‘Enough is enough’: Teachers burnt out, drowning in red tape

 Leaked figures have revealed Queensland teachers are drowning in red tape, forced to take on administration work outside of hours leaving them frustrated and burnt out.

Teachers are drowning in red tape and admin work.

Leaked figures have revealed Queensland state schools are drowning in red tape with teachers forced to take on administration work outside of hours leaving them frustrated and burnt out.

Numbers obtained from the Education Queensland Policy and Procedure Register show 110 new policies have been introduced or amended between 2023 and 2024.

The amount of new policies introduced or amended in schools has reached 409 over the past 12 years, according to figures obtained by sources with principals and teachers saying “enough is enough”.

The revelation comes after it was revealed that crucial government funding was not reaching Queensland’s primary schools and instead, had been lost to bureaucratic systems and “red tape” programs.

Acting Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) President Leah Olsson said many of the policies were regularly revised and updated without notice or clear communication, further draining valuable time from teachers and school leaders just to keep compliant.

“Much of this work, like data entry, can be outsourced to non-teaching staff members, this work is currently completed by teachers and school leaders largely out of work hours,” she said.

“The shameful failure of the federal government to fully fund state schools is a key reason why additional non-teaching support staff can’t be hired to assist and keep our teachers focused on teaching.”

Ms Olsson said Queensland state school teachers and school leaders had accommodated more than 230 updates to policy and procedures relating to compliance in their workplace over the past four years.

“Overworked and underfunded state school teachers and school leaders deserve better from our federal government, our schools should be safe, properly resourced and respected, anything less is short-changing our students’ futures,” she said.

In 2021 alone, 139 policies were introduced or amended.

Teachers Professional Association (TPA) President Scott Stanford said it had gotten to a point when even the most dedicated teachers had to say, “enough is enough”.

“ … and I was one of those, seriously, after almost 30 years, I just couldn’t do it anymore,” he said.

Mr Stanford said the new policies had contributed to increased workload pressures on teachers “phenomenally”.

“It takes away from their teaching time, because they’re having to do the extra work and they’re getting burnt out,” he said.

“It’s all well, good to say teachers have 12 weeks holiday here, but in all honesty, talking to most teachers, they’re likely to get two.”

Some policies introduced or amended for teachers include four-day school weeks and reporting student behaviour.

Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said the Crisafulli Government would work with school principals to cut 25 per cent of red tape so teachers could spend more time teaching and less time on admin.

“Labor’s lack of planning across our education system left schools without the resources and teachers needed for our state, and their cobbled-together policy changes were an unsuccessful attempt to mask their failures,” he said.

“We must empower our teachers to get back to what they do best, teaching our students, instead of being weighed down by a growing administrative burden.

Queensland Association of State School Principals (QASSP) President Pat Murphy said both teachers and principals spent “considerable time” on compliance and would much prefer to connecting with students.

“The approach to red tape reduction the government has proposed we hope will streamline processes, so our teacher and principals can focus on what matters most — our students.”

Mr Murphy said excessive regulation drained the energy and passion of educators.

“Teachers and principals are overwhelmed and stretched thin, we look forward to a reduction in red tape the new government has promised,” he said.

NUMBER OF NEW POLICIES PER YEAR INTRODUCED OR AMENDED

2012: 3

2013: 3

2014: 0

2015: 3

2016: 1

2017: 5

2018: 5

2019: 9

2020: 93

2021: 139

2022: 38

2023: 70

2024: 40