A contactless temperature sensing system includes a member (102), the temperature of which is to be sensed, which comprises a magnetic material, such as a magnetic insert (104), which is in thermal contact with the material of the member (102). The magnetic material (104) has at least one magnetic property which varies in a predetermined manner over a target temperature range. The temperature-dependent magnetic property may comprise, for example, magnetic susceptibility, magnetic permeability, magnetic remanence, or any combination of these and other related magnetic properties. A detector (106) is configured to sense a current value of the temperature-dependent magnetic property of the magnetic material (104) and to generate a corresponding output signal. An electronic processor (112) receives and processes the signal to determine a current temperature parameter of the magnetic material.