Western Australia housing crisis feeding into remote teacher shortage

A shortage of available housing is deterring would-be teachers from studying and working in Western Australia's far north, sparking fears one crisis is directly fuelling another.

Student teachers keen to work at schools in the state's Kimberley are struggling to find anywhere to live while undertaking their placements.

And with teacher resignations rising and graduate numbers falling across the state over the past five years, the WA teachers' union says remote towns such as Broome will feel the heaviest impact.

Limited by low housing stock

Student teacher Sarah Armstrong was eager to take on a work placement opportunity in Broome, but had to walk away because there was no available housing.

Her belief that short-term housing would be available in Broome, which was a key factor in her decision to look to the region, was quickly proven wrong.

While understanding the challenge posed by the town's busy tourist season, the cost was also prohibitive.

"Even if I had been able to find somewhere to rent temporarily, I might have been prohibited from staying there just because of the price of accommodation," Ms Armstrong said.

Median property prices in Broome have risen 13.7 per cent over the past year, while the median rent is $1,050 per week.

Ms Armstrong said she attempted to get housing assistance through Edith Cowan University (ECU) but came up short.

The need to accommodate her young daughter, which she understood was not the university's responsibility, also created challenges. 

"I was given a few contacts via the university which were a bit outdated, so I wasn't really able to follow up on those," she said.

"My situation is unique, I was coming up with my daughter and we couldn't just slot into a vacant room somewhere."

Although Broome was not an option, Ms Armstrong was able to secure a placement and accommodation in Derby, 220km east along Great Northern Highway.

While not a requirement to complete education degrees, universities encourage regional and remote placements, and they are often seen as a way to encourage students to work at country schools.

In a statement, an ECU spokesperson said the university supported students at every stage of placement by connecting them with schools, coordinating logistics, and providing financial resources.

"These combined supports remove some of the cost and access barriers to completing their degrees," the spokesperson said. 

"And often inspire graduates to return to regional classrooms where they're needed most."

Housing program stretched

The state government is not responsible for providing housing to students on university placements.

Once teachers graduate, they may be eligible for the state's Government Regional Officer Housing (GROH) Program, which provides housing for essential public sector employees in regional and remote areas.

But even this scheme is riddled with issues, according to State School Teachers' Union of WA senior vice president Natalie Blewitt.

She said one of their members had to reverse her car up to the front door of her house to prevent break-ins because the lock was broken and had not been fixed.

Another teacher staying at a regional hotel was hospitalised because of bed bug bites.

"GROH is a wonderful initiative, but obviously sometimes the properties are not maintained … this is simply not acceptable," Ms Blewitt said.

"Teaching is difficult enough … if you can't have or provide sustainable and adequate housing in the regions, then teachers and students unfortunately will actually not go."