Student behaviour is pushing teachers out the door, and the numbers are stark.
The share of Australian teachers citing behaviour as a reason for leaving nearly doubled, from 25% in 2020 to 47% in 2024, according to AITSL's Australian Teacher Workforce Data.
This trend has prompted education leader Adam Voigt to challenge conventional approaches to classroom discipline in a new book.
Separately, AITSL’s more recent National Trends: Teacher Workforce report, released in June 2026, tracks year-on-year change. It shows parent behaviour and student behaviour each rose by five percentage points from 2023 to 2024, cited by 48% and 47% of intending leavers, respectively. Student behaviour was a particularly common reason among casual relief teachers, cited by 62%, according to the same report.
The figures echo separate international data. In the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024, 34% of Australian teachers reported experiencing stress “a lot” in their work. That compares with an OECD average of 19%.
The OECD’s Australia country note also found this share had risen 10 percentage points since 2018. Managing student behaviour was the least likely lesson goal Australian teachers reported achieving, at 67%.
Book urges shift from control to relationships
Against that backdrop, Adam Voigt, founder and chief executive of workplace culture consultancy Real Schools, has released The Truth About Student Behaviour. The book argues that demanding stricter consequences or tighter classroom management overlooks the underlying causes of disruptive behaviour.
Voigt said teachers do not need to be told they are managing student behaviour poorly, given how hard most are already working in difficult conditions.
“What they need are approaches that actually work,” he said. “When we get this right, we don’t just improve behaviour. We create schools where teachers can teach, students can learn and both can feel like they belong.”
The book encourages teachers to move away from control-based discipline toward building relationships and classroom structures intended to prevent behavioural issues before they escalate.
Voigt is an author and creator of the RP2.0 methodology. His career spans more than three decades as a teacher, principal, system leader and organisational leader, including roles in some of Australia’s most disadvantaged government schools. He is also the author of Restoring Teaching.
Wider implications for school leadership
Voigt argues the behaviour conversation extends beyond any single classroom or student. He frames it instead as a structural issue tied to teacher retention and workforce sustainability.
Through Real Schools, Voigt has worked with primary and secondary schools across Australia’s public and private sectors. The book draws on that experience to illustrate how shifts in school culture can affect student behaviour outcomes.
The book positions itself as addressing the conditions surrounding behaviour challenges, rather than assigning blame to either students or teachers. It aims instead to outline the structures both groups need to succeed.