Queensland’s education leaders are transforming school administration, working to reduce red tape and empower teachers to focus more on learning and less on paperwork.
At 11 pm on a Thursday night, a high school mathematics teacher scrolls through yet another email from a parent demanding an immediate response. Her lesson plans sit half-finished as personal time evaporates into another administrative task.
This moment encapsulates a growing challenge facing Queensland’s educators – a system increasingly bogged down by paperwork, communication protocols, and bureaucratic processes that steal time from teaching.
Mr Mark Breckenridge, President of the Queensland Secondary Principals Association (QSPA), is at the forefront of a transformative initiative to change that.
“Over the years, principals and teachers would be able to highlight numerous examples of where red tape has just crept in,” Mr Breckenridge says. “Increasing paperwork demands, increasing data gathering, increasing need for parental communication – everything has constantly come in over the top.”
To understand the context of this initiative, it’s crucial to appreciate Mr Breckenridge’s extensive educational background. His journey began in the last century as a primary school teacher, navigating the challenges of small, one and two-teacher schools before transitioning to larger educational settings.
“I started my small school principal journey in central Queensland, moving into Prep to Year 10 schools, and then into secondary schools,” he says. “I’ve been a secondary school principal since 2000, working in both regional and metropolitan high schools.”
His last role before taking on the QSPA presidency in 2018 was at Ferny Grove State High School, a Brisbane-based public secondary school approaching 1,900 students. This experience provided intimate insights into the mounting administrative pressures facing educational leaders.
In 2024, the incoming Liberal National Party (LNP) of Queensland recognised the growing administrative burden and made an election commitment to reduce bureaucratic processes by 25 per cent.
“The LNP came into office at the end of October last year, and one of the first conversations I had with the Minister for Education, John-Paul Langbroek, was very much focused on reducing red tape,” Mr Breckenridge says.
This wasn’t just a political promise but a strategic approach to educational reform.
“The incoming government saw a real need to free up school leaders and teachers to do what they should be doing – teaching and leading learning,” he says. “They set out a fairly rigorous approach to identifying issues and creating a plan to reduce red tape across four years.”
A working group established to address these challenges was deliberately diverse, bringing together representatives from various educational associations, unions, and parent groups. Mr Breckenridge was invited to represent secondary principals, bringing his extensive practical experience to the table.
“There is a genuine commitment to make a difference,” Mr Breckenridge says. “We all come from a field of practitioners who understand the work that needs to be done.”
Three pillars of reform
In May 2025, the Queensland Government announced three major areas of red tape reduction for teachers, delivered as a result of the Red Tape Reduction Working Group: procurement, recruitment, and student management.
The procurement process underwent a significant overhaul, Mr Breckenridge explains. Previously, schools faced rigorous tender requirements for purchases over $5,000. The threshold has now been raised to $10,000, dramatically reducing paperwork for routine purchases.
“The more expensive that item was, the more rigorous the tender process became. With inflation and the increased cost of goods, $5,000 doesn’t buy what it did 10 years ago,” Mr Breckenridge says. “The department recognised we needed to lift that threshold. Now, layers of paperwork for anything under $10,000 – which is the bulk of school purchases – have disappeared.”
“Having to chase around and find three quotes can be difficult. It’s not so much the reaching out to companies, but it’s having those companies reply and to reply in a timely way. There are layers of work that sit underneath this idea of getting quotes. We all understand you need a competitive process when using public funds but the threshold of $10,000 is far more realistic.”
This change impacts not just principals, but also deputy principals and business managers who previously spent considerable time navigating complex purchasing protocols.
Teacher recruitment processes have been similarly transformed. The previous system involved multiple bureaucratic steps between schools, regional offices, and central administration, often resulting in delays that could cost schools potential teachers.
“When we are in a teacher shortage, it’s important that you take every roadblock out of the way so that a school can talk to a prospective teacher and they can be appointed and start in their role,” Mr Breckenridge says.
“Before, it was a fairly convoluted process,” he says. “Now steps are being taken to employ teachers faster and more efficiently, reducing the time taken to employ teachers before they are lost to the private system or interstate”
While the initiatives show promise, Mr Breckenridge is pragmatic about the challenges. “We’re still a long way from the end of a teacher shortage,” he admits. “There are some green shoots, but it only takes unexpected events like someone getting sick or going on leave to create continued challenges for principals.”
Perhaps the most innovative approach in Queensland’s reforms is the ‘one student, one plan’ initiative.
Currently, students with special needs or behavioural challenges might have multiple, disconnected documentation plans. The new system will consolidate these into a single, comprehensive document.
“Each plan is documented separately and potentially saved in different system locations,” Mr Breckenridge says. “We’re working to wrap all of this into one comprehensive plan, with drop-down menus and pre-populated data to save significant time for teachers and school leaders.”
The working group is also establishing clear communication protocols for parents, recognising the need to set reasonable boundaries for teacher accessibility.
“There’s a small percentage of parents who push the limits, emailing at 11pm and expecting an immediate response, or approaching teachers during weekend sports. We need to establish respectful communication boundaries,” he says.
The proposed protocols will establish reasonable response times and communication expectations, respecting both educational professionals and parents.
Looking ahead, the department is exploring centralised responses to legal information requests, which currently consume significant administrative time.
Principals frequently face demands for historical documentation related to subpoenas, legal claims, and student records that can span decades.
Mr Breckenridge says these requests often require extensive archival searches, from digital systems to physical document storage in school containers.
Queensland’s Department of Education is now developing a centralised approach, where digital information can be quickly retrieved, with minimal disruption to school operations.
“‘When a request comes for information about a student who is at a school or who has left in recent years, the aim is to handle the information retrieval centrally as much as possible,” Mr Breckenridge says.
As Queensland continues to refine these processes, the ultimate goal remains clear.
“We want to free up school leaders and teachers to return to the job of teaching and leading learning,” Mr Breckenridge concludes. “By reducing administrative burdens, we create more space for what truly matters – education.”
