How did the ATWD come about?
In 2012, the Productivity Commission found that there were imbalances in supply and demand of the teacher workforce. The Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG) was established, and its report ‘Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers’
(2014) found there was a lack of consistent and timely national teacher data.
In 2015, the Australian Education Senior Officials Committee (AESOC) requested that AITSL provide advice to Education Council on initial teacher education (ITE) and teacher workforce data collection.
The ATWD was approved by Education Council in December 2016 and was formally established in 2017. The first teacher survey opened in 2018.
Where does the data come from?
The ATWD unites and links data annually from the following sources:
- Registration data from state and territory teacher regulatory authorities
- Initial teacher education data from the Australian Government Department of Education
- ATWD Teacher Survey.
What happens with the data?
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) receives the data from each of the sources, links it using common identifiers and removes all personal information. The linked and de-identified data is then transferred into the ATWD. Individual teacher
data is not identifiable in the ATWD. Personal information is not included under any circumstances. Aggregate data from the ATWD is analysed to determine trends in teacher education, the teacher workforce and teacher supply; to inform national policy
on how to better support the profession. Use of data in the ATWD is governed by the ATWD Oversight Board and the AIHW Ethics Committee in compliance with strict ATWD Data Access and Reporting Protocols.
What is included in the data?
Registration data
Teacher regulatory authorities (TRAs) are the state and territory bodies responsible for teacher registration in Australia. They are key partners in the ATWD, providing important workforce registration information that covers all teachers across all sectors,
states and territories. The data they provide delivers valuable insights into the national teacher workforce.
All teacher registration data is de-identified by the AIHW before being incorporated into the ATWD.
Initial teacher education data
Students enrolled in initial teacher education contribute data to the Australian Government’s Higher Education Student Data Collection (HESDC). They also receive an invitation from the Australian Government to complete the Quality Indicators for
Learning and Teaching (QILT) survey. Both of these collections are included in the ATWD to provide insight into the outcomes and experience of initial teacher education.
All HESDC and QILT data is de-identified by the AIHW before being incorporated into the ATWD.
ATWD Teacher Survey
The ATWD Teacher Survey is the teacher voice in the ATWD. It gives greater depth to our understanding of some of the more practical elements of teaching and provide greater insight on the challenges they present.
All data is de-identified by the AIHW before being incorporated into the ATWD.
The ATWD model at a glance
