Teacher housing strategy for regional educators gets underway amid hundreds of school vacancies

More homes could be bought up and built for teachers in the bush, as the government seeks advice from principals and the teachers’ union about how to help attract and keep country educators.

More homes could be bought up and built by the NSW government in the bush, as the government seeks advice from principals and the teachers’ union about how to help attract and keep country educators.

Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car and Housing Minister Rose Jackson will sit down with representatives from the Primary Principals Association, Secondary Principals Council, NSW Teachers Federation and the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group at Canobolas Public School in Orange on Thursday, to discuss the housing challenges facing teachers living in regional and rural areas.

The Department of Planning’s Teacher Housing Authority already manages more than 1300 properties in more than 200 towns, however the age and quality of the homes vary substantially.

The NSW Auditor-General last year found the previous government had failed to act on previous recommendations to improve education outcomes in the bush, including by “improving the availability of quality accommodation” in its ‘Rural and Remote Education Strategy’, and recommended the Department of Education develop a new long-term strategy by August.

The state government will develop a ‘comprehensive Education Housing Strategy’ based on feedback from the roundtable, including plans to increase the supply and quality of teacher housing, which Ms Car said would be “essential” to providing students “the quality education they deserve”.

Deputy Premier Prue Car (right, foreground) and Housing Minister Rose Jackson (left, background). Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

“Without quality teacher housing we cannot attract or keep our amazing teachers in our wonderful regional schools,” Ms Car said.

The regional and rural ‘operational directorates’ account for 56 per cent of the state’s public sector teaching vacancies, and there are nearly 280 jobs unfilled in the rural south and west region alone – a vacancy rate of 4.55 per cent.

Coleambally Central School head teacher Alyse Cox lives in teacher housing. Picture: Supplied

However non-metro schools have seen a significant improvement in staffing levels over the past two years, with 500 fewer vacancies in 2024 than in 2022.

Coleambally State School head teacher Alyse Cox said the promise of affordable housing is a massive drawcard for teachers like her, who have moved to the bush after getting “itchy feet” in the ‘big pond’ of Sydney’s private school sector.

“I went into my degree expecting to leave to go rural/remote … I was single, I was young and didn’t have much to lose,” she said.

“(But) I’m honestly not sure I would’ve come out here – or stayed out as willingly – without the rental subsidies,” the 32-year-old said.

Coleambally is a small town in the NSW Riverina, 140km west of Wagga Wagga. Picture: Supplied

“I’ve been able to get ahead out here because of that, I’ve saved money and bought my second house this year … things I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do in Sydney.”

However, the quality of teacher housing “can be a bit hit or miss”, with massive investment needed to expand the program and improve old, inadequate homes where the workmanship “isn’t up to scratch”.

“I definitely think they need a lot more of it – they can’t staff schools in places now where it’s too expensive for teacher wages to rent,” Ms Cox said.

Ms Jackson said increasing both key worker and affordable housing is “an important priority” for her government.