Data Collection and Surveys

School Staff Survey

All Victorian government schools are encouraged to take part in the School Staff Survey. The survey provides an opportunity for school-based staff to share their thoughts and experiences of working in Victorian government schools and supports ongoing school improvement.

The School Staff Survey:

• provides school staff with an opportunity to reflect on their experiences and identify ways to strengthen teaching practice, workplace culture and, ultimately, student outcomes
• is informed by extensive stakeholder consultation, psychometric testing, literature review and survey best practice to minimise burden, measure what matters most to schools, and support the broader evidence base on schooling experiences in Victoria
• generates valuable feedback to support schools in identifying strengths, monitoring progress and informing strategic planning and improvement efforts.

ORIMA Research Pty Ltd has been contracted by the department to administer the online collection of the School Staff Survey. ORIMA Research will contact schools with information about the survey and provide support throughout the survey period via telephone and email.

Key dates

The School Staff Survey is conducted annually. Survey dates are published each year on the Survey collection dates page (staff login required)(opens in a new window).

Following the survey collection period, schools will be able to access their survey results through the School Staff Survey reporting platform, usually this will occur in the term following the term in which the survey is open for completion each year.

Survey results are provided in aggregated form and enable schools to:

• understand staff perceptions and experiences
• identify areas of strength
• inform school improvement planning
• monitor trends over time
• support workforce wellbeing initiatives.

From 2026, products such as Panorama will present the survey data without historical comparisons from previous years, due to the survey changes. However, the results from 2026 onwards will be available for comparisons in subsequent years.

Survey preparation and administration

Staff will receive a direct invitation to participate in the School Staff Survey.

Information about the survey framework and survey topics will be made available to schools and staff before survey administration begins.

For principals

While no action is required from schools to distribute survey links, principals are encouraged to notify staff about the survey in advance to promote awareness, encourage participation, and help maximize response rates.

• Template communications and information materials will be made available to school principals before the survey opens.
• Principals are encouraged to:
  • advise staff about the survey prior to commencement and promote participation across the school. This communication can be provided through existing school channels, such as staff emails, newsletters, or staff meetings, and may help staff understand the purpose and importance of the survey before receiving their invitation
  • support participation and give staff time to do the survey during the survey period.

For staff

Participation in the survey is voluntary. Staff can choose whether they wish to participate and may discontinue the survey at any point before submission.

Eligible staff will receive a personalised survey invite from ORIMA Research by email. The email invitation will contain a unique survey link that allows staff to securely complete the survey online. Staff can complete the survey across multiple sessions using their unique survey link. The following steps summarise the process for survey completion:

1. Staff receive a personalised email invitation containing a secure survey link.
2. Staff access the online survey through the link provided.
3. Staff complete the survey confidentially during the survey collection period.
4. Staff may leave and return to the survey before submitting their responses.

Supporting survey completion

To support survey completion across the workforce:

• the survey does not take long to complete and should only take staff around 10 to 20 minutes to complete, depending on their role
• the survey is administered online and can be completed on a range of devices
• staff can pause and return to the survey using their unique survey link
• support is available from ORIMA Research for staff experiencing technical difficulties
• reasonable workplace adjustments can be provided where required to enable participation
• the department does not provide schools with any individual-level survey responses or additional personal information
• survey response data supplied to the department is de-identified and does not include staff names, email addresses, or other direct identifiers. This ensures that individual responses remain confidential and cannot be linked back to specific staff members.

Privacy and confidentiality

Personal information used for survey administration, such as names and email addresses, are managed confidentially and survey results are reported only at an aggregated group level. Individual staff members cannot be identified through school reports or any other published findings.

Contacts and support

ORIMA Research provides support throughout the survey period through a telephone helpline and email support service.

For technical queries and support with completing the School Staff Survey, contact ORIMA Research on 1800 654 585 (toll-free during business hours) or by email: schoolstaffsurvey@orima.com.

For participation or survey-related queries, schools can contact the department via school.surveys@education.vic.gov.au.

For privacy or confidentiality information, please contact the department's Privacy team at privacy@education.vic.gov.au.