In 2014 "almost 80% of all government school teachers in Australia in their first 5 years of their teaching careers were on short-term contracts." This paper will consider how the short-term contract governs early career teachers in Australia, and more broadly, how neo-liberal governance works on and through institutions and individuals. It will not only consider how early career teachers are governed but also how they govern themselves. This paper will proceed from Foucault's understanding that governmental power is about guidance, i.e., structuring and shaping the field of possible actions and thereby the conduct of the subject. The paper responds purposefully to the call for submissions that "combine academic rigour with broader audience demands on public scholarship."