Initial teacher education in Australia is experiencing intense scrutiny, driven by a national teacher shortage crisis. Concurrently, there is a decline in school student achievement, evident through national and international benchmarking data, with many pointing to teaching quality, and by extrapolation to initial teacher education, as a major contributing factor. The Australian setting for initial teacher education features extensive reform over the last decade, leading to greater regulatory demands and compliance. The teacher workforce is characterised by an ageing demographic (median age 46 years) which is female dominated (70%). It is in this context that this study aimed to examine the outcomes of two initiatives with the scope to shape and potentially disrupt initial teacher education and by pipeline implications the teaching profession: i. outcomes from a Summit reflecting upon the impacts of the global pandemic on teaching and teacher education; ii. recommendations from an expert panel established to guide the future of initial teacher education in Australia. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems theory is used as a lens to examine the artefacts as influencers in the exo-system, considering their impact on initial teacher education amidst a teacher workforce sustainability crisis. Comparing the two artefacts reveals that practitioners are seeking greater flexibility and opportunities for innovation (artefact 1), while policy makers are shifting to greater rigidity and prescription (artefact 2). These contrasting perspectives reveal a difference in direction and add to the disenfranchisement of educators faced with policy shifts that are antithetical to their thinking.