New SA government strategy to keep public school principals, preschool directors in top jobs

A bold plan has been hatched to stop the exodus of public school principals from the sector. See all the details and take our poll.

Public school principals will be offered 10-year contracts and less paperwork as part of a $5m a year government strategy to stop leaders leaving the education system.

Recent studies found many principals or senior teachers are overworked, stressed and considering quitting.

As students return to school on Monday, Education Minister Blair Boyer has written to South Australian public school principals and preschool directors at almost 850 sites to outline changes aimed at attracting and retaining top-level leaders.

Education Minister Blair Boyer has outlined changes aimed at attracting and retaining top- level principals within public schools. Picture: Emma Brasier

The Public Education Leaders’ Statement for the Future initiatives include:

OFFERING principals 10-year contracts, increased from five years, “for greater stability”, from this year. Principals will remain subject to the same performance management policies.

REWRITING the position description used to advertise principal roles, including to put more focus on building the culture of a school.

A TRIAL program to reduce paperwork and administrative tasks.

OVERHAULING the pay and classification scheme for principals from nine to six levels, to take effect in 2026.

In his letter to school and preschool leaders, Mr Boyer says the changes are intended to give them “time to build even stronger partnerships with families and staff” and support students to learn.

“The complexity of modern education has eroded the time leaders have to drive culture and reform,” he writes.

“We are reducing unnecessary pressures and shifting the focus back to leading learning.”

The changes were among a suite of reforms promised during protracted enterprise bargaining negotiations with the Australian Education Union last year.

Principals working in state government schools are usually paid between $125,000 and $175,000 a year, depending on the location and make-up of the school.

Positions at regional and remote schools can come with incentives including annual allowances of between $1900 and $10,000, subsidised accommodation and money to cover moving expenses.

The 2025 Australian Catholic University survey of 2180 principals around the country, at both public and private schools, revealed the top five sources of stress were heavy workloads, lack of time to focus on teaching and learning, student-related issues, mental health of staff and mental health of students.

The proportion of SA principals who had experienced physical violence rose from 40.2 per cent in 2023 to 56.6 per cent in 2024.

The proportion who had experienced threats of physical violence climbed from 42.9 per cent in 2023 to 55.9 per cent the following year.

Latest Education Department data shows there were more than 1000 incidents that required police attendance at SA schools in 2024.

A Deakin University study of 744 primary and secondary teachers in mainstream Australian government schools also found mid and late career teachers were more likely to express intentions to leave the progression than their early career counterparts.

Some of the most influential factors were the emotional demands of the job, exposure to work-related violence, workload and stress.

Originally published as New SA government strategy to keep public school principals, preschool directors in top jobs