Dear Reader,
Victorian schoolteachers have rejected a proposed 28 to 32 per cent pay rise over four years, despite it being supported by the Australian Education Union leadership. This rejection has sparked threats of fresh strikes and school shutdowns leading into Term 3.
Teachers are demanding a 35 per cent pay increase and improved conditions, including reduced face-to-face teaching time and a cap on class sizes.
Victorians want teachers to receive fair and reasonable compensation – of course. Most Victorians would view 28 per cent a substantial rise, and further strikes may see a marked decrease in public support.
However, the idea that simply paying teachers more will solve the crisis in our schools fundamentally misdiagnoses the problem; and increasing the amount of time teachers spend away from students is the exact opposite of what is required.
What is desperately needed is the restoration of the core purpose of schooling.
That means: removing the ideological content polluting the curriculum; ending the ill-considered rush to pathologise and medicalise childhood development; reducing the extraordinary regulatory burden on teachers; and focusing squarely on academic attainment.
Teachers are being asked to navigate politically contentious material that often has little to do with subject knowledge and everything to do with social engineering. Meanwhile ‘disability’ and ‘incapacity’ has been commercialised and incentivised, which is having profound effects on the classroom dynamic and teacher workload. Too much classroom time is now devoted to ideological ambitions that teach children to view themselves and their nation through the lens of race, gender, privilege, victimhood, and dependency. Meanwhile, literacy, numeracy, history, science and civic awareness continue to decline.
If government genuinely wants to support teachers, it should remove activist content from the curriculum to restore subject integrity, reduce bureaucracy, wind back the proliferation of individual learning plans, strengthen classroom discipline, and free teachers to focus on teaching core knowledge and skills.
Until that happens, no amount of additional funding will address the root causes of teacher dissatisfaction or student decline.
Activism in Education Forum
Are schools teaching children how to think, or what to think?
Join Colleen Harkin, Director Educations Programs and Senior Fellow, Institute of Public Affairs, Clare Rowe, Child Psychologist and Adjunct Fellow at the IPA, and Edward Schuller, National Secretary Teacher’s Professional Association Australia for an important conversation on activism in education and the growing concern that classrooms have become vehicles for ideological instruction rather than places of knowledge, intellectual formation and open inquiry.
Essential for parents, educators and policymakers, this forum is both a warning and a call to action aimed at restoring academic integrity, defending childhood, supporting parental involvement, and championing Australian values.
Bookings Essential:
(click the image above or the link below)
activisminedu.eventbrite.com.au
Out and About:
On radio 3AW with Tom Elliot
Colleen Harkin on Mornings with Tom Elliott 3AW – 16 June 2026
ABC radio:
Colleen Harkin on The Weekly Wrap Mornings ABC Radio Melbourne – 19 June 2026
Spectator Australia:
If Elon Musk were in an Australian classroom, he’d be on the NDIS
On Sky News:
Colleen Harkin on The Rita Panahi Show Sky News Australia – 16 June 2026
Colleen Harkin on The Rita Panahi Show Sky News Australia – 9 June 2026
Colleen Harkin on The Rita Panahi Show Sky News Australia – 2 June 2026
Colleen Harkin on The Rita Panahi Show Sky News Australia – 26 May 2026
Colleen Harkin on The Rita Panahi Show Sky News Australia – 19 May 2026
Colleen Harkin on The Rita Panahi Show Sky News Australia – 11 May 2026
Quote of the Month:
The decline of our education system did not happen overnight. For years, many recognised the problem, but too few were willing to speak out. The greatest threat to education is not simply bad ideas, but the reluctance of those who know better to challenge them. Selassie’s warning is a reminder that silence and inaction often allow damaging ideas to take root and flourish, making them even harder to address.
“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted … that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
Haile Selassie 1892-1974
Thank you for your support.
Related Posts
Colleen Harkin on The Bond Report News24 – 31 July 2026
“Yeah. Well, that’s right. I mean, the taxpayer funds it. The academics are the people who actually choose the topics that are actually investigated. And unfortunately, there has become this protocol of the amount of papers as opposed to the purposefulness of them. There seems to be this narrative that says, so long as you keep putting papers out, that that’s a good thing.”
Colleen Harkin on The Weekly Wrap Mornings ABC Radio Melbourne – 31 July 2026
“He already has at least made the words that he’ll call the royal commission. That’s been a thorn in their side for a long time because Jacinta Allan was refusing to do it. And I think the average punter will listen to those words and go tick.”
Colleen Harkin on The Rita Panahi News 24 – 28 July 2026
“71%. The only person ever to have a higher disapproval rating was Keating at 75. So when you’ve got that level of dissatisfaction, you can’t turn around and say, “I’ve done a great job.” It’s just an outrageous thing to stand there and claim.”
Teachers, not technicians
Teachers are among society’s most important professionals. They exercise judgement every day – deciding how best to explain complex ideas, respond to individual students and manage the unique dynamics of a classroom. But according to Professor Emeritus Terry Lovat, that professional expertise is increasingly being replaced by centralised mandates and compliance.
