs of our students and ensuring they have the support necessary to thrive.
I teach at a state high school where the lack of su icient computers has severely disrupted student assessments due to the NAPLAN testing being spread over a week and a half. This scenario monopolises all available technology resources, a ecting not only those taking the tests but also others in the middle of their assessment periods. It’s critical that schools like ours receive full funding to adequately meet the educational needs of all students. We must ensure our public school students are given the same opportunities as those in private schools.
I am the only sta member in a public school of 850 students to support students with learning di iculties, approximately one in 10 students. I'm employed part time (0.6). In one week, I can work with 18 students from Years 7-12. That means 67 other students do not get the support theyneed.
Every year, I am forced to spend thousands of dollars from my own pocket to ensure my students have the resources they need because either my school cannot purchase them, or parents cannot purchase them. I buy everything from the most basic exercise books and pencils to practical activity supplies (I teach science) so my students can complete experiments. Additionally, my school doesn't have access to a lab technician, so I am forced to spend my planning and preparation time putting together practical activities, mixing chemicals, etc, instead of doing my planning, preparation, and marking. This means I have to do these tasks at home.
Working in a regional area, I strive to provide students with culturally relevant experiences, particularly in language learning. However, our students face significant exposure disadvantages. The logistical challenges and costs of travel mean I've only been able to take senior students to Melbourne for a three-day city camp recently – our first since those seniors were in Year 7 due to COVID restrictions and limited access. These city trips, which include no time in lieu for me, allow students to engage with art, culture, and language activities that are otherwise inaccessible. The prospect of overseas travel, which could o er invaluable 88% of teachers spend an averageof $963 each year of their own money on supplies, mostly stationery and classroom equipment.
Source: 2024 AEU State of our Schools survey
immersion, is unfeasible due to high costs. Consequently, our students' pronunciation in oral exams su ers, as they lack practice opportunities at home or in the community. This contrasts sharply with private schools, which often provide their students with overseas experiences, highlighting the lack of fairness and equality for public school students.
Jan, Community supporter of public education, ACT
My parents valued education but we struggled and lived life on a mortgage. The quality of my local government schooling in the country was excellent. I have taught in other countries and seen the inclusiveness of diversity amongst students and teachers where education is funded by the government. Let's be fair to all. We should never have reached such ridiculously inequitable care academically and pastorally for all Australians.
Annelise, Teacher, SA
I work in a very large Category 3 public secondary school. Students without clean clothes, food, and basic stationery supplies are the norm. Teaching respect, kindness and acceptance, personal boundaries, and personal hygiene are the daily routine. We are their safe place, and their constant. We resolve conflicts, break up fights, calm heightened emotions, all while trying to get everything documented while we remember because if we don't the leaders can't follow it up. There are at least half a dozen kids with varying additional needs in any classroom. Most of the time we get no support for them and just have to make it work. We focus attention on them to help them learn while also trying to manage the behaviours and needs of the 29 other students in the room. Teachers regularly use our own money to provide stationery, resources and anything else we need to make our
curriculum engaging and relevant. There are 14sta members in my faculty area, covering three di erent subjects. Weshare an annual budget of $4000. How many pencils do you think that buys? How many textbooks? I've already invested more money in my teaching than the government gives us for a full year. How many other professions have to spend their personal earnings for work resources?
Skye, Teacher at a school for children with disability, SA
My class consists of six students in their senior years of primary school, all of whom are blind or vision impaired. Teachers work hard to ensure they have access to all areas of the Australian Curriculum, but our poor technology lets us down. Students share old laptops that don't work with the latest software, iPad screens are cracked, and teachers struggle with outdated desktops. How are we supposed to upskill our kids and send them o to high school when we can't even a ord to update their equipment when it becomes outdated? If our school was fully funded, this wouldn't be a concern. Our principal could focus on being an educational leader rather than a grant writer, continually searching for more funds for the basics.
Wleft the profession. We need more support in our classrooms to create environments where students can thrive and learn. The ratio of one teacher to 25 or 30 students does not work anymore. We desperately need full funding in our public schools.
I have seen the e ects of lack of resources and teacher shortages over the last few years on my kids' education in both primary and especially in high school. My son's public high school has great teachers but is simply under resourced to help children who have additional learning needs, or to deal with more serious behavioural issues. I strongly believe that every child has the right to a good public education and that our local schools play a really important part in our local communities.
Lorna, Teacher, WA
hile campaigning to become Prime Minister in 2022 Anthony Albanese committed to working with state and territory governments to ensure that schools received “100 per cent of their fair funding level”.
he told the National Press Club Labor sees education as about creating opportunity. Liberals see it as about “entrenching privilege”.
Now we are approaching a fifth federal election without the fair school funding
I always wanted to be a primary school teacher and worked in this role for many years. Sadly, I have recently resigned from my position as it was no longer sustainable for me to continue. I constantly felt exhausted, burnt out, and unable to be an e ective educator due to the excessive workload demands and the intensity of meeting the social, emotional, and learning needs of the students and their families. I always felt like I was doing too much, yet it was never enough! I am just one of many who feel this way and have
I have been a secondary school teacher for 15 years, 12 of them in the public education system. Over that time, I have seen the abysmal funding provided to public schools, with principals having to jump through hoops and slash through red tape to get the most basic upgrades to their schools. For example, during a hot Perth summer, I once had to arrange for a classroom swap with a colleague, because their classroom had reverse cycle cooling and mine had ine ective, outdated, evaporative air conditioning. I was 30 weeks pregnant at the time, and the head of the learning area arranged for me to be in properly cooled classrooms, of which there were only a handful, in a school with a student population of approximately 1300. How are students expected to be at their best when the basics, such as better IT support, solid wi-fi, proper heating and cooling, and ceilings not caving in after heavy rain, are denied to them?
An annual survey of principals, teachers and education support personnel working in Australia’s public schools finds funding shortfalls are taking a massive toll.
