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Whether working directly with children and young people or in support of those who do, attracting the best people to our department, selecting the best candidates, deploying them where it matters most and investing in their development is critical to achieving our ambition.
Our Workforce Strategy outlines how we plan to do this.
Workforce Strategy vision
Our vision is to have an inclusive and future ready workforce thriving in an evolving and dynamic environment.
Workforce Strategy vision explained
Our workforce is the heart of public education, creating the biggest impact for children and young people. They are the people who lead public education and support every community across South Australia. They are the vital link between learners, their families and communities cultivating partnerships that strengthen engagement, embrace diversity and lead to rich learning opportunities. United in purpose, they bring their best each day to empower every child and young person to thrive and realise their full potential.
We live in a rapidly changing world. Our communities are ever evolving and technological advancements continuously reshape how we live, work, learn and connect with each other. Expectations, priorities and opportunities also evolve over time in line with the changing landscape. To lead in this dynamic landscape, our workforce must be equipped and empowered with the right supports, dispositions and conditions to navigate these changes and to adapt and innovate.
Our vision is to build and sustain a workforce that is inclusive, resilient, responsive, innovative and enabled to deliver high-quality public education. A workforce that fosters success for every learner today and into the future.
When our workforce thrives, so do our children and young people.
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge that work undertaken to develop this Workforce Strategy took place mainly on the traditional lands of the Kaurna people. We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the custodians of the Adelaide Region and that their spiritual connection, cultural heritage and relationship with their Country is still as important to the living Kaurna people today. We also pay respects to the cultural authority of traditional owners from areas across South Australia.
We acknowledge and thank Aboriginal staff who contributed their knowledge and expertise in developing this strategy. We are committed to ensuring the experiences, needs and aspirations of Aboriginal staff are heard and incorporated into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of workforce initiatives and programs.
Focus areas of the Workforce Strategy
Our workforce strategy is structured under four areas which represent the areas where we will focus our efforts and activity to address immediate priorities and work towards our vision. The activities under each focus area may change and adapt over time, in response to emerging insights and opportunities.
We will build and support a high performing workforce with the knowledge, skills and aptitudes to enable every child and young person to learn and thrive. We will also ensure our workforce and programs have at their centre, the knowledge and tools to create culturally responsive working and learning environments where Aboriginal people work, learn and thrive.
We will focus on the following areas:
Diversity and inclusion
We commit to creating culturally responsive and inclusive working and learning environments free from discrimination. We work and learn in a rich diversity of families, communities and colleagues where every individual’s differences and unique perspectives are respected and welcomed.
How we’re doing this:
- embedding our Culturally Responsive Framework as the foundation for building cultural capability across the department, with meaningful measures to track and demonstrate impact across the department
- implementing programs of work and action plans to support diversity and inclusion, equity and respect, anti-racism and other priorities that support all staff with belonging and inclusion
- delivering on our stretch Reconciliation Action Plan
- continuing our commitment to increase the representation of Aboriginal people at all levels in our workforce and supporting their career pathways
- ensuring the voices, experiences, needs and aspirations of staff from diverse backgrounds are heard and incorporated into the design, implementation and evaluation of workforce initiatives and programs.
Organisational effectiveness
Implementing adaptive structures, workforce models, systems and processes that respond to local contexts and insights ensuring our people and learners thrive in an ever-evolving landscape.
How we’re doing this:
- empowering educators by identifying and co-designing opportunities to reduce administrative workload
- exploring and progressing different ways to design roles, deploy staff and structure teams for maximum impact in different contexts
- leveraging technology and AI solutions to create more efficient and effective work practices.
Workforce capability
Developing the leadership, knowledge, skills and mindsets essential for providing quality teaching and learning to our children and young people, communities and employees, while leading innovation through proactive engagement with emerging technologies.
