Teaching and School Leadership

Well-trained, skilled and knowledgeable teachers are the foundation for a high-quality education system.

The Australian Government is working with states, territories and non-government sector to make sure we have high-quality teachers in classrooms across Australia.

On 15 December 2022, Education Ministers agreed to the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan, which sets out a clear pathway to attracting more people to the profession and keeping the teachers we have.

The Action Plan addresses key issues affecting the profession such as workload, status and career pathways.

Quality teaching

The Australian Government is committed to improving the quality and status of the teaching profession. Evidence shows that teachers and school leaders have the greatest in-school influence on student achievement.

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) develops national frameworks, guidelines, practical tools and resources, to improve the quality of teaching.

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Teacher Standards) are a public statement of what constitutes teacher quality and define what teachers should know and be able to do at different stages across their careers.

Resources and tools to support teachers are available on the AITSL website.

School leadership

The Australian Government supports the principal profession through the Australian Professional Standard for Principals (the Standard).

The Standard sets out what principals are expected to know, understand and do to succeed in their work. The Standard includes the Leadership Profiles, which are a set of leadership actions that effective principals implement as they progress to higher levels of proficiency.

The Future Leaders Program

Schools in regional, rural and remote (RRR) areas face particular challenges attracting and retaining school leaders.

The Australian Government has invested $7.5 million in the Future Leaders Program pilot to help support school leaders in RRR schools.

Under the pilot program, high-achieving teachers with leadership aspirations receive one year of high-quality leadership development, training and mentoring. This will:

  • improve the quality of school leadership in RRR schools;
  • strengthen the pipeline of future school leaders; and
  • encourage more teachers and leaders to remain in local schools and communities.

The Future Leaders Program pilot is operating over four years from 2021 to 2024 in schools in WA, NT and QLD.

Dandolo Partners was commissioned to deliver an independent evaluation of the pilot. An initial post-implementation report was completed in 2021 and a final report was published in 2024. See both reports below:

Find more information about the Future Leaders Program