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The number of West Australian teachers resigning has increased by more than 113 per cent in five years, new figures reveal, with the state’s opposition warning the workforce is “on the cusp of a crisis”.
The Department of Education’s latest annual report shows a total of 1279 teachers resigned in 2024 – up from 598 in 2020.
In comparison, the number of teachers retiring in 2024 was just 636.
Opposition education spokesman Liam Staltari said the loss of teachers was “a symptom of a sector under enormous pressure”.
“Every week, I have teachers share with me their frustrations. Sometimes it’s younger teachers new to the profession who’ve been shocked by what they’ve seen … and increasingly, it’s veteran teachers with decades of experience who will say that the role has changed, and it’s harder than ever,” he said.
“The figures … confirm what we feared for some time, which is that we are on the cusp of a crisis in our teaching workforce.
“Behind each of those numbers is a real person – it’s someone who signed up to teach because they believe in the power of education to empower the next generation.
“But in complex classrooms with worse behaviour, with more strain and workload challenges and a lack of support from this government, too many are now being forced to walk away.”
Staltari called on Labor to “recognise this as the wake-up call that it is” and to “redouble its efforts” supporting teacher wellbeing, including assistance with complex needs and growing workloads.
He accused the government of being “obsessed with the shiny things, racetracks, rugby teams and pet projects, while the basics, like our schools and hospitals are left to struggle.”
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However, Education Minister Sabine Winton said it was important to recognise the number of resignations had remained steady since 2022, and that the pandemic had played a role in the spike.
She also said the teacher workforce had grown by almost 25,600 over that same time, and that the headcount of teachers was higher in the 2024 to 2025 financial year, compared to the year prior.
“I’m particularly interested in the post-pandemic period, and we have got a pretty stable amount of resignations in the system, and we continue to increase the workforce steadily over time,” Winton said.
“We also know that when teachers resign, they do so for a variety of reasons.
“I’m not going to for a moment, not acknowledge that teaching is tough, and it has become more difficult … but it’s important that we acknowledge we are still getting many people signing up to become teachers.”
She said of the resignations in any one year, around 20 per cent came back to teach again.
Of those teachers who resigned in 2024, 28.5 per cent had returned to teaching by June 2025.
“There is always more work to do, which is why we continue to explore new ways to support our teachers and school leaders, and attract more people to the profession,” she said.
Staltari said blaming issues on COVID was a “common theme” and there should be work on not just recruitment, but retention of good teachers.
“This is a crisis that has been growing for years on this government’s watch, and what they’ve done to date has failed,” he said.
“I think people would expect the government has fewer excuses and more solutions.”
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