Two-thirds of public schools do not receive the funding they need
PRINCIPALS:
Solving the teacher shortage crisis won’t be easy but encouraging new initiatives are a good start.
BY CHRISTINE LONG
State and territory e orts to encourage more people to take up teaching degrees received a boost from the federal government this year with new federal scholarships and financial support during practicums.
Applications for the second round of Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships will open later this year, with another 1000 on the table.
The government is also putting $2.4 million into a strategy to attract and retain more Aboriginal teachers and Torres Strait Islander teachers. Meanwhile, the new Commonwealth Practicum Payment will help support teaching students from 1 July 2025 while they are undertaking their placements.
Scholarships o ered by state and territory governments and not-forprofit organisations, such as the Public Education Foundation, are already helping to smooth the way for aspiring teachers, but more support is needed.
The federal Department of Education predicts a shortage of 4100 teachers by 2025. Fewer people are choosing to enrol in teaching degrees and dropout rates are significant, with only about half the students completing their degree.
About 20 per cent of graduates leave the profession within the first three years, according to federal government data, and many experienced teachers are leaving before retirement age.
The AEU’s latest research has revealed teacher shortages at almost 83 per cent of 953 schools. While that's less than last year's record highs, it remains at almost triple historic rates.
About 40 per cent of principals in the 2024 AEU State of our Schools survey
reported an increase in pre-retirement resignations from teachers over the past year. Some are moving to a non-education role (26.8 per cent) or to a private school (18.5 per cent). Others are taking a break from employment (21.1 per cent).
More than half of the principals (51 per cent) surveyed said it had become much harder to suitably fill sta vacancies across all areas of the curriculum, and another 30 per cent said it was harder.
Some schools were forced to run classes without a teacher, split or merge classes, or reduce the range of specialist classes o ered.
Almost one third of 12,381 teachers surveyed (30 per cent) said they planned to leave teaching before retirement, and only 15 per cent were certain that they would not leave.
Heavy workloads (68 per cent) and the burden of admin and compliance work (43 per cent) were the main reasons for wanting to leave, but teachers are also finding student management issues increasingly cumbersome.
The National Teacher Action Workforce Action Plan, developed in 2022, called on state and territory governments to act on teacher shortages.
The federal government is taking further steps to mitigate the crisis, building on initiatives such as the Workload Reduction Fund and HECS relief.
The federal government is hoping to encourage more people to undertake initial teacher education (ITE), o ering a total of 5000 scholarships to students commencing full-time studies in the years 2024 to 2028. The scholarship o ers undergraduates $40,000 spread across four years. Postgraduates receive $20,000 spread across two years.
About 20 per cent of graduates leave the profession within the first three years ... and many experienced teachers are leaving before retirement age. Federal government data
WHEN CATHERINE SPENCER made a career change from the corporate world to special education teaching, a scholarship helped smooth the way.
She was feeling her way into a new career when she came across the Teacher Education Scholarships o ered through the NSW Department of Education.
The scholarship currently o ers up to $7500 per year, a $6000 appointment allowance, and a permanent teaching position following the successful completion of studies.
To be eligible you must be enrolled in an ITE degree, or studying to become a secondary teacher, or inclusive/special education teacher.
Spencer saw special education teaching as a chance to give back. Her son had faced some challenges at school and the amazing support he received from his public school led her to consider a teaching career.
The scholarship helped cement her decision: “It provided me with an opportunity to study and then work in the public school system with students who have complex support needs.”
She was hooked from her first practicum: “It was a mainstream prac but as soon as I did it, I knew this is what I want to do.”
Now an assistant principal and Year 7 and 9 teacher at William Rose School, a special education school in Sydney’s north-west, and on the verge of completing her Masters in Education with a focus on special education, she has no plans to leave the teaching profession any time soon.
The scholarships include a "commitment to teach" in public schools or early learning settings. The commitment will be the equivalent to the years of study undertaken, up to four years for undergraduates and up to two years for postgraduates.
Scholarship recipients who complete their final practical experience placement in a remote location may be eligible for a top-up payment of $2000.
Helping to prevent "practicum poverty" is behind another new initiative aimed at addressing teacher shortages.
AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe says students have carried the financial burdens of their practicums for too long.
“They’ve often had to give up part-time work and experienced placement poverty for weeks on end while finishing their studies," she says.
Students who are women, mature-age, lower socio-economic, and/or from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait background often carry the heaviest burdens as they juggle study with paid work and caring responsibilities.
They’ve often had to give up part-time work and experienced placement poverty for weeks on end while finishing their studies.
From 1 July 2025, eligible students will be able to access $319.50 per week while they are undertaking an unpaid mandatory placement.
The payment will be means-tested and will not replace any existing support currently available to students via state and territory governments.
Attracting and retaining Aboriginal teachers and Torres Strait Islander teachers is another area being targeted by government. It has allocated $2.4 million to develop and implement the First Nations Teacher Strategy.
The strategy will be developed in partnership with a First Nations organisation and aims to improve ITE completion rates; successfully transition and support Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people into teaching roles; and build cultural responsiveness across education settings.
Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president
In 2020, an estimated 6577 Aboriginal teachers and Torres Strait Islander teachers were registered nationally. Just under half the registered teachers (48 per cent) were based in regional and remote areas.
Dyonne Anderson, a Githabul woman who is chief executive of the Stronger Smarter Institute and president of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Principals’ Association (NATSIPA), says at least 77 per cent of schools have Aboriginal students and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled, 84 per cent of those are in government schools.
“Yet we form 1.4 per cent of the professional teaching workforce and even less if you are a principal of a school,” she says. Anderson stresses the importance of increasing the number of Aboriginal teachers and Torres Strait Islander teachers given the growth in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
student population. Numbers are up by 46 per cent since 2018 compared with a 12 per cent increase for all other students.
“Non-Aboriginal teachers will, at some time in their career, be exposed to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and it very much concerns me that we are not setting up teachers to be culturally responsive,” says Anderson.
