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The Australian Education Union has welcomed new research from Monash University that exposes the extreme and often invisible emotional demands placed on Australia’s public school principals, and is calling for urgent government action to address the escalating risks to their health, safety and wellbeing.

Principals’ jobs have always been stressful, involving a constant juggle to meet the needs of students, staff and the community. But research suggests their roles are becoming more difficult and increasingly unsustainable.

Understanding your entitlements around Advanced Skills Lecturer (ASL) classifications is essential for every TAFE lecturer. Read the ASL TAFE Know Your Right information sheet here.

Late last year the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre told us that the number of children experiencing poverty in Western Australia had doubled over the past decade.

If you are in your first five years of teaching, or are a pre-service teacher, you are eligible to be a new educator member of the SSTUWA and be supported by the union’s Growth Team with targeted visits, information, advice and training.

Private schools in WA have outspent public schools on capital works by $3.2 billion over the past decade, including $515 million in 2023 alone, exposing a widening infrastructure divide driven by the absence of ongoing Commonwealth capital funding for public schools since 2017.

Former SSTUWA General Secretary Mary Franklyn has been made a life member of the Australian Education Union in recognition of her outstanding service to the union movement and to public education. Click here to read an excerpt of the nomination speech given by SSTUWA President Matt Jarman.

*Disclaimer: in this article the term teacher is used intermittently in reference to teachers and school leaders. How often do we hear that the need to fix the teacher shortage is to show teachers more respect?

In the last issue of Western Teacher, I spoke about leadership, service and collective strength. In this issue, I want to focus on what that means in practice.

I want to thank all our members who responded to our start of term survey on teacher shortages.