Deborah Netolicky: How Australian schools are recalibrating against a backdrop of global instability

As we move into 2026, Australian education is not facing a single crisis so much as a series of interconnected pressures.

Australian schools are operating against a backdrop of global instability, accelerating climate impacts and rapid technological change.

Wars and political unrest feel closer to home than ever, social media and artificial intelligence are reshaping how young people think and communicate, and teacher shortages continue to make headlines.

In response, schools across the country are recalibrating their priorities.

Three shifts across 2025 stand out: how schools are balancing technology with humanity, how they are responding to workforce strain, and how they are strengthening wellbeing and community as protective factors for young people.

The first shift concerns technology, with AI now embedded in everyday life. Students are using it to help with homework, writing and study.

Teachers are using it to assist with planning, assessment design and administration.

Parents are using it to draft emails to schools. Used well, these tools can reduce administrative load and sharpen thinking by taking on lower-order tasks.

However, alongside this uptake sits growing unease. Some young people are turning to AI chatbots for emotional support, raising questions about safety and appropriateness.

Teachers are grappling with how AI affects assessment integrity and the role of the teacher. Parents are worried about the impacts of screen time, AI and social media on their children’s brains, health and futures.

Schools are responding by being values-driven and discerning about where and when technology supports or undermines learning.

Phone bans, screen reduction policies and technology-free spaces are becoming more common. Schools are seeing a renewed emphasis on oral assessments, dialogue-based learning and face-to-face interaction.

Meanwhile Australia’s new Social Media Minimum Age framework reflects a broader attempt to delay children’s exposure to online harms.

The second shift relates to the education workforce. Teacher shortages, workload pressure and early-career attrition remain persistent challenges.

Many Australian teachers report feeling overwhelmed by rising student complexity, expanding administrative demands, documentation requirements and expectations around communication with families.

The risk is fewer teachers, disrupted learning for students, a revolving door of relief staff in schools, and fewer experienced educators staying in the profession long enough to become veteran experts and school leaders.

In response, schools and systems are turning their attention to the design of work in schools.

There is increasing attention to making teachers’ work sustainable and attractive by reducing administrative burden, strengthening mentoring and induction, protecting collaboration time, and making roles, expectations and professional boundaries clearer.

Schools are also considering what can be removed from teachers’ loads. ‘Doing fewer things better’ is a strategy for protecting the teaching profession and retaining teachers.

The third shift is about wellbeing, with research consistently shows that belonging is a protective factor across the lifespan.

In an era of social fragmentation and uncertainty, schools are one of the few remaining institutions where people from different backgrounds come together daily, in genuine community.

Increasingly, schools are leaning into this role by strengthening relationships, routines and partnerships that provide continuity and care.

This work extends beyond students to include staff and families. Parents and communities are part of the school ecosystem, and what happens beyond the school gate matters inside it.

Care in schools is not a nice-to-have or a bolt-on, but a key factor that makes learning and achievement possible.

Taken together, these shifts point to a deeper question about the purpose of schooling. Schools are being asked to educate young people for an uncertain future while also holding communities together in the present.

As Australia moves into 2026, schools are making slower, more deliberate choices about technology, workload and care that will shape not only learning outcomes, but the kind of communities our schools become.

These are public choices with long-term consequences. Getting the balance right matters for all who rely on schools as places of learning, stability and hope.

Deborah Netolicky is the Principal of Walford Anglican School for Girls, Adjunct Senior Fellow at Adelaide University