Address to the Australian Council of Deans of Education Members Annual Conference

Can I start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay my respects to elders past and present.

Can I thank you for inviting me to speak to you today.

Can I also thank you for the work that you do.

You know how important I think it is, how important you know it is. 

Teaching is the most important job in the world. 

And teachers only become teachers because of you.

And we need more of them. 

The good news is there are more. 

The number of people who enrolled in teaching was up 10% last year on the year before. 

And it's up again this year. That's a good sign. 

Pay rises, paid prac, the new Commonwealth Teacher Scholarships all help.They’re all part of it. But we still need more. 

All the forecasts I see tell me that we're still going to be thousands short of the teachers we need and will need in the years ahead. 

So while things are getting better in schools across the country, the challenge is still there and it's big. 

It's why I got the state Departments of Education, teachers, principals, peak bodies and unions together last week to work on what we do next updating the teacher workforce plan that we developed about three years ago. 

And it's why what you do, and what happens next year, is so important.

Next year the change in the core content of ITE degrees rolls out.

And I know you've been at the coal face of all of that and I want to thank you for it. 

What we do here from next year will help not just the next generation of teachers. 

It'll help the next generation of Australians. 

This, combined with the agreements that I've now signed with every state and territory to fix the funding of our schools and the reforms that are tied to it, are two critical parts of building a better and a fairer education system. 

I'm sorry again that I can't be there in person, but I'm really looking forward to seeing you on campus over the next 12 months to see the changes that we're making come to life. 

I hope you’re having a great conference, and I'll see you soon.