Australian principal demographics
At a glance
School leader age distribution
The annual Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey collects
information on the experiences of school leaders and their state of health and wellbeing. Part of the survey includes collecting demographic data on survey respondents. Here, we look at the
age distribution of over 1800 respondents in 2020.
Riley, P., See, S-M., Marsh, H., & Dicke, T. (2021). The Australian Principal Occupational
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey (IPPE Report): 2020 Data. Sydney: Institute for Positive
Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University www.teachermagazine.com
27 years 6.8%
is the average years of experience for
school leaders in the school environment of school leaders plan
to retire in 2021
Age range
Percentage of school leaders 0.1
0.1 0.1
0.9 0.9 0.9
3.4 3.4 3.4
8.4 8.4 8.4
18.1 18.1 18.1
21.7 21.7 21.7
23.3 23.3 23.3 18.7
18.7 18.7 4.6
4.6 4.6 0.9
0.9 0.9 26-30
31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 66-70 71+
0 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5
