Teach for Australia

Despite our prosperity, Australia’s education system is one of the most inequitable in the developed world. The postcode you’re born in can radically impact your future, determining the type of education you get to access. And without a quality education, our young people are set up for lives of disadvantage instead of opportunity. It’s not their choice; and it isn’t their fault.

Teach For Australia’s vision is an Australia where all children,
regardless of background, attain an excellent education: the key to unlocking their potential, and to enabling them to pursue the life opportunities they deserve.

TFA works to confront this educational disadvantage through the two key levers that impact student outcomes: teacher quality and leadership.

Through the Leadership Development Program, TFA recruits, trains, supports and empowers outstanding people from all walks of life to become high-calibre teachers in schools that serve Australia’s most disadvantaged communities.

Successful candidates (‘Associates’) work hands-on in schools while studying their Masters in Education. They are trained and supported to become exceptional teachers who give students the knowledge, skills and confidence to thrive; and challenged to grow into inspiring leaders  empowered to drive long-term transformational reform and innovation in education.

In eleven years, TFA has impacted nearly 300,000 vulnerable students across Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT. 

Associates work where they’re needed the most: we partner exclusively with schools serving low socioeconomic communities. More than half of our partner schools are in regional, rural or remote communities. These are regions where educational inequity and disadvantage is often at its deepest and most devastating. 

Leadership Development Program

Research tells us quality teaching and leadership are major factors in raising student and school outcomes; so we focus on getting great people into classrooms to make a difference.

• We rigorously recruit high-calibre people from all walks of life to join our Leadership Development Program; a unique two-year placement opportunity that sees successful candidates (‘Associates’) work hands-on in schools while studying
  their Masters in Education
• We train and support them to become exceptional teachers who can give students the knowledge, skills and confidence to realise their potential
• We energise and challenge them to grow into inspiring leaders who are empowered to drive long-term transformational reform and innovation in education.

In  eleven years,  we  have  placed 949 teachers  in 202  partner  schools  across  five  states  and  territories;  reaching nearly 300,000 vulnerable students. But we  know  this  represents  just  a  fraction  of  the  students,  schools  and  communities  across  the  country  that  need a hand.

And now more than ever, the work that our teachers do and the value they create – the spark within a child and the future for society – deserves our recognition, appreciation and support.

The last three months have seen unprecedented challenges for Australia’s students, schools and communities.

The impact of COVID-19 has reaffirmed the shocking inequities in our education system.

Those students who were already disadvantaged by their background, postcode or circumstances are now even more at risk of falling between the gaps.

While schoolyards may be full again, we know the recovery from such a devastating event will be slow – and the social, financial and health impacts long-lasting.

With the generosity from supporters, TFA will be able to keep bringing exceptional teachers and leaders to the classrooms that need them, helping to give all Australian students the educational opportunities they deserve.