FOLLOWING a survey revealing a worsening teacher shortage in the ACT, the ACT government will establish a taskforce with the Australian Education Union to address the “urgent” need for more staff. 

The Australian Education Union’s (AEU) ACT Branch, which represents teachers and support staff in ACT public schools, surveyed more than 1800 educators about their perception of staff shortages, workload, work safety and teaching as a profession.

The findings, the union said, reveal a stark picture of an education system in urgent need of more staff, more resources and new approaches to address the complexity of the work of educators. 

It found:

• More than half of the principals surveyed are unable to fill ongoing or temporary positions at their school.  
• 97 per cent of school staff said that students are disadvantaged and their learning outcomes compromised by split or modified classes. 
• Almost all teachers report working unpaid overtime every week. More than 40 per cent of teachers report working an average of two days of unpaid overtime every week.
• Seventy per cent of principals rate their workload as very or extremely difficult. More than one third of principals regularly work between 10-15 hours over time per week and a  further third report working more than 20 additional hours per week. 
• More than half of the classroom teachers surveyed would not recommend teaching as a career to family members or friends. 
• Eighty-five per cent of respondents said they did not think that the Education Directorate was sufficiently resourced to meet the demands put upon schools. 

Following the survey, AEU senior industrial officer Patrick Judge said the ACT must take urgent action to address the teacher shortage and ensure that ACT public schools are properly resourced.

“When teachers are not replaced, students are split to other classes and miss out on the support of a properly trained teacher,” said Mr Judge.  

“Our members say they are overwhelmed by the workload required to cover for staff absences without support.

“Our members’ survey responses told us that they love teaching but, regrettably, many were considering leaving the profession because the workload has become unmanageable.” 

The union has called for the establishment of a Teacher Shortage Taskforce to identify immediate actions and long-term strategies to address the teacher shortage.

Those calls have now been agreed to by the ACT Education Directorate, with the first meeting of the taskforce to occur on September 2.  

The taskforce will investigate the causes and impacts of the teacher shortage, including impacts on student learning, teacher workload, work safety and the recruitment and retention of teachers in ACT public schools. 

The union noted that work is already underway in neighbouring states to identify and address teacher workforce concerns. 

“We know from the findings of the Gallop and Rorris reports in New South Wales that there are serious teacher shortages across the border,” said Mr Judge, noting that the Gallop Inquiry had found that uncompetitive salaries for teachers and unsustainable workloads are leading to teacher shortages in NSW.  

“Teachers and principals are taking on increasingly complex work, including welfare work that takes significant time and emotional energy. At the same time, teacher salaries have fallen every year compared to other professions. 

“You can’t fix the shortages without fixing the wages and workload problem. If we don’t pay teachers what they are worth, we won’t get the teachers we need.”