Dear Reader,
I am pleased to introduce readers to a new IPA initiative—The Childhood Climate Anxiety Project—our research project examining the psychological toll of climate education on young Australians.
I proudly lead this project with a team of my colleagues: Senior Fellow Dr Kevin You, Research Fellow Margaret Chambers, and author of our inaugural paper, IPA Adjunct Fellow and Child Psychologist, Clare Rowe.
While almost everyone now acknowledges that climate anxiety is real, and rising among children, our project is possibly a world first, and certainly an Australian first, investigating a largely ignored major contributor: the role of the National Curriculum itself in childhood climate anxiety.
Our inaugural paper presents compelling evidence that emotionally charged, fear-based and age-inappropriate climate messaging is contributing to unnecessary distress among primary-aged students. The very structure of the National Curriculum—particularly the Sustainability cross-curriculum priority—exposes children to developmentally inappropriate content, undermining their emotional wellbeing, in addition to displacing core learning in literacy and numeracy.
This is a conversation no one else is willing to have. Too many others presume and accept climate anxiety is an unfortunate side effect of global challenges. We argue it is being fuelled—if not manufactured—within the classroom. Our project is the first to call for the removal of the Sustainability priority from the primary curriculum and to demand age-appropriate, academically grounded climate education.
The IPA Schools Program is proud to lead this essential national conversation and we invite you to follow our work as we push for reform that protects children’s minds—and restores balance to our classrooms.
You can read our first paper here:
Climate anxiety in pre-adolescent children
Reducing Red Tape:
A Victorian Education Department report found that educators are spending an average of eight hours a week on non-teaching tasks—such as disability documentation, student behaviour reports, and excessive student reporting—with over 70 per cent saying the workload has worsened. Nearly half of school staff described the demands as “unmanageable,” often being completed outside work hours, while principals reported working an additional 17.5 unpaid hours weekly, including time spent responding to an average of 300 emails a week.
In response, the government says it has committed to simplifying student wellbeing records, automating travel and excursion paperwork, centralising time-consuming admin tasks, and streamlining student reports—with some schools already shifting to online grades and parent-teacher interviews instead of lengthy written comments. Operational Teaching Assistants are also being trialled to take on basic administrative roles.
The reforms are part of a broader $84 million workplace package aimed at attracting and retaining teachers through greater flexibility and better working conditions. While Education Minister Ben Carroll has pledged to reduce paperwork so teachers can focus on students, the Victorian opposition has criticised the government for acting too slowly, saying more meaningful reforms are needed now to improve outcomes for young Victorians—but neglected to offer a policy position of its own.
While Minister Carroll’s commitment to reduce teacher red tape is welcome, neither side of Victorian politics is talking about addressing the curriculum content students are subjected to—which is a major contributor to childhood anxiety and academic decline.
Our Work: Has Never Been More Important
Education is the foundation of Australia’s future. It shapes the next generation, underpins our workforce, and reflects our national values. The Coalition had every chance to lead this conversation in the recent federal election and both major parties had the opportunity to offer something better than handing out money to a broken system. Disappointingly, throughout the campaign period education policy was virtually non-existent. The Coalition released its education policy 24 hours before election day—after half the nation had already voted prepoll. Given the widespread concern about declining student performance, teacher shortages and ideological activism in classrooms, many parents and educators were hoping for a bold, practical roadmap—not a press release in the final hours of the campaign.
Education should never be politically sidelined. Its neglect during this campaign was a missed opportunity for leadership and vision. If we are serious about securing Australia’s future, then education must sit at the centre of the national conversation.
That’s why the IPA Schools Program is more important than ever. At a time when the classroom has become a battleground for ideological agendas, the IPA Schools Program offers a much-needed emphasis on balanced education, critical thinking, and Australian values. It empowers teachers, equips students with intellectual tools, and helps restore balance to a system in desperate need of it. In the absence of strong political leadership on education, our IPA Schools Program is not just helpful—it is essential, and we thank you for your support of our endeavours.
The IPA neither seeks nor receives government grants. If you are able, your financial support of our work is appreciated.
You can donate here:
IPA Schools Program Out and About
Spectator Op Ed: How handouts and education failure are undermining democracy.
Spectator Op Ed: Vandalism of history is not reconciliation
Colleen Harkin On The Weekly Wrap Mornings ABC Radio Melbourne – 9 May 2025 | IPA Schools Program
Colleen Harkin On The Weekly Wrap Mornings ABC Radio Melbourne – 23 May 2025 | IPA Schools Program
Colleen Harkin On The Weekly Wrap Mornings ABC Radio Melbourne – 6 June 2025 | IPA Schools Program
Colleen Harkin on The Rita Panahi Show Sky News Australia – 10 June 2025
Schools Program new curriculum release
A new ‘Pioneers of Australia’ unit just released looks at the life of Elizabeth Macarthur, who was an example of the way some women in early colonial Australia could combine the social and economic roles expected of them as women, with those expected of men—as decision-makers, producers, and participants in a developing economy. Elizabeth did this as an active participant in the development of the wool industry.
This investigative unit helps students understand the positive and negative impacts the development of wool had on the colonists, and on Aboriginal people, the process of getting wool from the sheep’s back to people’s backs, and the demand created by the Industrial Revolution which made New South Wales relevant to a global trade. This unit acknowledges that while terrible conflict was created by squatting, there was also co-operation and accommodation.
Pioneer of Australia Elizabeth Macarthur can be downloaded here. Click here
Quote of the month:
There is little more important than enabling our next generation by providing them with an age-appropriate, intellectually honest education.
English philosopher, novelist, and political theorist William Godwin (1756–1836) explicitly connected fear-based narratives in childhood with a failure to develop rational, strong adults, when he said:
“The child whose early impressions are shaped by terror will rarely become a rational and firm adult.”
William Godwin
Thank you for your support.
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