AI in Schools
AI fabricates First Nations content, Vic teachers reject 28% offer
The week's stories are all about what is missing — knowledge the AI cannot hold, dollars the unions will not accept, librarians the schools do not have.
GenAI is fabricating First Nations content for the classroom
Four researchers — Scott Alterator, Alexia Maddox, Clare Southerton and Stefan Schutt — published an analysis on Friday at EduResearch Matters documenting consistent failures of ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot when generating Indigenous content. ChatGPT cited phrases from non-existent First Nations languages in an Acknowledgement of Country. It produced lesson resource lists referencing fabricated documentaries, then defended the citations until pressed. A Year 9 science prompt returned material framing Indigenous knowledge as the opposite of scientific explanation. Their argument: GenAI strips context to produce an answer, and Indigenous knowledge does not survive decontextualisation.
Why this matters: Roughly half of teachers above 35 report feeling unprepared to teach First Nations content, and only 11 per cent feel confident embedding Indigenous perspectives. That is exactly the cohort most likely to ask an AI assistant for help — and the failure mode here is not "imperfect output" but invention presented with confidence. Schools running staff PD on AI need to put First Nations content on the explicit do-not-delegate list. EduResearch Matters analysis.
Victoria's 28 per cent teacher offer lands with a thud
The Allan government will put 28 per cent over four years to the AEU as Victoria moves to settle the most prolonged industrial dispute in the state's school system in over a decade. The union is holding at 35 per cent over three years. Reporting in EducationHQ on 29 April: by October, an experienced Victorian teacher will earn $15,359 a year less than a NSW counterpart on the same band. The offer is roughly double the previous 17 per cent on the table, but staff response on social channels was blunt. "28% over 4 years would STILL leave us chasing our tails." "I'd vote no on this instantly."
Why this matters: The dispute is not really about the percentage — it is about the gap to NSW, which keeps growing every year Victoria settles low. School leaders rostering for Term 2 should plan for continued rolling stoppages, and SBMs renewing CRT contracts should price in upward wage pressure regardless of how the headline negotiation lands. EducationHQ coverage.
Tasmania's teachers signed off on roughly 8.75 per cent over three years
The contrast is sharp. AEU Tasmania members closed their ballot on 24 April with 72 per cent voting to accept a deal worth 3 per cent in 2026, 3 per cent in 2027, and 2.75 per cent in 2028, plus base-salary lump sums of $250 to $500 by band. The non-pay terms did most of the work in getting the vote across the line — after-school meetings capped at 80 hours a year (dropping to 60 in 2027), a meeting-free week each term, five days of paid reproductive leave, family and domestic violence leave extended to 25 days, and five "personal impact days" for staff managing critical incidents.
Why this matters: Tasmania settled where Victoria cannot because the package treats teacher time as the binding constraint, not just teacher pay. For school leaders watching enterprise bargaining cycles in their own jurisdictions, the operational lesson is that meeting caps and discretionary leave shifted the vote — these are line items principals can advocate for inside a stalled negotiation, even when the wage envelope is fixed. Pulse Tasmania.
More than half of school libraries are understaffed — and a third saw their budget cut
ALIA released the 2025 Australian School Library Survey on 29 April, drawing on responses across Government, Independent, and Catholic schools nationally. 56 per cent of respondents say their library is not adequately staffed. 43 per cent say the budget is inadequate. 30 per cent of libraries had their budget cut from the previous year. Only 18 per cent reported a budget increase. A quarter saw staffing reduced. The most-cited reasons for the cuts were budget restructures and changes of school leadership.
Why this matters: This is the resourcing context for every conversation about reading culture, AI literacy, and digital citizenship in schools. The library is the room where most of those things actually happen, and a quarter of them are losing staff this year. If your school is rolling out an AI literacy programme without a library professional embedded in the design, you are running it on the cheap and it will show in implementation. ALIA Schools survey report.
School leavers say teach us AI — and a third already expect it in the course
The UAC Student Lifestyle and Learning Report 2026 surveyed 20,813 school leavers, with EducationHQ pulling out the AI numbers on 1 May. 20 per cent had not used an AI tool in the past month. 36 per cent used one occasionally — less than once a week. 20 per cent used one more than three times a week. One-third of respondents said they expect their tertiary course to teach them practical AI skills and guidance on responsible use. UAC's Kim Paino: "School leavers are thinking carefully about how AI will shape their futures."
Why this matters: The expectation has flipped. Until recently, AI literacy was a thing universities were trying to push down to students. The UAC data says incoming cohorts are now pulling for it, and a sizeable minority will judge their course on whether it is delivered. For Year 12 coordinators advising course choice, AI in the curriculum is becoming a legitimate selection criterion alongside placement support and class size. EducationHQ coverage of the UAC report.
The week is full of reminders that the systems are not the model. AI cannot hold knowledge it has never been taught to respect. A pay offer cannot fix a workforce strategy that the next state over is outbidding by $15,000 a head. A reading culture cannot be built on a library budget that was cut last year. More on the operational landscape at digitalattitudes.com.au.