ABS data reveals number of full-time teachers in NSW public schools fell in 2022

The number of full-time teachers in NSW’s public education system dropped last year, new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have revealed.

NSW’s public education system lost more full-time teachers than it gained last year, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have revealed, and the other states have outpaced NSW in workforce growth over the last decade.

In 2022, 55,877 teachers were employed on a full-time basis within NSW’s government schools, 128 fewer than the previous year and a decrease of 0.23 per cent.

Western Australia, the only other state reporting a decline, lost 19 teachers, while Victoria gained the most with 433 more FTE teachers than in 2021.

NSW’s overall student population fell last year, but only by 1610 pupils, or 0.13 per cent.

Across both the public and private school sector, however, there were 764 more teachers working full-time in 2022, an overall increase of 0.84 per cent.

The ABS figures do not include casual, temporary or out-of-school teachers.

The new national data also shows while the number of teachers in NSW has increased over the past 11 years, growth has been slower than in every other state except Tasmania.

The number of full-time, in-school teachers fell in NSW last year, even though the overall number of teachers increased.

The increase of 5.8 per cent since 2011 is minimal compared to Victoria and Queensland, which saw their full-time employed public teaching population grow by 27.7 per cent and 24.6 per cent respectively in the same time frame.

NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said he was “not surprised” by the figures.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell. Picture: AAP

NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos. Picture: NCA NewsWire

“We have a crisis situation in NSW that all politicians need to be focused on,” he said.

“Resignations have now overtaken retirements as the number one reason teachers are leaving the profession (and) the highest rate of attrition is among early career teachers.

“This is only going to get worse without real action in NSW to address uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads.”

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the ABS data “does not reflect the reality of the number of teachers in our classrooms in NSW”.

“Since 2011, we have seen the teaching workforce grow at twice the rate of student numbers, and have almost 95,000 teachers working across our 2200 schools,” she said.

“What parents need to know is that NSW public schools have some of the lowest student-to-teacher ratios in a decade.”

Opposition education spokeswoman Prue Car said the Education Minister was “in denial” about the unique situation in NSW.

“This data shows that NSW is recording the largest declines and the slowest recruitment across the nation,” she said.

“It is astounding that the Minister continues to remain in denial about chronic teacher shortages that so many parents and students know all too well about.”