“There are teachers with bias who don’t even know that their own upbringing and their white middle-class views can be harmful and they have misinformation around our students.”
There is also a need to increase mentoring support to prevent graduate teachers from leaving within the first five years, says Anderson.
LARISSA BOYES TELLS anyone who will listen how much she loves the Teacher Intern Placement Program (TIPP) in Tasmania.
“I highly recommend it to anyone I speak to,” she says.
The program for pre-service teachers o ers a $30,000 scholarship with recipients completing their final year of study in a Tasmanian public school.
During that year they work alongside an experienced mentor teacher and there is the potential for paid employment in Terms 3 and 4 on a limited authority-to-teach. The mentor is given dedicated time to support the recipient’s development and the recipient is given time to study.
Now teaching Year 3/4 three days a week at Burnie Primary School in Tasmania’s north-west, Boyes raves about the guidance provided by her mentor, Year 1 teacher Kendall Sandman. From policies and resources to practical pointers, the mentoring has proved invaluable.
“So many little helpful tips and tricks – I’ve come into the classroom already having a good idea of how I want to handle things, how to set up group work, how to set up routines, and expectations and behaviours,” says Boyes.
“We are constantly talking about my practice, about how lessons have gone, what would I want to do to further improve them.”
As a teacher’s aide in a kindergarten class for four years, Boyes worked with a lot of teachers new to the profession: “So many of them have told me that they weren’t prepared, they didn’t know what to expect heading into the classroom.”
RASHA ALZAHRI MISSED four years of her primary school education when her family left war-torn Iraq and moved to Australia via Jordan.
It’s an experience that has given her empathy for other children in a similar position and fuelled her desire to become a teacher.
“I just wanted to be around children and help them as well,” she says. Having recently successfully completed her first practicum with Year 3 students in Sydney’s western suburbs she’s determined to keep going with her full-time studies.
A $12,000 scholarship via the Public Education Foundation, a national not-for-profit organisation, helps cover the cost of her studies, paying for a laptop, tutoring fees, and transport. She is grateful that the financial support allows her to focus solely on her studies.
“It’s very hard to work and maintain a job while doing full-time university, and because it is in another language it’s really hard. I need extra time to study and to do my assignments,” she says.
When she graduates, she’s keen to teach in Sydney’s western suburbs, where many children have a refugee or migrant background.
“I want to be surrounded by children and help them grow and develop from what I can provide for them,” she says.
SECOND YEAR UNIVERSITY student
Yara Salman has appreciated having the help of a scholarship as she’s taken her first steps towards a career in teaching.
“I’d like to have a class at the start and then the more experienced I get, I’d like to be in leadership roles in schools.”
Like Alzahri, she missed four years of her primary school education when her family left Iraq and she’s now making up for lost time.
“When I came to Australia and saw the education system and the teachers here I was inspired to become a teacher and be a role model for children,” she says.
A $12,000 Public Education Foundation scholarship spread across three years has helped cover the cost of a laptop, printer, university tuition and fees, and travelling expenses.
She encourages other students to apply for a scholarship. “Sometimes students are scared to apply, even me, what if it’s not accepted?”
The scholarship also connects recipients with support of another kind: a mentor.
“You can schedule monthly meetings. You can speak to them, seek advice, have a little chat,” Salman says.
“We have an increasing number of First Nations principals who are coming to the end of their careers so there’s going to be a gap in regard to the supports and mentoring that needs to occur to set First Nations teachers up for success.”
A First Nations mentoring scheme was introduced by the NSW Department of Education in partnership with NATSIPA. The scheme linked experienced principals with Aboriginal teachers and Torres Strait Islander teachers who had up to six years’ experience.
Anderson says the aspiring leaders need support from educators who know the system but also understand the additional challenges of Culture and cultural responsibilities and racism.
Coaching and mentoring modules based on a Stronger Smarter Approach framework were designed and delivered, resulting in a significant shift, says Anderson.
“Middle leaders moved into principalship roles while others were promoted to additional executive roles including director."
After visiting 92 schools, many in remote communities, in her role on the National School Reform Agreement expert panel, Anderson advocates recognising alternative pathways to boost teacher numbers.
“Some of the First Nations support teachers were the most outstanding teachers I have seen. They were able to instruct in language and then in English, English being their third, fourth language and they had so much respect from the children within the classrooms. With alternative pathways and recognition of prior learning we would not be facing a teacher shortage.”
While the AEU has welcomed the latest federal government initiatives, it is urging the government to do more to support the teaching workforce by fulfilling its promise to fully fund every child across Australia.
Haythorpe says the teacher shortages are directly connected to funding shortfalls. Australia’s 6712 public schools are underfunded by $6.5 billion this year and by at least $6.2 billion every year
to 2028, a total of $31.7 billion over five years to 2028.
“The failure to invest in our schools across the past decade has meant that we’ve got an attraction and retention problem, so it’s no accident that this is where we’re at,” she says.
Haythorpe says more needs to be done including to address chronic workloads and to fully fund professional development and mentoring programs to support teachers as they begin their careers.
Full funding would allow for smaller class sizes and increased support sta in classrooms, reducing the immense pressure felt by teachers and trainee teachers across the country.
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Encouraging moves are underway to improve employment conditions for First Nations language and culture teachers and educators.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language and culture teachers face widely inconsistent employment conditions across Australia. But there is hope for positive change following the release of landmark industrial guidelines in Queensland.
Developed by the Queensland Teachers' Union (QTU) and the Independent Education Union (IEU) in collaboration with First Languages Australia (FLA), the peak body that works to support and strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, the guidelines are designed to cover the working conditions of any Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander person who delivers language and culture programs in schools.
QTU president Cresta Richardson says the guidelines give employers an understanding of the conditions of employment that are necessary to support and value First Nations languages and culture teachers.