How we’re doing this:
- curating high quality professional learning, responsive to the needs of our learners, growing the capability of our people across the workforce (link to Orbis and Plink)
- supporting all employees with performance development planning and processes
- providing induction programs and supports for employees who are new at their workplace or returning to work
- strengthening pathways for diverse talent, including early career programs and leadership development supporting career progression across every career stage
- supporting staff to gain qualifications through subsidised VET training and scholarships.
Supply, attraction and retention
Reimagining supply pipelines and models with compelling value propositions to attract, utilise and retain a strong and diverse workforce across the department.
How we’re doing this:
- promoting careers in public education in targeted and engaging ways
- providing attractive and supported pathways into employment for targeted roles and employee cohorts
- developing innovative approaches to expand talent pools, create early connections with prospective employees and secure access to quality employees in priority locations
- providing attraction and retention incentives
- increasing teacher permanency
- supporting talent pathways and development into critical roles across the system
- recognising and celebrating the exemplary practice and service of our staff.
How we’ll achieve impact
Delivering our workforce strategy is a collective responsibility. Through collaborative effort we will ensure that workforce decisions achieve lasting impact, serve the greater good and break down barriers to working together to address priorities and achieve our goals. We will be tight on the purpose we have agreed to take responsibility for, and we will be flexible on how it might be best achieved in different contexts, which might mean tailoring workforce approaches at different sites and locations across the system.
To achieve a thriving workforce we will share practice, learn with and from each other and have the confidence to try new things or change the things we think can be done better. Praiseworthy failure, we will embrace exploration and testing approaches in the right way as this is how we will continually improve.
We will empower leaders and equip them with workforce insights, so they can make effective, informed decisions about workforce.
We’ll do this by:
- developing, sharing and responding to workforce insights, contemporary research and leading practice
- co-designing workforce solutions and initiatives with leaders, staff and the organisations that represent them
- using our guiding principles to inform our decisions and approaches
- aligning initiatives to department, state and national education strategies and priorities
- monitoring our progress using key workforce indicators.
What success looks like
Our Workforce Strategy success measures are:
Diversity and inclusion
Our workforce reflects the diversity within communities and actively leverages these perspectives to drive innovation, enhance collaboration, and foster a culture of inclusivity.
Our workplaces are environments where our people feel culturally safe, have a strong sense of belonging, and are valued and respected.
Organisational effectiveness
Our organisational design, employment models and culture set us apart as an employer of choice and supports us to achieve our aspiration.
Leaders leverage data and insights to inform decision making and proactively address workforce challenges with responsive and innovative solutions aimed at improving employee retention, satisfaction and performance.
Workforce capability
Our workforce embraces a commitment to ongoing learning, equipped with the capabilities to inspire and empower our children and young people, ensuring sustained growth and learning.
Our people are recognised and celebrated for their learning mindsets, adaptability, innovation, responsiveness and resilience.
Supply, attraction and retention
The department becomes the employer of choice, with strong attraction and retention across the system.
We have strong, agile supply pipelines of quality teachers, leaders and non-teaching staff capable of unlocking the potential of every learner.
Employees have positive experiences and opportunities to thrive and progress and are retained in our organisation.
Ready to bring your brilliance?
A thriving society begins with quality education for everyone. That’s why a certain kind of person belongs at the Department for Education in South Australia. These are the heroes who create moments that pave paths to big futures. You’ll know them by their admirable sense of purpose, unshakeable dedication and professionalism. And you may be one of them.
With over 30,000 remarkable people, we’re proud to be one of South Australia’s largest employers. Our big ambitions mean we lead the education sector, not only in size, but with the brightest minds using ground breaking research that sets new standards.
Our roles and their locations are as diverse as they are abundant, embedded in every community across the state, giving you generous opportunities for growth and development across various pathways. And, as you evolve your career with us, you’ll strengthen the prospects of countless others.
Join our team
Whatever your brand of brilliance, when you work in public education, you’ll feel needed, because you are. You'll feel valued, because your contributions matter. And, most of all, you’ll feel fulfilled, because you’re making a real difference.
Join the Department for Education South Australia. Bring your brilliance.
