Australian teachers are facing significantly higher stress and burnout than the average worker, according to a major new study from Deakin University.
The Australian Teacher Work, Health and Wellbeing Report, released today by Deakin’s Centre for Research for Educational Impact (REDI), paints a stark picture of the pressures on government school educators. The research compared the working conditions and wellbeing of teachers with those of the broader Australian workforce.
Government primary and secondary teachers reported much higher levels of burnout and stress than the national norm.
- Burnout: Primary teachers scored 67.2, secondary teachers 60.6, compared to the workforce average of 47.6.
- Stress: Primary teachers scored 55.1, secondary teachers 50.8, compared to 40.2 for other workers.
Researchers say these figures reflect the heavy emotional and cognitive demands of teaching, combined with mounting administrative tasks and unrealistic workloads.
Teachers also reported greater work-life conflict, with job demands spilling into personal time. Many said they were frequently asked to take on tasks outside their core teaching role, from compliance paperwork to liaising with external support services.
Dr Ben Arnold, lead investigator from Deakin’s School of Education, said the findings highlight a “mismatch between the work expected of teachers and the time available to complete it.”
“Teachers juggle lesson planning, marking, and classroom delivery alongside emotional support for students, managing behaviour, engaging with parents, and completing extensive reporting requirements,” Dr Arnold said.
“This is particularly challenging in government schools, where resources are stretched and student needs are often more complex.”
Key findings at a glance
- Job demands: Teachers scored far higher than the workforce average for workload, work pace, emotional and cognitive demands.
- Extra duties: Teachers reported being asked to perform non-core tasks at much higher rates than other workers.
- Meaningful work: Despite the pressures, teachers rated their work as highly meaningful (primary: 82.7, secondary: 77.8) compared to the national average (65.8).
Co-researcher Dr Mark Rahimi warned that while teachers’ sense of purpose is strong, it can come at a cost.
“Meaningful work alone can’t protect wellbeing when demands are overwhelming,” he said.
“To sustain teacher mental health and education quality, we need systemic changes—reducing admin, setting realistic workloads, and giving teachers a voice in shaping policy.”
The study surveyed 877 teachers from government primary, secondary, and combined schools, comparing results with 2,446 workers across industries including healthcare, retail, and finance. It is the first Australian study to benchmark teachers’ work environment against the broader workforce using validated measures.
