PISA, the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment, tests the reading, mathematical and scientific literacy of 15-year-olds across more than 90 countries and economies every three years, and Australia has taken part since 2000. The 2025 results were released this week, and the volume of commentary already in circulation is a reminder that a single results day rarely supports the sweeping conclusions drawn from it in the first 48 hours.

The proposed Teaching and Learning Commission is the most significant structural reform to Australia's national education architecture in a generation. Merging ACARA, AITSL, AERO, and Education Services Australia into a single body is not, in itself, a policy outcome. It is a design choice.

The South Australian government has introduced comprehensive legislation that represents Australia's most thorough framework for protecting school staff and communities from harmful behaviour. The Education and Children's Services (Barring Notices and Other Protections) Amendment Act 2025, together with detailed Ministerial Guidelines and Supplementary Guidance, establishes a sophisticated approach to managing risks to school safety whilst maintaining educational engagement with families.