Teachers are increasingly leaving the job. Upskilling could hold the key to Australia’s educational future.

Despite universities around the nation reporting soaring initial teacher education enrolments, it’s not enough to outweigh the mass burnout and attrition driving Australia’s teacher shortage.

Teachers at every level of experience are reporting more responsibility, intensified scrutiny, and decreasing job satisfaction. So, how do we escape this downward spiral in early childhood, primary, and secondary education?

Swinburne has listened to teachers and heard one thing loud and clear. Teachers want to stay in the profession, to learn and to grow their careers. But we need to meet them where they are and provide support that matters right now.

This means providing a wide range of vocational and higher education initial teacher education options. But more importantly, it also means offering further career opportunities and upskilling for those already in the workforce, particularly in the regions. Only in this way, can we genuinely address widespread teacher shortages in schools and early childhood centres.

As a dual-sector institution, Swinburne has seen strong growth for teacher education in 2025 across domestic enrolments in both TAFE and higher education, and we are expanding our offerings to meet this demand.

We are reintroducing the Master of Teaching (Secondary) at our Hawthorn campus from next year, while simultaneously taking teaching deliveries out to regional Victoria to upskill teachers and educational support staff through our Early Childhood and Primary programs in local areas. These programs are offered as accelerated, employment-based curricula, ensuring that qualifications are practically oriented, flexible in delivery, and valuable in the workplace.

For seasoned teachers, we are also about to introduce a Master of Educational Leadership to better equip experienced educators to thrive in their demanding roles and provide career progression opportunities at their existing workplaces.

As a university, we see ourselves as part of a partnership network with schools. Not only do we educate aspiring teachers and help upskill educators, but we also work closely with schools to host pre-service teachers and to welcome our graduates after completing their studies.

Our growing population means education at every age is crucial to secure Australia’s future. The positive impacts of quality education are obvious – if we want to remain competitive globally, we must prioritise quality teachers providing world-class education.

Tertiary education providers must acknowledge and respond to the teaching crisis by improving on their current offerings – meeting learners where they are, with what they require - to meet the needs of Australia’s future.

By Professor James Verdon, Dean of Swinburne University of Technology’s School of Social Sciences, Media, Film and Education.