Volume 55.1 February 2026

There is constant change in education and as educators we are built to sustain and manage that evolution. In fact, as history continues to show, our members are heavily leaned upon to manage these changes and those that impact our community.

Welcome back and happy new year to you all. I am honoured and deeply grateful to have been elected as the new senior vice president of our union.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that this article contains names of deceased persons. Kaya! Welcome back members to the new year – a year of new beginnings and, as always, new challenges.

I am honoured to have been elected as the new general secretary of the SSTUWA and grateful for the trust members have placed in the new Executive team.

Excessive workloads, administrative burdens and lack of support continue to drive public school teachers and leaders away.

SSTUWA member and union scholarship recipient Trish Chapman reflects on how deeper study strengthened her teaching and community connections.

Educators from across Australia and the Pacific converged in Brisbane last November for the 2025 National New Educators’ Conference, hosted at Brisbane State High School.

Clause 47 – Bereavement Leave of the Western Australian TAFE Lecturers’ General Agreement 2023 deals with a member’s entitlement to leave on the death of a family member or member of the household.

I became a member of the SSTUWA in mid-2024, inspired by the industrial action taking place prior to the new lecturers’ award being won and was then voted in as the branch representative earlier last year.

Inequality is one of the most urgent challenges facing Australian schools. For decades, governments have invested billions of dollars in schools with the promise every child should have the opportunity to succeed.

As the School Curriculum and Standards Authority updates its curricula, it is even more important for schools and teachers to take a fresh look at how they teach about the cross-curriculum priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, not to mention how that lines up with staff professional learning, schools plans and policies and the Aboriginal Cultural Standards Framework.

Education leaders from across Australia have written an open letter to News Corp Australia, calling on them to immediately cease the publication of misleading school league tables.