This article originally featured in The Advertiser and is republished with permission.
Nine in ten Australian teachers say looking after students’ mental health and wellbeing is now part of their job, raising concerns they are becoming overburdened with non-teaching tasks.
As teachers’ roles shift from educator to untrained psychologist, quasi-parent and social worker, many say their own mental health is suffering, driving burnout and turnover.
The latest teacher workforce data from 2024 shows one in five teachers are considering quitting in the next five years, with 70 per cent citing stress as a significant reason.
This is up 14 percentage points since 2020.
In the State of Mental Health in Education 2026 report by Beyond Blue, 89 per cent of the more than 800 respondents said supporting the mental health and wellbeing of students was part of their job.
Education expert and conservative commentator Dr Kevin Donnelly said the figure was a sign teachers were expected to do too much.
“Teachers are there to teach the subject. Their primary role should be teaching,” he said.
“Whether it’s cyber bullying, road safety, eating disorders — increasingly teachers are being made to act as social workers. That’s just not their responsibility.”
Mr Donnelly said it was “unfair” teachers were expected to pick up responsibilities which should be primarily in the hands of parents.
“It’s parents responsibility and duty to safeguard their children,” he said.
“That’s not just a roof over their heads. Parents need to teach their children to be resilient, cope with adversity, deal with challenges.”
Is student wellbeing part of the job?
But teachers say students cannot learn if their wellbeing and mental health needs are not being met.
Rebecca Stooke has been teaching for 16 years — 15 at mainstream schools and the past 18 months as head of campus at alternative school Gateway Community High in New South Wales.
Ms Stooke said looking after students’ wellbeing “has always been part of the job”, but recognised students’ mental health issues have become increasingly worse.
“Learning can’t happen if students don’t feel safe and have a sense of belonging,” she said.
“What has changed though is the complexity and number of students with significant needs.”
Ms Stooke said it was also important for teachers to remember their professional boundaries.
“Teachers’ role is not to solve every problem, but to build safe and supportive environments,” she said.
“They are not expected to be a counsellor or mental health clinician.”
The Brightwaters Christian College principal said teaching is inherently a “caring profession” and her school’s philosophy was about educating “the whole child”.
“Teachers go into the profession because they care,” she said.
“Yes, they know how to teach maths, science or English, but they go into the classroom not to teach the subject, but to teach the child.”
NSW school leader Tania Anway has spent nearly 30 years in education.
Do schools need more counsellors and psychologists?
Australian Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools (APACS) spokeswoman Professor Marilyn Campbell said teachers play a huge role in improving students’ mental health, but qualified professionals are also an important part of the puzzle.
“There’s not enough psychologist and counsellors in schools for the problems kids are having,” she said.
Prof Campbell said poor resourcing and limited budgets meant schools often had to choose between academics or wellbeing support as a 2022 Australian Psychological Society report found a shortfall of 8000 psychologists in Australian schools.
“Schools do their best to achieve both, but they simply cannot.”
But Professor Frank Oberklaid, who leads Victoria’s groundbreaking Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) initiative, believes teachers, not psychologists, are the answer to schools mental health crisis.
“There’ll never be enough psychologists (to meet the shortfall), and we are not trying to diagnose and treat children, we’re trying to build support.”
The MHiPS model upskills experienced teachers to become mental health and wellbeing leaders in schools.
Prof Oberklaid said the design “is not an extra burden, it’s an extra support”.
“Teachers spend the day with that child and become very skilled at picking up the kids who are struggling,” Prof Oberklaid said.
“Most students don’t need a psychologist, pediatrician or social worker. They just need someone to notice they’re struggling and support them.”