“Such measures are essential to ensure that education systems recognise broader criteria of ‘success’ that reflect First Nations’ frames of reference, rather than expecting First Nations people to conform with norms derived from colonial constructs,” she says.
“If we can play a role in bringing about changes that see the full richness and complexity of First Nations histories, cultures and perspectives assigned greater value within schools and education systems, we can be satisfied that we have contributed to meaningful, sustained reconciliation across generations of education workers and students,” Richardson says.
// Newly released industrial guidelines have been designed to cover the working conditions of any Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander person who delivers language and culture programs in schools.
// The guidelines are linked to First Languages Australia’s Yalbilinya First Nations Languages Education Workforce Strategy.
FLA chief executive o icer and Murrawarri man Beau Williams says the guidelines are one step in implementing FLA’s Yalbilinya First Nations Languages Education Workforce Strategy, which aims to ensure high-quality teaching and learning in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.
The strategy looks at:
•identifying employment pathways in First Nations languages education
•providing a range of relevant qualifications
•recognising and supporting community control
•developing and implementing national policies.
Koombumerri and Munanjali woman and FLA program o icer Ella Woods says the strategy was based on three years of research across the country, which found “radical inconsistencies” in working conditions for First Nations language teachers.
“It was a real priority to get it remedied,” she says.
Woods says one of the most systemic issues is that most language teachers volunteer their services.
“They’re not recognised correctly by the schools for the work they’re doing,” she says.
Woods says the industrial guidelines give community and schools guidance on how language teachers can be appropriately employed and covers both registered teachers who teach languages and those who are not registered.
While the guidelines have been launched in Queensland, Woods says they can be applied nationally. A school in any state is able to draw on them to find appropriate pay and conditions scales.
Wiradjuri woman and AEU Federal Aboriginal education o icer Debbie MorganFrail says the significant growth in language and culture teaching across Australia in recent years has brought with it the pressure of an added “cultural load” for Aboriginal teachers and Torres Strait Islander teachers.
[Most First Languages teachers are] not recognised correctly by the schools for the work they’re doing.
Yalbilinya: National First Languages Education Workforce Strategy maps out a future in which First Nations languages are restored. firstlanguages.org.au/yalbilinyastrategy
“A lot of teachers have picked up this type of work without recognition of it as a specific skill. It’s considered: ‘You’re an Aboriginal person and a teacher, so you can just do this and not be remunerated further for the cultural load that a ects you’,” she says.
The Workforce Strategy stresses the link between quality teaching and learning of First Nations languages and training for teachers.
This training needs to reflect the diversity of language communities and learning styles, and respect the intellectual property rights of language custodians.
The strategy calls on teacher registration bodies to acknowledge diverse pathways for recognition and accreditation of First Nations language teachers, with the aim of immediately increasing the number of teachers. It also recommends the introduction of new specialised qualifications for
teachers and leaders of First Nations languages and bilingual programs delivered in multiple ways, including on Country, to ensure barriers to training are removed.
A system-wide approach in each state and territory has the potential to provide an expanding range of employment opportunities, including teaching and teacher development, writing and resource production, curriculum development, leadership and research, the strategy says.
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Students with disability and those with learning difficulties would be among the biggest beneficiaries if public schools were fully funded, according to the latest AEU State of our Schools survey. But in the meantime, students with disability and their teachers are being let down by the lack of funding, writes a primary school deputy principal, who has asked for anonymity.
In my first year teaching in a public primary school, I had two students with disability in my class. The second year, just one. Even though I was fresh out of university, it was manageable. I had the time to make sure they felt part of the class, and the work was adjusted to meet their needs.
We applied for and got additional funding to pay for a teacher's aide. If one of the children needed a break from the classroom, they could take it. If they needed help with their work, they got it.
// Principals and teachers say a lack of resources and funding mean the needs of students with disability at their school are not being met.
// The increasing incidence of disability, combined with a teacher shortage and insufficient funding, creates a perfect storm.
A decade later it couldn’t be more di erent. At the public school I work at now there are up to eight students with a diagnosed or undiagnosed disability in every class. We have a lot of students with autism, ADHD and mental health issues, which have increased noticeably since the onset of the COVID pandemic.
When you consider our school serves a multicultural community with high levels of disadvantage, you can imagine how diverse and complex our classrooms are.
… say full funding would most benefit students with disability or learning difficulties
… say full funding would provide extra classroom support when teaching students with disability
Principals: do you have the resources to meet the needs of your students with disability?
say NO Enough resources?
Nationally, 89 per cent of principals say they are forced to use funds from other areas of their budgets to support students with disability who receive insufficient or no government funding.
The average amount is $158,820, an increase of 28 per cent on 2023 and 79 per cent on 2020.
Every child with disability is unique. It is wonderful, it is eye-opening, and it is a good experience, but it also means they need something different to cater for their needs.
Every child with disability is unique. It is wonderful, it is eye-opening, and it is a good experience, but it also means they need something di erent to cater for their needs.
Our biggest issue is that, as the numberof students with disability has exponentially increased, the available support has declined.
If we are lucky, we have a counsellor in the school three days a fortnight. All they do is assessments to determine disability and needs. Our children with mental health issues, particularly trauma, need face-to-face counselling sessions but we just don’t have the capacity.
Because we have so many students who aren’t at the level of learning that they
should be, the assessments take priority. We have to make sure we are supporting them based on a diagnosis that is accurate, not just by guessing.
Finding a place in a support class for students with disability is nearly impossible. At the last count in my area, the number of approved applications was 10 times higher than the number of vacant positions.
Many students with disability don’t attract individualised funding, and there is such a large percentage of students who need additional support but there isn’t enough funding to go around.
We did have a specialist teacher with expertise in teaching students with disability, who provided advice and support, but she retired and has not been replaced.
Teachers teaching in the support units within mainstream schools who have additional university qualifications, and therefore more knowledge on teaching students with disability, seem to be fewer than they once were.
