Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the extraordinary contribution teachers, principals and school support staff make to our students and the future of Australia;

(2) recognises we face a critical and unprecedented teacher shortage that will have consequences across our society; and

(3) notes the measures the Government has already taken to attract, train and retain teachers.

In my first speech to parliament I paid tribute to the teachers who helped shape me. Teachers like my history teacher, Frank Frederico, taught me about the role individuals can make in reshaping our society. He, like so many of our teachers, demonstrates the power of education to change lives. It's the most powerful tool for good that we have.

Teachers make extraordinary contributions to our society. They are educators, role models and mentors for our kids. But over the last few years it's clear we have failed them. After years of stagnating wages, increasing administrative workloads and a pandemic, our teachers are exhausted. Up to 50 per cent of teachers are quitting within the first five years and many experienced teachers are leaving the field. We've seen a 16 per cent fall in the number of people starting teaching degrees, with a further 50 per cent not completing their degrees. There is a projected nationwide shortfall of about 4,100 high-school teachers by 2025. That's the projected shortfall in two years, but the shortfall is already here. Last year, in just one week in one school in my electorate, there were 43 classes that did not have a dedicated teacher. That meant the students were not receiving the education they needed.

This is not a new crisis. While the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated the issues, the problems have been growing for years. Last December the federal education minister and I held a principals' forum in my electorate. I wanted him to hear directly from local principals about the challenges they were facing with staff shortages. I thank all the principals who attended for their engagement and honest feedback. They said teachers were leaving the profession for two main reasons: pay and condition. They also spoke about the ever-increasing workloads and administrative duties and the public perception of the profession. Fixing this crisis won't be easy; it will take time. But I'm proud to be part of a government that respects teachers and the important work they do. I'm proud to be part of a government that is committed to fixing this crisis.

We are listening to those who know our education system best—teachers, principals and support staff. We are investing $328 million through the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan to attract, train and retain teachers. We are investing in more university places for teachers, incentivising mid-career professionals to transition into teaching and building the teacher workload reduction fund. We are working closely and collaboratively with the state and territory governments, and I'm pleased to hear that in my home state of New South Wales the opposition Labor leader, Chris Minns, has announced a suite of policies to fix this crisis.

Since the federal election, it's been clear that there has been a marked change in the tone. The work our government is doing is about restoring respect for teachers. I think it speaks volumes that the first action the member for Blaxland, the federal Minister for Education, took was to return to his primary school to thank Mrs Fry, his former primary school teacher. He has launched a campaign to nominate more teachers for Order of Australia awards, so they are recognised for their service to our community.

On the weekend, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to catch up with Alice Leung, the president of the Inner West Teachers Association. We had a frank discussion about the challenges for teachers at the moment. As we wrapped up our coffee and catch-up, she reminded me that people get into teaching because they are passionate about educating young people.

While there is more work to do, I think the steps the Albanese government is taking are the first crucial steps towards offering teachers fair pay and conditions and the respect that they deserve—and, most importantly, making sure that they can get back to what they love doing: teaching.

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