- Published:
- Thursday 22 October 2026
The Carroll Labor Government is delivering more teachers while the Liberal-One Nation Coalition plan more cuts.
The 2025 Victorian Teacher Workforce Snapshot shows Victoria's teaching workforce is growing fast, with over 127,000 school and early childhood teachers estimated to be ready to teach in Victoria’s schools and kindergartens by 2031.
To ensure our students receive the best education in the nation, nearly 2,000 more registered school teachers joined Victorian schools between 2024 and 2025.
And while Victoria’s public education system grows, student-teacher ratios have also improved in recent years, with schools on average having fewer students per teacher compared to all Australian mainland states.
By 2031, the report estimates that Victoria will have 15,700 more teachers in the system compared to 2025 – further strengthening the workforce and delivering more individualised support for learners.
And now we have made teachers and education support staff the best paid in the country, with the best conditions.
We’re also protecting class sizes in the new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement, because we know that means more one-on-one time, and better support for every student.
Early childhood is also growing strongly with fully registered early childhood teachers up 12 per cent in a year.
But the work isn’t done – Victoria’s growing workforce means we need to keep investing in schools, with the state accounting for over 84 per cent of the national increase in government school enrolments between 2018 and 2025.
The Carroll Labor Government is continuing to invest in programs to bring more teachers into the system and ensure early career teachers can kick start their careers.
The Career Start program, which has already supported over 6,100 early career teachers since it was established in 2021, will continue in 2027 with a further 2,500 teachers being supported. The program builds teacher capability and significantly increases teacher retention.
Regional and hard-to-staff schools remain a priority, with paid placements, employment-based degrees and targeted incentives getting more teachers into the locations and subjects that need them most.
Our Secondary Teaching Scholarships program is already delivering results with the first fully funded recipients graduating and entering the workforce at the end of 2027.
Over 6,000 early childhood teaching scholarships have been awarded since 2019 backing the rollout of 3 and 4-Year-Old Kinder.
Educators do some of the most important work in our state.
That’s why Labor has invested over $1.9 billion in growing Victoria's registered school teaching workforce by 14,000 since 2020.
Jess Wilson's Liberal-One Nation Coalition will make $40 billion in cuts to our schools, creating a teacher shortage and having a dire impact on students’ ability to learn and maximise their education.
Quotes attributable to Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Gabrielle Williams
“Our teachers and school staff play a vital role enriching the lives of young Victorians and instilling a lifelong love of learning.
"When you invest in the people that keep our schools going, you invest in every child's future."
Quotes attributable to Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn
“Nothing is more important than a good quality early education for our youngest Victorians.”
"We’re giving every Victorian child the best possible start, backed by skilled early childhood teachers."