Our workforce is key to achieving our goal to become a world-class education system.

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 world-class ambition.

We’re developing a Workforce Strategy to clearly outline how we plan to do this.

Workforce Strategy vision

Our vision is to enable every person in our workforce to perform at their best so together we achieve growth for every child, in every class, in every school and preschool.

Developing the strategy

We have a large and diverse workforce, across many disciplines.

So that we can tailor our approach to the needs of specific employee groups, our Workforce Strategy is being developed in 4 chapters, each focussing on a specific workforce cohort:

• Chapter 1: Aboriginal workforce
• Chapter 2: Educational leaders and teachers
• Chapter 3: Support for teaching and learning – classroom and student support
• Chapter 4: Support for teaching and learning – corporate and administrative support.

A workforce plan will be developed for each cohort which, together, will form our Workforce Strategy.

Chapter 1: Aboriginal workforce

Having a strong Aboriginal workforce is key to improving outcomes for Aboriginal children and young people and creating an environment where all Aboriginal people can thrive.

This chapter will address how to build and grow our Aboriginal workforce across the department, from Aboriginal Education Workers, teachers and leaders, to corporate employees and executives, and every role in between. It will also outline how we will develop cultural understanding, respect and capability in our workplaces.

Work on this chapter began in 2020 and the Aboriginal Workforce Plan 2021 to 2031 (PDF 518KB) was launched in early 2021.

Chapter 2: Educational leaders and teachers

Teaching and leadership are the two most important in-school factors that influence child and student outcomes.

In this chapter, we will identify how to attract, develop and support quality leaders and expert teachers to achieve growth for every child, in every class, in every school and preschool.

Design of the workforce plan for educational leaders and teachers is currently underway.

More than 700 people have provided input so far, through our online survey, written submissions, Leaders Day workshops, interviews, meetings, country site visits and focus groups. This included organisations representing leaders and teachers from across the state.

Chapter 3: Support for teaching and learning – classroom and student support

Thousands of people work with leaders and teachers to support the learning and development of children and students in our preschools and schools every day.

This chapter will focus on employees working directly with children and young people, including School Services Officers, Early Childhood Workers, Aboriginal Education Workers, allied health professionals and a range of other roles.

The design of this workforce plan will begin in 2022, with planning starting from late 2021.

Chapter 4: Support for teaching and learning – corporate and administrative support

Corporate and school administration employees provide expert advice and support to schools and preschools so they can focus on teaching and learning.

In this chapter, we will address the needs of the diverse range of professionals across our school and system administration disciplines, including business managers, finance officers and corporate employees.

The design of this workforce plan will begin in 2023, with planning starting from 2022.

Information for department employees

Find out more about the Workforce Strategy (staff login required) and how you can get involved as a department employee.

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