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So you’ve finally made it. After years of study, months of practical placements and perhaps a few weeks of wondering which shoes to wear on your first day, you’re a qualified teacher. Now the real challenge begins!

We have heard reports of a crisis in Australian schools, thanks to a shortage of teachers around the country. Federal education department modelling shows there will be a high school teacher shortfall of about 4,000 by 2025.

The state government has announced a one-off Temporary Regional Incentive for eligible new and existing regional TAFE lecturers in the Pilbara, Kimberley and Kalgoorlie for the 2023 academic year.

The Australian people will soon be asked to vote in a referendum to constitutionally recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through a First Nations Voice. Unfortunately, the political debate on this question has become mired in arguments over “detail” that are either ignorant or deceitful about the nature of the proposal and the work that has been done on it.

Svitlana Popova’s students didn’t realise she was leading their online math class while outside the charred remains of her home in Ukraine until they saw a news video about it on social media.

The 2023 Report on Government Services (ROGS) by the Productivity Commission has highlighted the task that lies ahead for the Albanese Government to address the inequities in public education.

The Australian Education Union (AEU) is urging the federal government to deliver on their election commitment of establishing a pathway to 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) funding for Australia’s public schools following the release of the Productivity Commission’s review of the National Schools Reform Agreement (NSRA).

Prior to Christmas last year, the federal Education Minister, Jason Clare, announced that the current National Schools Reform Agreement (NSRA) would be extended for another year to 2024.

Domestic violence leave now available for more workers; NSW election education pledges welcomed; Inequalities in school results; Pre-service teacher financial worries

Welcome to 2023 – a year of immense challenges for the State School Teachers’ Union of Western Australia and of great opportunity for public education. In this, the SSTUWA’s 125th anniversary year, it is an incredible honour to succeed Pat Byrne as president of the SSTUWA; though I will admit it is also a little disconcerting to follow such an inspiring and dedicated servant to public educators and public education.

In a recent radio interview with 4BC, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said students should learn about the atrocities suffered by Indigenous people in Australia. Historical events such as massacres should be part of the Australian history curriculum. Mr Albanese added it was something that should be done without feelings of shame from non-Indigenous teachers.

In this story, I share my personal trajectory as a teacher experiencing public- private partnerships (PPPs) in the Brazil countryside and urge stakeholders to reflect on the problems involving such partnerships to education. In addition, I reflect on how such PPPs are a result of the lack of financing in education and on how important it is for stakeholders to advocate for enlarged budgets in the sector in the context of the Transforming Education Summit.

Amid a string of national and state-wide award nominations and multiple wins (including the top school prize at last year’s Australian Education Awards), it’s safe to say Bunbury Primary School had a good 2022.

Every election, state and federal, is an opportunity to draw attention to the gross inequity of Australia’s bizarre schools funding system. No other developed country funds schools the way we do. We are the world leader when it comes to giving public money to private, fee- charging schools. And we languish near the bottom of international rankings when it comes to the percentage of education funding we give to our public schools.

Last year saw a succession of headline- grabbing climate disasters, from unprecedented heatwaves drying Europe’s rivers to catastrophic floods in Pakistan and Australia and the most powerful storms to hit Cuba and the USA

We had the most incredible year in 2022 with one of toughest and most unusual General Agreement processes I can recall.

As the new school year dawns upon us I am delighted to take up the position of your new SSTUWA senior vice president. I am excited and looking forward to representing all of our members, and advocating for public education, working alongside the senior officer group which comprises of SSTUWA President Matt Jarman, General Secretary Mary Franklyn and Vice President Sharmila Nagar.

Did you know the words you are reading are printed on recyclable paper? We did the maths to ensure we made the paper choice with the smallest environmental footprint for our magazine, using a Perth-based printing company to reduce transportation mileage.

The State School Teachers’ Union of Western Australia welcomed the announcement of a new Education Minister in December’s cabinet reshuffle, with the division into separate ministerial portfolios of early childhood education and training suggesting the state government is giving education a higher priority.