The Minister for Education, the Hon Jason Clare, publicly released a paper by Professor Liz Johnson, Enhancing professional practice in Australian higher education teaching, at the Australian Financial Review higher education conference on 18 August. The report draws on engagement with staff, students and representatives from across Australia's tertiary education system and outlines opportunities for system-wide uplift in learning and teaching practice.
In the Minister’s letter of expectations to the interim ATEC on 3 March 2026, he asked that ‘ATEC continue the work on professionalisation of teaching in higher education through the progression of advice developed by the Enhancing Professional Practice in Higher Education Working Group and any other sources of advice that you deem necessary.’ Accordingly, quality teaching was one of six priorities outlined in ATEC’s Statement of Interim Priorities released on 5 March 2026. Commissioners are having rich conversations with universities on teacher quality during compact negotiations occurring between late July and early September.
In his speech at the conference the Minister urged the sector to continue to conversation on teacher quality. Accordingly, ATEC will establish a Teacher Quality Advisory Committee bringing together teaching and learning experts to further engage the sector on potential initiatives to boost teacher quality and provide advice to ATEC.
ATEC looks forward to working in partnership with the sector on this important work. Teacher quality is crucial to:
- The student experience, learning outcomes and student success.
- Ensuring success for students from low-income communities, including those that may be the first in their family to attend university.
- Achieving the 80 per cent tertiary attainment by 2050.
- Building the nation’s human capital and productivity, the central determinant of rising living standards.