Hard-, Harder-, Hardest-to-Staff: Teacher Shortages and Spatial (In)Justice in Queensland, Australia

This paper applies a critical geography lens to illuminate the socio-spatial forces that (re)produce staffing challenges in Queensland’s hardest-to-staff schools. Drawing on data from an Australian Research Council (ARC) study of hardest-to-staff schools we ask: How are teacher shortages socially and spatially (re)produced in two different regions of Queensland? To answer this question, we compare a metropolitan coastal region and a very remote region, representing contrasting ends of the State’s geography. Two teachers’ union officers responsible for these regions were interviewed to explore how shortages are experienced and what strategies are used to attract and retain teachers. Findings highlight five key forces shaping teacher attraction and retention: location and geography, human resource practices, housing access, media representations, and individual circumstances. Together, these forces demonstrate that teacher shortages are not simply a workforce problem of supply and demand, but this maldistribution can be understood as a socio-spatial justice issue with implications for how policymakers and employers address inequitable access to teachers.