How TLC can help IEU members

A proposed education ‘super bureaucracy’ presents an important opportunity to put teacher expertise, professional voice and the needs of school communities at the centre of national education policy.

The Teaching and Learning Commission (TLC) is intended to bring together the work of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) and Education Services Australia (ESA).

The four bodies collectively oversee curriculum and assessment, teacher standards and professional practice, education research and evidence, and national education resources, data and technology services.

The Federal Government intends the new body to allow for greater co-ordination between curriculum, teaching, assessment, research and reporting, ‘with the whole being greater than the sum of its parts’.

It would help state governments implement national school reforms while reducing duplication.

What does that mean for IEU members?

For years, education unions had limited formal input into key national education agencies, while teachers faced growing compliance, accreditation and reporting demands. Although many reforms had worthwhile aims, they were often developed without sufficient teacher input, adding to workload.

The IEU has consistently argued that teachers must help shape reforms before they reach the classroom.

So far, the TLC represents a welcome change. IEU Federal Secretary Brad Hayes says the government has been ‘very inclusive and consultative in its approach’.

Brad and Assistant Federal Secretary Veronica Yewdall are helping shape the proposal through the TLC Reference Group, alongside the AEU and other stakeholders.

Brad believes the TLC ‘can help reduce duplication of compliance and administrative tasks currently imposed on teachers and school leaders’.

But he says teacher voice must remain central if the TLC proceeds.

‘The voice of the profession must be central to the work of the new TLC, if it is ultimately agreed by Education Ministers. Education unions must be involved in whatever a future TLC structure looks like, with governance or board positions allocated to both the IEU and AEU given our vastly different sectors.’

The Federal Government has allocated $5.6 million to continue developing the proposal. When the TLC was first announced in September 2025, Brad and Veronica described it as ‘a critical opportunity to restore teacher voice at the heart of the education system’, arguing that the new authority must be developed in genuine partnership with the profession.

‘To achieve better outcomes for students, these agencies must work in genuine partnership with the teaching profession.’

Industry reaction: measured optimism

Writing for the Financial Review, Dr Fiona Mueller, former Director of Curriculum at ACARA, had reservations about the new body adding another layer of administration. But she says the choice of name is encouraging:

‘It signals a renewed focus on teachers and students.’

Associate Professor Helen Adam, President of the Primary English Teaching Association of Australia (PETAA), said the TLC was an opportunity to ‘reshape how we approach education across Australia’.

‘This includes a review of teacher standards that have not been updated in 15 years. This is our chance – perhaps our only chance for a generation – to ensure that equity is not just mentioned in policy documents but genuinely built into how we approach teaching in today’s diverse classrooms.’

Andy Mison, President of the Australian Secondary Principals Association, told The Educator that bringing the functions of the agencies together under one national banner ‘seems a sensible step to improve productivity and reduce fragmentation and duplication in the national machinery’.

He said the TLC ‘should be built to support and serve school communities, not to manage them’. Its success would depend on assessing changes for their impact on workload and ensuring school leaders have a meaningful voice in its development and operation.

IEU General Secretary David Brear says that should be the practical test for the new body.

‘Bringing these bodies together should not mean building a bigger bureaucracy. It should mean less duplication, less unnecessary compliance and a stronger voice for the people doing the work in schools.’

Brad says the government’s plan is an opportunity to ‘repair and rebuild an education system grounded in teacher voice and professional expertise’.

With educator voice genuinely involved in its implementation, the TLC could prove a vital support for the work of educators, and a force for positive change across all our schools.