Report finds teachers burdened by 106 million hours of admin tasks, calls for greater support to boost productivity

Australia’s teachers spend up to 106 million hours each year on administrative and compliance tasks,  time that could be better spent supporting children’s learning, according to a new report from the McKell Institute.

While the findings centre on school-based educators, the implications are highly relevant across the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. Many educators in preschools, long day care, and other early learning environments also face significant administrative pressures, which impact both workforce retention and the quality of pedagogical practice. The report reinforces sector-wide concerns that excessive red tape and compliance obligations are diverting educators from their core teaching role and meaningful engagement with children and families.

The report, Freeing Teachers to Teach: Driving Productivity Through Classroom Support, was developed in response to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry Building a Skilled and Adaptable Workforce. It urges the Commission to focus on teacher retention and systemic solutions to workload intensification, rather than policies that risk deskilling the profession.

Among its key findings:

• Teachers overwhelmingly cite administration, compliance, and lack of support staff, not lesson planning as the greatest barriers to effective teaching.
• One in three teachers plans to leave the profession, with workload and administrative burden among the most common reasons.
• Proposed measures such as centralised lesson planning and AI-driven solutions could risk narrowing teaching roles without addressing the root causes of stress.

The McKell Institute instead calls for:

• Increased funding for support and administrative staff in educational settings.
• Inclusion of teacher voices in designing solutions to reduce non-teaching workload.
• A national investment strategy to grow the classroom support workforce.
• Evidence-based policies for integrating education technology and AI.

“Teachers are burning out from administration and compliance, losing millions of hours to tasks better suited to support staff,” said McKell Institute Victoria Executive Director Rebecca Thistleton.

“Lesson planning is core to being a teacher. Treating it as ‘administration’ misses the point and risks devaluing the intellectual and creative work they do.”

While the report focuses on school-based education, similar themes are relevant to the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. Workforce challenges, including administrative load and the availability of support staff, are also present in early learning settings. Streamlining non-teaching responsibilities and clarifying support roles may assist educators in maintaining a focus on teaching, relationships, and learning outcomes.

Access the full report here.