Because of the teacher shortages, we had 10 vacant positions at the start of the year. That means every teacher has to be in class and we can’t run programs such as English as an additional language or dialect, even though more than 95 per cent of students are from a non-English speaking background.
Teachers do the best they can, but without the right support it is exhausting doing all your programming and planning, all the assessing for the students in your class, along with individualising learning programs and making adjustments to cater for di erent students' needs – whether it be learning, behaviour or social skills.
You also have to be so conscious of the classroom dynamic. That can shift when one student walks into a class. Relationships can be disrupted and children can trigger one another. It becomes like putting out spot fires at times because one child who may be on the autism spectrum and has sensory needs might be triggered by another student who has externalising behaviours from mental health. That might upset a child with ADHD who has been sitting too long because you are trying to manage the other two children who are annoyed with one another.
Fortunately, at our school we fund an extra class in each year to reduce the class sizes. If there were 30 or 31 kids in the class, it would be utter chaos.
It becomes like putting out spot fires at times because one child who may be on the autism spectrum and has sensory needs might be triggered by another student who has externalising behaviours from mental health.
More than 12,000 teachers surveyed gave a resounding no when asked if the needs of students with disability at their school were being appropriately met.
More classroom assistance and specialist support were among the items at the top of a resources-needed list.
72
72% say NO
We have a high number of early career teachers and you can just imagine how challenging it is for them. But even those who have been teaching for more than 25 years say every year is the hardest year they have ever had because of the increasing number of children with really complex needs. As public school teachers we join the profession to make a di erence. We set really high standards for ourselves because we are educating the next generation and we don’t want to let kids down. But right now, we are being let down by a lack of resources and so are our students.
More than threequarters (80 per cent) of teachers surveyed said some of their students — who have been assessed as requiring Quality Differentiated Teaching Practice (QDTP) — need extra support above the QDTP level. The number of students categorised as requiring QDTP has increased by up to 12 per cent across Australia.
What’s needed?
Finding the most engaging teaching and learning strategies is a priority for these early career teachers.
BY MARGARET PATON
Rachel Wallis
High-school HSIE and Society and Culture teacher
Woolgoolga High School, NSW
Minecraft Education has helped boost engagement in Rachel Wallis’ Year 9 boys’ history class at NSW’s Woolgoolga High School. They used the gamebased online learning platform to
explore life in the trenches during World War I.
“It’s been hard to get them to build empathy and engage them with penand-paper-based learning. By tapping into what they know about the game-based online learning platform, they were the most engaged I’ve seen them,” Wallis says.
First, students looked at YouTube films and cross-sectional diagrams to show theconditions in the trenches.
A similar Minecraft session is planned for the Year 7 students studying Ancient China – who will “build” the Great Wall of China online.
First Nations woman Wallis is also using a creative approach to teach body parts and numbers to her Year 7 Indigenous Language and Culture classes.
“It’s fun because we use a song to help learn the Gumbaynggirr terms for body parts,” she says.
“We play bingo to teach them numbers. With language, once they know one to 10, they have the building blocks to count all
By tapping into what they know about the game-based online learning platform, they were the most engaged I’ve seen them.
Rachel Wallis
the way up to 99. For example, 21 is bularri (two) ngaal (10) and garlugan (one).”
She’ll also occasionally talk explicitly about the mandated curriculum to her Year 7–12 classes.
“It’s important to explain to students why we need to respect what we can and can’t change about the syllabus. They appreciate that honesty [and understand] that we must do what’s mandated first,” she says.
“The reason our Year 9 history class studied trenches was because we had to look at Australians at war. But students were very interested to learn more about the Holocaust and the Nazi Party, which they’d heard about outside of school. I had to say, ‘no, that’s not in here’, but if we have time at the end of the unit, we can do bits and pieces of that. That’s empowering.”
Meanwhile, Year 12 Society and Culture students are very familiar with their syllabus, having handed in their “university-style” 5000-word-plus
In each issue of Australian Educator, we follow the challenges and achievements of new educators throughout the year.
personal interest projects that were externally marked.
“They picked out a topic related to the syllabus, then reached out to university academics and surveyed youth about various topics of interest to them, including feminism, ‘cancel culture’ and the impact of increased representation of sexual diversity on acceptance levels.”
This term, Wallis, a NSW Teachers’ Federation representative, will attend NSWTF State Council meetings in August and September. She’s proud of successfully getting her point across during debate last term.
“When a motion came up to call for air conditioning in all learning spaces, I thought, ‘what about teachers’ working spaces, like sta rooms?’. I moved an
amendment to include working spaces, and that was passed.”
Outside of her school work, Wallis and her husband have bought a four-wheeldrive van to better explore their local area.
“We’re enjoying tripping around. Just short stays nearby,” she says.
In contrast, there was a much longer trip with her Year 10 students at the end of last term. She accompanied 75 students to the Perisher snowfields for one week. The students could choose to learn either snowboarding or skiing.
“It was about team building and having a good experience together, their first week-long camp due to the impact of COVID-19,” Wallis says.
In the meantime, Wallis has been branching out into other areas. Last term, she helped review textbooks for the new senior geography curriculum for NSW.
Year 4–5 teacher
Yubup Primary School, VIC
Creating “anchor charts” with students has saved Stephanie Accary an estimated five to 10 hours a week.
“Instead of preparing laminated prints or using the whiteboard as you teach, write on large-format paper to record that lesson’s key understandings, then stick it on the wall so students can refer back to it,” says the Year 4–5 teacher at Yubup Primary School.
Accary says she might redo them later for clarity, but that’s still less work than finessing 20 PowerPoint slides for each lesson.
“Why force our students to store five hours of learning brand new things? Their cognitive load is already so high.”
Accary is enjoying having a say in the scope and sequence of her teaching.
“I’ll be teaching multiplication and division for six weeks straight – covering it, consolidating, and extending the students’ learning,” she says.
