Key Findings

• The socio-economic status of individual schools does not, by itself, influence workforce turnover. Any individual socio-economically disadvantaged school may have a lower turnover rate than a socio-economically advantaged school. However, turnover does relate to the socio-economic status of a group of schools: this relationship is especially pertinent at schools with high Equity Indices, where students face the greatest socio-economic barriers to educational success.
• In addition to group socio-economic status factors such as teacher age, teacher employment type, school size, and school urban-rural location are notable drivers of turnover trends.
• Part-time teachers have higher turnover than full-time teachers, and teachers have higher turnover than principals.
• Teachers aged over 65 years and under 34 years of age have higher turnover rates than other age groups. Those aged 45-54 typically have the lowest turnover rates.
• Small and rural schools typically have higher levels of turnover than large and urban schools, while the primary sector has marginally higher turnover than the secondary sector. Small school size may influence the trend of increased turnover at higher Equity Index values.