Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm reminded of the old proverb: it takes a village to raise a child. For each and every one of us there were hundreds of influences, both big and small, that formed us into the people we are today. The journey into adulthood was not easy and we needed all the help we could get, which brings me to our teachers—those we've entrusted with a large proportion of the responsibility to help guide and nurture our children. I've been told by teachers that, whilst the job is not easy, it can be very rewarding. However, too often we leave our teachers to shoulder this responsibility on their own, trying to face ever-rising challenges with ever-dwindling resources.

In my state of New South Wales, the state Liberal government's policies, such as the one called Local Schools, Local Decisions, led to the government abdicating its responsibility in the education centre, and this has cascaded into a staggering amount of casualisation in the teacher workforce. It has caused an increase in what are called full-time equivalent temporary roles. In layman terms, it means a teacher who is expected to work all the same hours as a full-time teacher, but who could be unemployed next week, regardless of how well they do. In just over a decade, there has been an 82 per cent increase in the number of temporary roles. Now over one-third of all teaching positions in New South Wales are temporary or casual.

I don't think you can expect someone to perform to their best ability when they aren't even sure whether they'll have a job next week. Why, then, are we doing this to the people who are responsible for educating our children? There's not much incentive to go full time either. The average full-time teacher is contracted to work 40 hours a week, but often ends up working more than 60, and less than half of those hours involve face-to-face learning. There is no overtime and no benefits. All this takes its toll. A recent survey found that 60 per cent of teachers were considering leaving the profession within the next five years. Just last year, one in nine young teachers walked away from the profession. With all of these challenges, is it any wonder that there's such high burnout?

Since we were elected, the task for the Albanese government has been clear: we need more teachers and we need to keep the teachers we already have. That's why we're committed to working with state and territory governments to get all schools to 100 per cent of their fair funding level. That's why I'm proud that the member for Blaxland was able to reach an agreement late last year with education ministers across all of the states and territories for a national teacher workforce action plan.

As part of this plan, the Albanese government will invest $328 million, which includes $159 million for 4,000 additional university places for teachers, $56 million for bursaries, $68 million to triple the number of mid-career professionals shifting into teaching and $30 million for teacher workload reduction. That's why we've made it that teachers who have worked for up to four years in very remote Australia can apply to receive a reduction in their HELP debt, and that's why we're delivering on our election promise to invest over $200 million this year to help every school in the country through the Student Wellbeing Boost and it's why all of the education ministers have agreed to a new five-year plan and over $300 million in federal funding to deliver the National Student Wellbeing Program. On that last point, any parent will tell you that the past few years have had an undeniable impact on student mental health. It should not fall solely to teachers to manage our children's wellbeing in schools. Schools will now, if they want, be able to choose a qualified student wellbeing officer or chaplain to support students. No-one will ever have to say that school is easy, not for students, parents and certainly not for teachers, but the Albanese government refuses to put this vital issue in the too-hard basket. Labor stands by teachers and always will.

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