It is a contrast to the work in her previous school where Accary felt she was “hopping from curriculum point to curriculum point” trying to cover all the content. She will finish o Term 3 with four weeks of measurement instruction.
Teaching topics such as reconciliation in a trauma-informed way that is appropriate for her young students is another challenge Accary is enjoying.
It might involve a connection to Country walk such as to a local park with “massive century-old trees”, which her new school grounds lack.
She and the students sit under the trees and she reads books about Culture including Country by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson.
“Students will then find something like a really cool stick or rock, and we’ll place them in the middle of a circle as a collaborative artwork. We’ll put our palms on the ground and do a guided meditation. It’s so peaceful and helps them understand the connection to this Country,” she says.
Last term, Accary participated in a panel at the AEU’s National Education Summit for pre-service teachers.
Following the summit, Accary is presenting a three-minute AEU
We’ll put our palms on the ground and do a guided meditation. It’s so peaceful and helps them understand the connection to this Country.
Stephanie Accary
recruitment video to be shown to new public school teachers in her state.
“My principal is amazing, allowing me time o when I have a union commitment and it’s great that the AEU funds five days a year for a relief teacher to cover me.”
Tom Hermes’ school ran a week-long cultural camp with activities linked to the curriculum.
Tom Hermes
English and history high school teacher Laynhapuy Homelands School, Arnhem Land, NT
Over the past three years, Tom Hermes has established strong relationships with Aboriginal educators. He acknowledges the significance of cultural understanding, especially during ceremonial or other cultural obligations.
“I've developed good relationships with the Year 12 students,” Hermes says. “I can ask them if a particular story or video is culturally appropriate for younger students. They'll tell me right away if it's suitable.”
This collaborative approach extends to events such as memorials. School sta had planned a design featuring a crocodile and stingray as a tribute to an Aboriginal Elder.
“The students explained that the Elder belonged to a di erent clan group, and the appropriate symbol would be a fish net,” Hermes says. “We were grateful for their feedback.”
Last term the school ran a week-long cultural camp – with activities linked to the curriculum – to help preserve and teach local languages. The aim was to help students develop confidence in speaking their clan languages. The school’s teachers facilitated the activities but Yolŋu Elders and others from the local community “did the real teaching”, says Hermes.
I’m getting the feeling it’s going to be the best teaching job I ever have, so it will be hard to leave.
Tom Hermes
Aboriginal education and Torres Strait Islander education can look very di erent in Australia depending on where you are situated, says Hermes.
“When I arrived here, I wasn’t aware there were so many communities with little exposure to English, so it’s important to bridge the language divide,” he says.
To achieve this, he runs warm-up games such as Pictionary or charades, which rely on drawing and acting to convey meaning.
Fortunately, they are not activities that require an internet connection since one of Laynhapuy’s major challenges is poor connectivity at the school.
“I’ve had to walk a few hundred metres in the rain and jump over a fence to get to the ranger’s shed just so I could get online to attend a meeting with the education department, about the internet problems,” says Hermes.
Sports are a social glue for Hermes. He umpires the adult men’s Australian Rules football competition and the new women’s league in the community.
This term, he’ll help run a wellbeing camp and the school will host a “drive safe” event to help students get their driver licences.
Last term, students participated in swimming, first-aid training, Arnhem Sports, the Barunga Festival and a trip to Kakadu National Park.
Hermes is hoping to stay on next year after his current contract finishes.
“I’m getting the feeling it’s going to be the best teaching job I ever have, so it will be hard to leave,” he says.
On a personal note, Hermes’ namesake, Tom the chihuahua, has more than doubled in weight reaching 3kg in four months. Canine Tom “still needs a lot of training” because he stays with di erent families while Hermes teaches at the Homelands boarding school four days a week.
Year 6-10 teacher
Holland Street School, Geraldton, WA
Amy Herring has learned not to “cram too much” into each school day so she doesn’t put too much pressure on herself and her students.
“Otherwise, it’s overwhelming for us sta and that impacts the students. I no longer feel bad about not completing everything I’ve planned,” she says.
That doesn’t mean she’s lowered her expectations, but she has become more flexible.
“If one of my students comes to school in a heightened state, or they’re feeling sad, I just change my expectations for each child’s needs on that day.”
For teachers who struggled with report writing for the end of semester one, Herring recommends aiming to record at least 10 occasions when a student could meet a smart goal on their individual education plan (IEP).
For Herring, it is a way of checking a student’s progress throughout the term “and it holds me accountable to collect more data”.
“An IEP is a fluid document that can always be amended,” says Herring. Her adjustments to IEPs also incorporate trauma-informed practices. Herring is midway through her Berry Street training for that approach, which the school plans to o icially adopt.
“It’s very structured. We have the same universal language and consistent expectations for all students, whether they’ve experienced trauma or not. It works for everybody.”
The Berry Street approach is that students can’t be forced to learn if they’re not ready.
Teaching them how to help themselves in a controlled environment, like starting the day with a yarning circle, has been my ‘a-ha’ moment.
“Teaching them how to help themselves in a controlled environment, like starting the day with a yarning circle, has been my ‘a-ha’ moment. Working together has significantly reduced o -task behaviours,” Herring says.
Leaving the school for an excursion last term was a rewarding experience for the students, says Herring, who organised the logistics for almost all of her school’s 74 students to see a magic show. Only the ECE1 class didn’t attend.
“There was a lot of coordinating and risk assessments to ensure it was a successful event for everybody. I spent a few hours shu ling the timetable and doing lots of meticulous planning,” she says.
It took 12 car and bus trips to transport the groups of students to the venue.
“We started with those students who could wait the longest and the last group were younger ones who had never been to an excursion. They went straight into
the theatre and then the show started. It was all worth the e ort.”
This term, Herring’s using the organisational template for an excursion to see the schools’ showcase in her town in September. She also organised a smaller outdoor classroom day at the start of this term with a neighbouring class to celebrate the first 100 days of the school year.
