A West Australian teacher has claimed the state’s education system has failed him at one of the most vulnerable points of his life, impacting not only his career but needlessly sacrificing a good teacher with decades of experience – and he says he is not the only one.
Joe Gordan, who WAtoday has given a pseudonym to protect his privacy, claims WA schools were short by thousands of permanent and qualified teachers at the beginning of 2025, multiple principals have resigned due to burnout and the government is sweeping the issue under the rug.
A teacher has come forward to say teachers shortages are worse than ever. Credit: iStock
Gordan claims when Term 1 started, more than 2500 teaching jobs were unfilled and 18 principals in the South Metropolitan region had resigned.
“There’s someone in front of all classrooms but the real issue is many aren’t trained in the subject, or they’re relief teachers who change every few days,” Gordan said. “There’s no consistency. It’s the students who miss out.”
Gordan said the Education Department needed to do more to keep experienced teachers in the system, and spoke of his own experience as an example.
After working consistently for more than 20 years, Gordan was diagnosed with a rare cancer. After multiple surgeries, he went into remission but was left with ongoing pain and reduced mobility.
He was assessed by the Department of Education’s own occupational therapist, who recommended he shouldn’t drive more than 30 minutes each way.
Gordan’s assigned school was at least 45 minutes away.
He applied for a compassionate transfer, supported by his principal, but said it was rejected three times.
To stay in the system, he was placed on leave without pay and started doing relief teaching. He also applied for full-time jobs but was unsuccessful, despite providing good references and having regular contact with the department about available roles.
Later, he was told some negative feedback from his relief work had affected his chances.
“On relief, I gave lunchtime detentions to students for swearing. Deputies were informed. Staff saw it happen, yet I was treated like the problem,” he said. “It’s a broken system.”
The final blow came when Gordan found his original job listed on Seek.
“There was no call, no email, just my job, posted online,” he said.
“It destroyed every bit of trust I had in my employer. This wasn’t like my cancer, this was avoidable. Someone chose to do it that way and I’ll never forget it.”
Gordan filed a claim with Insurance Commission of Western Australia and is now in arbitration, alleging psychological injury.
He says the department has offered just half his yearly salary and asked for an immediate resignation as part of the settlement.
“Even if I win, the damage is done. I’ve been diagnosed with mental health issues, an adjustment disorder with anxiety and depression. I have to walk away from the job I love,” he says.
“The kids are the reason I stayed. But the system, it’s broken. People need to know how hard it’s become just to survive in it.”
The latest Department of Education annual report shows 1263 teachers resigned from public schools in 2023, compared to just 604 in 2019 – an increase of nearly 110 per cent.
State School Teachers’ Union WA president Matt Jarman said the state government’s own agency capability review revealed 5200 teachers had left the Department of Education in three years.
“This not surprising given the immense pressure faced by teachers in public schools,” he said.
He said many schools, especially regional and secondary – proportionally higher numbers compared to other states – were dealing with shortages and under-qualified teachers with vacancies remaining unfilled since the start of 2025.
He said a long-term attraction and retention strategy should replace the “ad hoc solutions that have been applied in the past,” along with “actual progress on workload and far greater respect for teachers.”
A Department spokesperson said all schools were staffed at the beginning of the school year, “which was the result of significant planning, ongoing work and specific initiatives”, but did not comment on the number permanent or qualified in the field they were teaching.
“Retirements and resignations of principals have remained steady over the last three years at around 18 per year in the South Metropolitan education region, with 90 per cent of these being retirements at an average age of 65,” they said.
They said they were unable to comment on individual cases but generally, approving leave without pay was “at the discretion of the principal, who makes workforce decisions based on the unique needs of their school”.
But they said the department would “endeavour to notify staff members if their position was to be advertised.”
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