Australia is grappling with a significant teacher shortage, as highlighted by a recent report from the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (Talis). The crisis is particularly severe in disadvantaged and regional schools, where it has become a barrier to delivering quality education. In Western Australia, the situation is especially pronounced, with many areas experiencing a drastic lack of teachers.
Mathew Burt, who has been principal at Broome Senior High School since 2018, noted that the teacher shortage impacts all of Western Australia, but it worsens in more remote regions. “When you’ve got principals changing over every few months like in some regional or remote areas, it’s just an unknown,” Burt explained. This instability erodes community trust in schools, affecting students’ educational experiences.
According to the Talis report, 42% of lower secondary principals in Australia acknowledged that teacher shortages hindered the quality of instruction, significantly higher than the OECD average of 23%. The report also revealed that regional schools face a staggering shortage, with 63% of principals in these areas reporting difficulties, while 67% of principals in disadvantaged schools indicated similar issues. Disadvantaged schools are defined as those with over 30% of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds.
Trevor Cobbold, convener of Save Our Schools, described the situation as a “diabolical staffing crisis.” He emphasized that the growing shortage limits learning opportunities, particularly in public schools that serve disadvantaged students, exacerbating achievement gaps between affluent and poor communities.
The report further highlighted that Australian teachers work an average of 46.5 hours per week, significantly exceeding the OECD average of 40.8 hours. Almost two-thirds of teachers experience high stress levels, with 80% reporting that their job negatively affects their mental health. These findings echo a separate study by UNSW, which indicated that teachers experience rates of depression, anxiety, and stress that are three times higher than the national norm.
Concerns about teacher retention are escalating, with approximately 30% of teachers contemplating leaving the profession before retirement age. In Western Australia alone, 1,279 teachers resigned in the 2024-25 period, marking the highest attrition rate since data collection began in 2005. According to Correna Haythorpe, president of the Australian Education Union, the scale of the issue is “unacceptable for a wealthy, developed nation.” She noted that the teacher shortage began to worsen three years ago as the country emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting many potential teachers to reconsider their career paths.
The Australian education system has faced long-standing resource challenges that have contributed to the current crisis. Haythorpe pointed out that teachers often shoulder the burden of inadequate funding, striving to ensure that no child is left behind. A report from the Australian Primary Principals Association detailed the consequences of these shortages, with many principals reporting the loss of specialist subjects such as music and arts, along with a decline in student attendance.
In response to the ongoing crisis, education ministers reached an agreement at the end of 2022 to implement a National Teacher Workforce Action Plan. This plan aims to address teacher shortages by focusing on supply, education, and professional development. Since then, there has been a reported 7% increase in annual applications to teaching degrees, and changes to teacher training programs have been announced.
States like New South Wales have seen some positive outcomes. Public school vacancies in the state dropped by 61% over three years, with only 962 unfilled teaching positions in term three of 2025, down from 2,460 in the same period in 2022. This improvement is largely attributed to a pay agreement reached in 2023, which positioned teachers among the highest-paid in the country, alongside the introduction of dedicated recruitment officers in schools.
While Haythorpe acknowledged these positive changes, she stressed the necessity of addressing funding to alleviate escalating workloads. “We need to ensure that we’ve got more educational support personnel so that we can alleviate burden from teachers and give them time to teach in the classroom,” she stated.
Burt also pointed to minor improvements, such as incentives for student teachers to undertake placements in regional schools. However, he emphasized that these measures do not adequately address the need for continuity in teaching staff, which is critical for both student performance and community stability.
As Burt’s daughter embarks on her teaching career, benefiting from government scholarships and paid placements, he reflects on how the landscape has shifted since he entered the profession. “My daughter will walk into a job at any one of those primary schools in the metropolitan area where she lives,” he noted. He advocates for a comprehensive national approach to the teacher shortage, warning that simply reallocating teachers from one area to another will not resolve the fundamental issues.
The challenges facing Australia’s education system underscore the urgent need for strategic interventions to secure a sustainable teaching workforce, particularly in regions and schools that need it most.