“We had di erent foods and activities, as well as Kebin, our emotional-support horse, and a cow. Basically, it was fun in the sun while doing our maths and literacy in creative ways,” she says.
She’s also happy that further industrial action will not be needed as teachers and the education department have signed o on the state enterprise bargaining agreement, with teachers winning 12 per cent in staggered pay rises over three years.
As Education International president Susan Hopgood retires, the AEU pays tribute to her work and calls on union members to continue efforts towards building a better future through quality public education.
BY LEANNE TOLRA
The alarming global shortage of more than 44 million teachers and its threat to the right of students to education was a key theme at the Education International (EI) World Congress in Buenos Aires.
Delegates at the congress participated in panels and discussions around key themes of growing our unions, elevating our profession, and defending democracy – and also reiterated the call for governments across the globe to implement the 59 recommendations of the United Nations High-Level Panel on
the Teaching Profession. These include investing in competitive salaries, secure employment, inclusive and safe work environments and quality professional development opportunities and support for teachers.
“The challenges may vary from country to country, but they all include the massive global shortage of teachers, insu icient funding, teachers overworked, underpaid, not enough qualified teachers and a push in some countries to reduce the qualifications required of teachers,” says retiring EI president Susan Hopgood.
Hopgood has championed public education since she became a maths teacher at Preston High School in 1974. She was the AEU’s first women’s o icer in 1985, its federal secretary in 2005 and was appointed EI president in 2009.
AEU federal president Corenna Haythorpe paid tribute to Hopgood’s lifetime of work, which has helped to put the union on the world stage. She cited Hopgood’s role representing EI on the High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession as one of her key achievements.
Haythorpe says Hopgood is “dedicated, driven by her values and deeply ethical” and she “always see the bigger picture and never gets buried in the detail”.
“Susan is a powerhouse and has a strong legacy of passionate commitment to the broader trade union movement and to the leadership of the ACTU, having held a vice president position for many years.
“Susan is a proud feminist and has campaigned actively and tirelessly for gender equality, for the rights of women and girls, and within our own union for a irmative action policies, rules and structures that ensure women’s participation, active decision making and leadership succession.”
Haythorpe says Hopgood’s passions also extend to new educators, early childhood, schools and TAFE, to setting up the AEU’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consultative committee Yalukit Yulendj and the AEU’s National Principals Committee.
EI general secretary David Edwards expressed the organisation’s deep appreciation for the immense experience and leadership o ered by Hopgood over her long tenure.
Dr Mugwena Maluleke from the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) and vice president for Africa of the EI executive board for nine years, will take over as president.
Maluleke has served the SADTU for more than 24 years and is a member of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Central Executive Committee, South Africa’s largest trade union federation. He is also a member of the African National Congress (ANC).
Maluleke says the conditions he faced as a child labourer fuelled his dedication to labour rights and social justice. “Our challenge [as teachers] is to stand up for … fully funded, quality public education to advance human rights, social and racial justice, climate justice, democracy and peace,” he says.
EI member organisations were also urged to continue their vital work supporting the Go Public! Fund Education campaign launched earlier this year, which echoes the call for governments to invest in public education.
“The cause of the teacher shortage is well documented. It has been driven and fuelled by an underinvestment in teachers the result of which is an overworked, underpaid, and undervalued teaching profession,” Edwards says.
“As a consequence, we see a growing exodus of teachers. Resignation rates are
Our challenge [as teachers] is to stand up for … fully funded, quality public education to advance human rights, social and racial justice, climate justice, democracy and peace.
Dr Mugwena Maluleke Education International
on the increase and exit rates amongst our newest teachers are at an all-time high. We are also witnessing a dramatic decline in the number of people choosing to become teachers.
“And that means students around the world are being denied their right to learn.”
Other priorities addressed by congress included the need for teachers to be included in any conversation, policy, meeting, event or initiative that sought to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Human rights abuses around the globe, the lack of progress on SDG4, trade union rights and threats to democracy were other key subjects on the agenda.
Congress was also concerned with the growing threat of the climate emergency and its e ect on education.
“Between April and May this year, more than 210 million students experienced disruptions in their education due to the climate emergency. Extreme heat led to school closures in countries including India, Nepal, the Philippines, South Sudan, the US, and Canada,” Edwards says.
“Never have we been more concerned about the future of our profession, and the great social institution of public education has never been more fragile.”
Schools, teachers and young people – the largest cohort who voted Yes for the Voice to Parliament – are vital to the continuing battle for recognition says advocate and author Thomas Mayo.
BY LEANNE TOLRA
Yes 23 campaign leader Thomas Mayo delivers a rallying cry to supporters of the Voice to Parliament in his new book, and says they must continue to campaign with intensity and urgency.
“I say it is a matter of urgency because the situation is really quite shameful for a very specific group of people, who have been connected to this place for so very long, to still not have seen justice. And this is shown by the gaps in life expectancy, incarceration rates and suicide rates. I encourage people to campaign as though the situation is still as urgent as a referendum campaign,” he says.
Despite the devastating result, which saw Australians reject the proposal to constitutionally enshrine the Voice in October 2023, Mayo says supporters must take hope from the almost six million others with the same vision, including the more than 70,000 campaign volunteers.
His book, Always Was, Always Will Be, is a powerful message of resilience, a personal reflection of hope and optimism and a practical guide containing the tools to continue to build Aboriginal recognition and Torres Strait Islander recognition, piece by piece.
He applauds the role of principals, teachers, parents and carers in championing justice and recognition. “Second only to Indigenous communities, the next largest cohort of Australians who voted Yes was young people, thanks to you,” he writes.
Mayo, a Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander man, is a signatory of the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart and co-author of The Voice to Parliament Handbook, which sold around 50,000 copies in the three months in the lead up to the referendum.
