Latest education reforms free Victorian teachers from hours of paperwork for more time in the classroom

The state government has committed to scaling back extensive admin work being shouldered by Victorian teachers to give them more time to spend in the classroom. Here’s how it will work.

Victorian schools are getting a commonsense clean-out leading to more basic student reports, less excursion paperwork and simpler student learning and wellbeing plans.

The Department of Education red tape review identified disability documentation, parent complaints and student behaviour among a long list of non-teaching burdens on staff.

Feedback from more than 2000 school staff revealed teachers are spending an average of eight hours a week on admin, with 71 per cent saying such demands are getting worse over time.

The review, led by former teacher and education expert Katie Roberts-Hull, found about half of teachers and principals reported “unmanageable” administrative and compliance duties, often done in out-of-work hours.

The Department of Education review is set to free teachers from hours of admin work eveyr week. Picture: Supplied

The state government has already committed to implementing six of the 28 recommendations from the review by term one in 2026.

Time-wasting administrative tasks will be either streamlined or moved into the central department, admin workloads will be tracked and student learning, health and wellbeing records will be simplified.

Travel, camp and excursion paperwork will also be automated where possible.

Educators will also spend more time teaching and less time on paperwork, with school reports simplified to make them more consistent.

The move will mean teachers can spend more time teaching and less time on paperwork. Picture: Getty Images

Teachers told reviewers they spent up to 40 hours on student reports, which are often not read by parents.

One school – highlighted in the review as a model for others to follow – stopped issuing standard student reports with lengthy comments. Instead, it had simpler reports with no comments, online reporting of student grades and face-to-face interviews between teachers and parents.

However, face-to-face meetings replaced lengthy written comments in the reports.

Operational Teaching Assistants are also being trialled this year to help with non-teaching tasks such as collecting payments and entering data.

Suggestions from the review not yet adopted by the government include reducing the number of school council meetings to a maximum of five a year and restricting councils to “core duties”.

Ms Roberts-Hull also wants a standard complaints process, less audits for schools, administrative assistants for teachers and principals, more help for specialist schools and a reduction of mandatory training modules.

The review sits alongside a $84m workplace reform package including incentives for teachers taking hard-to-fill jobs and more part-time work and job-sharing for principals.

It comes as research commissioned by the Australian Education Union found school staff work a substantial number of unpaid hours, with principals reporting an average of 17.5 extra hours per week.

Ms Roberts-Hull said such tasks “makes their jobs less purposeful and leads to a higher workload, risking the ability to retain staff in schools”.

Teachers are working an average of 17.5 hours overtime each week, the Australian Education Union found. Picture: Supplied

On average, principals receive 300 emails a week, requiring them to spend a minimum of eight hours a week just on emails.

Preston High principal Sean Butler said reducing the administrative burden would help educators dedicate more time to serving the school community.

“Teaching is the best job in the world and anything that allows us to be more efficient in our work so we can work with kids is welcomed,” he said.

Preston High English teacher Ryannan Mathieson said cutting back on paperwork would “allow time for better feedback and conversations with students to build their capacity for learning”.

“I think having less administration means teachers will be more likely to want to put in the additional effort to build in excursions, camps and overseas trips which currently have a lot of paperwork surrounding them,” she said.

Minister for Education Ben Carroll said the changes would benefit students across the state. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Education Minister Ben Carroll said he was “working to make real, lasting changes that will support rewarding teaching careers – because that’s what’s best for our children.”

“Our teachers and school staff are some of the best in the country – we want to support them to spend less time on paperwork and more time in the classroom.”

Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said: “This report has sat on the Minister for Education’s desk for six months yet only a handful of recommendations are confirmed as being implemented.

“This is a missed opportunity from the Allan Labor Government to make meaningful reform now, so that teachers and staff can focus more time and energy on improving educational outcomes for young Victorians.”

Originally published as Latest education reforms free Victorian teachers from hours of paperwork for more time in the classroom