Since 1994, 5 October has been celebrated internationally as World Teachers’ Day. On this date in 1966 the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers was adopted, which outlines teachers’ rights and responsibilities, training standards and other work conditions (p. 3). This article identifies key workforce and gender trends relating to Australia’s teachers and highlights educators who went on to have parliamentary careers.

Teacher characteristics

According to the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data (August 2024), there are approximately 697,000 people working as education professionals (in their main job). These people work in all levels of education, from pre-primary to tertiary, as well as in specialist settings, such as music teachers or teachers of the hearing impaired. About three-quarters of educators are school teachers, including:

• 11% pre-primary
• 24% primary
• 21% secondary
• 5% special education.

Around 16% of education professionals are in tertiary roles and 10% work in miscellaneous education roles.

Workforce and gender comparisons

In the 50 years from 1961 to 2021, the  ABS 5-yearly Census of Population and Housing (Census) has provided a snapshot of the education sector. Teaching has been reported within the top 10 largest occupations since 1971. As a proportion of Australia’s total employed population, education professionals represented almost 5% in 2021, and this has been largely stable since the1980s (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.  Teachers as a proportion of total employed, 1961 to 2021

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Census of Population and Housing; (ABS: Canberra, various from 1961 to 2021).

The Census further reveals that teaching has become more feminised over time. For example, from 1961 to 2021, women went from 20% to 50% of university lecturers or tutors. The exception to this trend is in the early childhood sector, employing 98% women in 2021.

The most recent Labour Force survey results (August 2024) indicate approximately three quarters of all education professionals are women (72%).

Figure 2.  Proportion of educators who are women by teaching levels, 1961 to 2021

Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing; (ABS: Canberra, various from 1961 to 2021).

Spotlight on early childhood teachers

Australia’s number of early childhood (or pre-primary) teachers increased from just over 1,900 in 1961 to just over 30,000 by 2021.

More than a third of these teachers were aged less than 35 years and almost 2% identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. Pre-primary teachers had higher rates of part-time work (46%) compared to primary (35%) and secondary (24%) teachers.

Pre-primary teachers had lower median weekly earnings compared to others in the profession, but broader workforce comparisons are more mixed. For example, in August 2023 they had higher part-time ($793 compared to $655) but lower full-time ($1,269 compared to $1,600) median weekly earnings. Other than hours of work, these differences could be due to a number of reasons including a younger age profile, less scope for advancement or shorter time spans in the profession (and therefore fewer pay point increases), (see Cortis et al, 2023, 13).

Educational professionals in Parliament

According to the Parliamentary Handbook, of the 1,838 federal parliamentarians to have served since Federation, 217 had previously worked as education professionals (12%). Within this, 27 current parliamentarians are former educators, spanning the tertiary (15), school (9) and pre-school (1) categories. Notably, Senators Bridget McKenzie and Deb O’Neill were both high school and university educators.

There has only been one example of a former teacher becoming Australia’s Prime Minister. This was Francis Forde who briefly served following John Curtin’s death and Ben Chifley’s election as leader of the governing Labor Party. Another notable former teacher is Dame Dorothy Tangney, who alongside Dame Enid Lyons in 1943 became the first women to serve in the Australian Parliament. In her first speech within Parliament, Tangney reflected on her previous vocation, asserting that ‘if any democracy is to succeed it must be an educated democracy’ and that ‘if we are to achieve anything as a nation, we must tackle education over its whole range’.

Note: The ABS has not published sufficiently detailed data for the 1996 Census (only broad occupations, for example Professionals). Caution should be used when interpreting Figures 1 and 2 as the data points have been joined as if the time series are continuous.