The work that so many great teachers are doing in schools gives me hope – it is helping today’s young people to have much different attitudes to Indigenous matters compared to previous generations.
same aggressive campaigning, Mayo says. Supporters must now use hope “to build a fire in our bellies” and “let it burn to give us energy”.
In a chapter titled Becoming Australia, he o ers an educative history of Australia’s marginalisation of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Beginning with the birth of the constitution, written by white men who did not acknowledge women or Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples and gave only themselves the power to “regulate the a airs of the people of coloured or inferior races who are in the Commonwealth”.
He sharply and succinctly describes the atrocities and abuses that followed, from the long history of blackbirding to the Stolen Generations, and the glimpses of hope o ered during the Whitlam era, by the Mabo victory, the National Apology in 2008 and the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Thomas Mayo Advocate and author
During the campaign, Mayo was subjected to shocking personal attacks by the media and became a national scapegoat for the No campaign. “Snip a clip from an impassioned speech here, extract a quote from a debate there, present it all together, and there you have it – the scary black man trope,” he writes.
Other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and supporters also experienced the hurt and harm of the
Mayo says there is an ongoing narrative of change rising through the Australian education system as curriculums include Aboriginal histories and cultures and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures and help to weave Aboriginal perspectives and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into all subjects and events.
He describes Ngarrngga, the national curriculum tool, as an excellent collection of resources made by “educators who understand what educators want, in collaboration with Indigenous knowledge experts”.
“The work that so many great teachers are doing in schools gives me hope – it is helping today’s young people to have much di erent attitudes to Indigenous matters compared to previous generations.
Children will remember their interactions with Indigenous culture –the gentleness, generosity and wisdom – for the rest of their lives. Schools can create positive memories.
Thomas Mayo Advocate and author
“But I know very well that there are teachers who struggle with confidence on how to teach their students about these things – politically, historically and culturally. And I understand that resources can be hard to find,” he says.
Mayo highlights the impact of educating young people through stories and lessons about Aboriginal cultures and Torres Strait Islander cultures, describing it as “an important national project” that can have benefits on the mental health of Aboriginal children and Torres Strait Islander children.
“The school initiatives I have enjoyed observing over the years are those that have been built on interactions with the local Indigenous community. It is especially significant and valuable to invite an Elder to regularly visit the students in their classrooms,” he writes.
“Children will remember their interactions with Indigenous culture – the gentleness, generosity and wisdom – for the rest of their lives. Schools can create positive memories. Positive memories build resilience to negativity. Students will become part of the formula for a better future.”
As part of the book’s toolkit, Mayo o ers a concise, practical selection of cultural discovery resources including books, documentaries, films, Indigenous art, performing arts, music and artists, Indigenous festivals and events.
He calls on supporters to create conversations that encourage others to respect and become familiar with Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages, discover cultural awareness workshops, buy “Blak” and volunteer for event and community work.
Always Was, Always Will Be, Thomas Mayo, Hardie Grant Books hardiegrant.com/au/books
The campaign has not ended, Mayo says, and though there may only be small steps that can be taken between now and the next federal election, he urges people “to use the book, and its messages and resources, and to be ready”.
Scan & WIN!
Scan the QR code and answer the question to go into the running to win one of eight copies of Thomas Mayo’s new book Always Was, Always Will Be.
The seeds of inspiration planted at Charles Campbell College in Adelaide three years ago have flourished into a program that nurtures students in Years 3 to 6.
BY CHRISTINE LONG
The kitchen garden at Charles Campbell College in Adelaide was something of a wasteland three years ago, and there was talk of closing the 13-year-old program. For school services o icer Andrew Adair, reviving the school’s kitchen garden was a perfect fit. He had spent 30 years in hospitality before switching to education, and he was on the committee of his local community garden.
Adair started from scratch: “We had all the soil removed. There was rubble and stone and I had diggers come in and remove everything. It was definitely a commitment from the school.”
With the pressure on to make a success of the first harvest, they planted “everything that would jump out of the ground”; cauliflower, broccoli, French beans, radishes, beetroot.
“We also started working on a no-dig garden around the perimeter of the fences with a view to putting citrus trees along one side and apples along the other side as espalier,” he says.
Before students were let loose in the garden and the kitchen, they had to pass various “licences”, including weaving a wheelbarrow around an obstacle course and learning how to handle knives.
Cooking lessons kicked o with Year 3 students trying their hand at beetroot hummus and spicy carrot dip and Year 6 students cooked multi-dish menus.
While some of the students didn’t want to eat what they made, they enjoyed participating in the activity and often asked for a copy of the recipe to take home, says Adair.
Parents have even sent him photos of meals cooked at home from the recipes, marvelling that their child doesn’t usually eat a particular vegetable included.
“I often get photographs sent to me, particularly in school holidays, of students baking with mum or dad, which is lovely.”
Three years on, the program is flourishing. Adair’s know-how and enthusiasm is inspiring not just the students but their families and fellow educators too.
The school held its first mid-week market late last year. Garden beds were
We want to hear your tips for engaging young minds. Email educator@hardiegrant.com if you have something to share. You can provide a written piece or we’d love to interview you.
prepared to create market-style produce and Year 6 students were taught smallscale intensive farming techniques.
The students made decisions about how each type of produce would be sold and priced and were responsible for making marketing posters.
“On the day we harvested everything, and they had to process all of this food. They cleaned it and got it ready for market on a costermonger-style cart,” Adair says.
The sell-out market raised about $300, and it is now being held twice a term.
In March a professional development day at Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation member school, Kilkenny Primary, gave Adair the chance to see another garden in action and cook with fellow educators from schools in Adelaide.
The day prompted a team-building exercise at his own school. When admin sta and student support o icers gathered for a professional development day, it included a visit to the garden.
Looking ahead, Adair hopes to forge stronger links between the school and the community through a volunteer program.
“I’m really lucky here that the school values me, they support me, and they trust me. I get to really jump into it and try and inspire the students to have some passion about what I love doing,” Adair says.
Christine Long is a freelance writer.
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