Labor will lift teacher entry standards and boost teacher numbers, as part of a plan to raise the status of the teaching profession, fix teacher shortages and improve student results.

The Morrison Government has let our children down with a school system that’s falling even further behind countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Korea.

This is a serious problem for students, who aren’t being properly prepared for high-skilled, well-paid jobs, and it’s a handbrake on the economy.

Our hardworking teachers do a terrific job. They stepped up during COVID to make sure our kids could keep learning. But far fewer high achievers in Australia choose teaching today. That needs to change.

If the Federal Government doesn’t act now, we’re going to have a massive teacher shortage in coming years – we’re already facing shortages and Australia will be about 4,000 teachers short by 2025, according to Senate testimony from the Federal Education Department.

To tackle these issues, Labor will:

• Seek to double the number of high achievers studying teaching over the next decade. To help achieve this we will pay 5,000 students who get an ATAR of 80 or above a bursary of up to $12,000 a year to study an initial teacher education degree.
• Boost the High Achieving Teachers Program to support 1,500 qualified professionals in other fields – including mathematicians and scientists – to retrain as teachers through an employment-based pathway that will pay a part-time wage while they complete an intensive master’s degree in education. The 1,500 extra places will include 700 new Teach for Australia teachers and 60 new teachers through LaTrobe University’s Nexus Program.
• Labor will work with the Queensland Government, through the next National School Reform Agreement, to make sure teachers have a better career path with more opportunities to become recognised and rewarded as experts, and to pass on their skills to other teachers without having to leave classroom teaching.

Labor will invest $146.5 million to deliver the plan, over four years. This investment will improve outcomes for our kids, and lift education standards for our nation – helping to secure a Better Future for Australians.

Federal Member for Blair Shayne Neumann said Labor wanted to make sure children in Ipswich, the Somerset Region and Karana Downs area get the best education they can and the tools for success in life. 

“That means we have to make sure our kids get the best quality teaching,” he said.

“Labor’s plan will incentivise the best graduates to join the teaching profession, leading to a brighter future for our students and for the nation.

“One of the most important things we can do to stop the slide and boost student results is to lift teaching standards.

“I want students competing to get into teaching like they do to get into medicine or law.

“If we want a better future in Australia, we need a smart, skilled workforce so we can compete for jobs and growth with our neighbours,” Mr Neumann said.