Teaching is one of the most consequential professions in any society, and in Australia right now, it is also one of the most strained. The 2024 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), the world’s largest international study of teachers and school leaders conducted across 55 countries and economies, offers the most current and comprehensive picture we have of what life inside Australian schools actually looks like for the people who work there.
The headline is not all bad. Most Australian teachers remain positive about their work: 84% of lower secondary teachers and 85% of primary teachers report overall job satisfaction, and 74% believe the advantages of teaching outweigh the disadvantages. Australian teachers also report strong collegiality, with 89% of lower secondary and 92% of primary teachers saying they can rely on their colleagues. These are meaningful foundations.
But beneath the headline numbers, the pressure is real and building. Australian teachers report higher stress than many of their OECD counterparts, and the burden falls hardest on those who are newest to the profession. Thirty-six per cent of lower secondary teachers under 30 report experiencing a lot of stress, compared to 30% of those aged 50 and above. Classroom discipline is a significant driver: 55% of early career lower secondary teachers cite it as a source of stress, compared to 38% of teachers with ten or more years of experience. Administrative workload, curriculum changes and increasing classroom diversity compound the picture. Overall, Australia recorded the second highest level of teacher stress among OECD participants.
What improves things is instructive. Teachers who have high confidence in their classroom skills report greater satisfaction, lower stress and stronger wellbeing. Mentoring makes a measurable difference, with lower secondary teachers who had recently been mentored reporting significantly higher job satisfaction than those who had not. Teachers who feel valued by parents and guardians also report better outcomes for their own wellbeing. The relational conditions of teaching are not peripheral to professional sustainability; they are central to it.
For the hub’s focus on student engagement in the middle years, this report matters because teacher wellbeing and student engagement are not separate concerns. A profession under strain, with experienced teachers leaving and younger ones overwhelmed, cannot consistently provide the stable, responsive, relationally grounded classrooms that disengaged young people most need. What TALIS 2024 ultimately shows is that the conditions teachers work in and the conditions students learn in are inseparable.