IEU Deputy General Secretary Kylie Busk: The big picture and the daily reality
In every edition of The Point, we cover distinct but complementary aspects of the union’s work: professional advocacy and member engagement.
We aim to share evidence-based research that informs the teaching profession, while also reflecting the lived experience of fellow educators.
Teacher retention research
A key focus of the IEU is ensuring members understand important policy and professional issues and are informed about the decisions of politicians and insights of academics that influence their working lives.
In this edition, that is reflected in the article about the 2026 Teacher Retention Network (TRN) policy briefing.
This paper summarises major publicly funded research on what drives teachers into and out of the profession. For the IEU, it matters because it clearly identifies the structural causes of retention pressures – workload, insecure employment, uneven support and gaps in induction – that we raise with decision-makers, especially in enterprise bargaining. It provides independent evidence to support our case for better resourcing and conditions.
The TRN also identifies practical intervention points, particularly for early career and career change teachers, where stronger systemic support would make a real difference. This closely reflects what members report: capable teachers leaving at predictable stages of their careers, often where better support may have helped keep them in the profession.
Understanding these findings and sharing them with members strengthens our ability to address the workforce losses currently occurring across the profession.
Lived experience
Equally powerful for me are articles where members inform the profession from the ground up. Members tell us how much they value hearing from Reps and fellow members sharing the day-to-day realities in their schools. While campaigns for improved pay and conditions span hundreds of sites, each workplace faces unique challenges shaped by its context, students and community.
In this edition, that perspective comes not just from current members but from future ones. At the Teaching Forward Conference in April, we met hundreds of final-year teaching students keen to understand the realities of the profession they are about to enter.
The Conference combined frank insight with refreshing humour, as participants explored workload pressures and received practical advice from recent graduates on navigating the often difficult early years of teaching.
There was no sugar-coating!
The Conference directly confronted why so many graduates quit in their first five years in the profession: heavy workloads. In one session, participants discussed how to maintain mental and physical health while meeting the demands of the job. Their responses showed a clear awareness that burnout is a major risk but also highlighted strategies that can help counter it.
Both researchers and principals who shared their experiences emphasised the importance of mentorship, supportive school structures and professional networks as ‘essential for early career teacher retention and professional growth’.
They also offered heartfelt reflections about teaching, such as: ‘It’s the best thing you will ever do… it’s incredibly rewarding’.
Equally powerful were the reflections of early career teachers. Taylah recalled a lesson where her Year 9 class turned a shoe into a football and the classroom into a playing field.
They shared their (very funny) ‘horror stories’ to acknowledge classroom challenges but also the growth that comes from meeting them: ‘Experiences that are terrible in the moment soon become sources of laughter and learning in the staff room’.
This is the attitude you need if you are going to thrive in education.
It is a reminder, even for the most experienced of us in this industry, that we work with special people doing important and demanding work every day. People who deserve the best possible pay and conditions. This is why we work in union together, and it is at the heart of the IEU.