High Achieving Teachers Program

As part of the 2018-19 Budget, the Australian Government announced it will approach the market seeking tenders for alternative, employment-based pathways into teaching as a mechanism for improving access to quality teaching and education for all Australian students. Pathways selected under the High Achieving Teachers Program will place program participants in Australian secondary schools experiencing teacher workforce challenges from 2020.

While Australia has many good and dedicated teachers, some schools in regional or remote communities and low socio-economic areas experience challenges attracting and retaining quality teachers and finding teachers with the subject expertise they need. Alternative pathways into teaching broaden the entry points into teaching by allowing individuals to work while they complete their teaching qualification. They have also been shown to increase the quality of teaching across the system by recruiting high performing individuals and placing them in the schools that need them most, in response to identified teacher workforce shortages.

The Australian Government Department of Education and Training invites tenders from interested organisations capable of delivering a local or national alternative, employment-based pathway into teaching which meets all of the requirements set out in the Request For Tender.

Among other things, programs will need to:
• Develop alternative pathways with reference to teacher regulatory requirements and the perspectives of relevant teacher employers.
• Target specific teacher shortages or workforce challenges within a jurisdiction or across jurisdictions.
• Undertake proactive recruitment and selection to attract individuals, with experience in a field other than teaching and with the knowledge, skills or experience to address specific teacher workforce shortages and challenges.
• Place program participants in the schools that need them most, in partnership with the relevant approved education authorities.
• Provide participants with tailored and ongoing support to develop participants into high quality teachers while they complete an accredited teaching qualification.
• Demonstrate financial sustainability, including by securing funding from other sources and capping the Australian Government contribution.

Both existing and emerging alternative, employment-based pathways into teaching are welcome to tender as part of this competitive and open approach to market.