Legislative Council, Wednesday 12 August 2026
Ms FORREST question to MINISTER for EDUCATION, CHILDREN and YOUTH, Ms PALMER
Thanks, Mr President. We’re aware of teacher shortages around the state. I’m seeking information about Mountain Heights School in Queenstown, where there’s a much bigger challenge in attracting staff generally to, but also having a ready supply of relief teachers. The two questions I have at the outset are:
(3) How many vacancies in teaching positions are there at Mountain Heights School?
(4) What are you doing to recruit to those positions?
ANSWER
With regard to the actual vacancies at Mountain Heights, I would need to take that on notice, and I could only give you a number as at a certain point in time, because obviously that can change at the beginning of term, during term; there are lots of factors as to why that could move. So, I will get that for you, but I will have to seek that information. It will just be at a point in time. I’ll just seek some information on the other question. Thank you very much for the question. There is certainly a lot happening in the space of teacher recruitment, but also teacher retention as well. There’s only about a 1 per cent vacancy rate across the workforce –
Ms Forrest – Across the board. I’m interested in Mountain Heights, minister.
Ms PALMER – I can’t give you the information. I’ve already said to you that I will need to take that on notice to get that actual information. It can change on a daily basis. I have said that.
What we’re doing, generally, with regards to trying to bolster this workforce, there’s quite a lot happening in this space. We certainly have hard-to-staff school incentive packages. We have remote incentive packages for remote schools, and certainly Mountain Heights would fall into that category. They have been taken up, which is really great. We recognise that these are difficult schools to staff, or they are in locations that make it a bit more difficult to have teachers there.
The other thing that we’re doing is, we’re heavily investing in teacher accommodation, particularly in our remote areas. This is an important consideration, especially from a wellbeing perspective. Whether teachers are working in hard-to-staff schools or remote areas like Mountain Heights, it is important to ensure that they are coming home at the end of the day to modern, fit-for-purpose accommodation. This hasn’t always been the case with our teachers. Certainly for Mountain Heights where, I believe, 21 unit blocks have been completely refurbished: new kitchens, curtains, carpets, and thermal performance. They’ve come up quite beautifully. We’ve had excellent feedback, particularly from those at Mountain Heights, about the difference that that has made to them making decisions about whether they’re going to stay.
We also have a lot more support now for our early career teachers. We know that, at the moment right across Australia, at around about year 3, teachers are feeling: ‘I don’t want to continue, this is not the job I thought it would be’. In Tasmania, we’ve now commenced a first-year teacher induction program. It’s a four-day program, consisting of three-days of professional learning, and one-day on-site induction at that school. It’s also a program where we have a wellbeing touchpoint for new teachers. I believe it’s at about the six-month mark, we reach out to them proactively and talk to them. We ask them how it is going, what are some of the things they’re struggling with, and what’s going well. I think it’s important that the department has that touchpoint, especially with early year teachers.
In additional to all of that, we now have an agreement with the University of Tasmania regarding initial teacher education. This helps us to make sure that people who are going through our only university and getting a teaching degree, are really prepared for teaching in 2026 and beyond. Our schools have become more complex, and we’re aware of that, and it’s been fantastic to work with the university who have been open and engaged in this space, to prosecute what their initial teacher education course looked like, and ask if it was fit for purpose. At the beginning of next year, there’ll be quite a difference to how we’re preparing people for teaching.
There are also national recruitment campaigns, international recruitment campaigns, and we have just signed the education workforce negotiations, which provide more opportunities for supporting teachers and principals.
I will take on notice the vacancy number and bring that back to the House.
Mountain Heights School Vacancies – Follow up
Ms PALMER – Amazing team who have messaged me an answer to your question that I took on notice, that’s pretty good, isn’t it?
Ms Forrest – They’re a good team.
Ms PALMER – Good team, very good team. Mountain Heights vacancy currently there are three vacancies. The department continues to work closely with the school to see what we can do to fill those positions.