August 2025 | Compass Review
Building a skilled and adaptable workforce
Between 31 July and 13 August the Productivity Commission released five interim reports as part of the government’s five-pillar productivity growth agenda, established in the 2023 Productivity Enquiry. This work responds to Australia’s slowing productivity performance, with the decade from 2010 to 2020 marking the slowest growth in 60 years. The reports provide a roadmap of reforms designed to lift national productivity and strengthen long-term economic resilience.
The five reports aim to develop actionable recommendations that support governments in delivering reforms to boost productivity.
The Building a skilled and adaptable workforce interim report highlights reforms across secondary and post-secondary education. Key recommendations include1:
- A national online platform offering high-quality, curriculum-aligned lesson planning resources to reduce teacher preparation time and allow greater focus on instruction.
- A coordinated national approach to education technology (including AI tools) to ensure equitable access and improved learning outcomes.
With more than 90% of future jobs expected to require post-school qualifications, these reforms aim to better connect students, educators, and employers. By making learning pathways clearer and more responsive, and by embedding technology in teaching and training.
Have an idea or suggestion to add on what you feel would or wouldn’t work well in your classroom? The Productivity Commission seeks further information and feedback on interim reports by 5 pm on Monday 15th September.
AERO releases second report on evidence-based teaching practices
The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) has been collaborating with Australian schools and systems to explore effective ways of applying evidence-based teaching practices across diverse contexts.
The second instalment of the ‘Insights into Implementation’ series was published on 6 August, outlining the findings from the work undertaken during the 2024 phase of the Learning Partner project2. The project expanded to support 53 schools across four states in 2024 from an initial 9 schools in 2023 and covered both metropolitan and regional contexts across both primary and secondary settings.
Insights from the 2024 project phase included:
- Deliberate and structured implementation works
Schools adopting AERO’s intentional, step-by-step model saw improvements in teacher confidence, student engagement, and academic outcomes. - Contextual tailoring is essential (within structure)
Effective implementation involved adapting strategies to each school’s unique environment, while preserving the core structure and integrity of the approach. - Quality over quantity
A small number of carefully chosen and sequenced strategies proved more effective than attempting many things at once. - Implementation teams are critical
Dedicating a team with clear roles, shared responsibility, and protected planning time was a consistent success factor. - Plan for sustainability from day one
Embedding new practices into a school’s ‘way of life’ from the beginning, rather than treating them as temporary pilots, boosted long-term sustainment.
Supporting primary school leaders – APPA’s call to action
The Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA) has released a combined position paper outlining priorities for strengthening primary school leadership and resourcing3. It highlights the vital but often under-recognised role principals play as educators, community leaders, and CEOs of their schools with wide reaching responsibilities from teaching and wellbeing to finance, safety, and inclusion.
Key findings from the paper show:
- Principals face overwhelming administrative demands, with surveys showing they spend up to 80% of their week on compliance rather than leading learning
- Many are considering leaving the profession due to stress, workload, and lack of support, the paper states
- Access to professional learning remains patchy, despite its importance for leadership effectiveness and retention
- Funding shortfalls continue to disadvantage primary schools, with inequities across systems and compared to international standards
- In addition, principals often lack structured professional supervision to help manage stress
APPA calls for:
- National recognition of principals and their meaningful role in policy design.
- Urgent administrative reform including streamlined compliance and established frameworks that return time to teaching and learning
- Investment in high-quality, flexible professional learning, through coaching, peer networks, and new technology
- Review of the Schooling Resource Standard and direct, needs-based funding is essential to address disadvantage and digital equity
- Professional supervision and integrated wellbeing support to be embedded to safeguard principal health and leadership sustainability
These actions aim to ensure Australia’s primary leaders are valued, supported, and equipped to deliver strong foundations for all students.
NAPLAN Results
ACARA released the 2025 NAPLAN results on July 30, marking the completion of this year’s national assessment program4. The results indicated that performance is broadly stable at a national level. Overall, results remain broadly stable, with around two-thirds of students achieving “Strong” or “Exceeding” proficiency in literacy and numeracy. About 10% of students were identified as needing additional support.
This year marks the first time students in Years 5, 7 and 9 have completed two assessments under the updated proficiency standards introduced in 2023. Results are now reported on a new online-adaptive scale where student achievement is described across four clear categories: Exceeding, Strong, Developing, and Needs Additional Support. These levels are designed to give parents and teachers a clearer picture of students’ performance and areas for support, while also providing a valuable baseline for tracking student progress and system performance over time.
Janet Stone is the former editor of Education Matters and WhichSchool? Magazines. She has written education content for national publications, including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, and The Guardian, as well as several Australian universities and organisations.
