show teachers in Australia work about 44 hours a week on average – much more than the 40 hours of general professionals. Australian teachers' working hours are high by international standards, too. show Australian secondary teachers work an average of 45 hours a week, compared to the international average of 40 hours.
Hours of work
In Australia, around 65% of employed primary school teachers work full-time hours in all their jobs. The full-time teachers work an average of 45 hours per week in their primary job, which is very similar to the average working hours for all jobs in Australia (44 hours per week).
Teachers are only required to attend a maximum of 205 days during term and non-term weeks.
Australian teachers spend an average of 45 hours per week engaged in work on school grounds – well above the OECD average. 60% of Australian teachers report that their professional development is curtailed by conflicts with their work schedule.
The ordinary hours of attendance for a full time education support class employee will be for a minimum of 7.6 hours daily between 7:00am and 6:00pm from Monday to Friday unless otherwise agreed.
Find out what the average Teacher salary is
The average teacher salary in Australia is $84,707 per year or $43.44 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $74,301 per year, while most experienced workers make up to $117,161 per year.
show teachers in Australia work about 44 hours a week on average – much more than the 40 hours of general professionals. Australian teachers' working hours are high by international standards, too. show Australian secondary teachers work an average of 45 hours a week, compared to the international average of 40 hours.
A new report released today by the Black Dog Institute finds almost half of Australian teachers (46.8%) are considering leaving the profession within the next 12 months, according to a nationally representative survey of more than 4000 teachers.
Results showed over half of the sample reported being very or extremely stressed and were considering leaving the profession, with early career teachers, primary teachers, and teachers working in rural and remote areas reporting the highest stress and burnout levels.
10 per cent of teachers leave the education sector completely, the study has found.
Primary Principals, Deputy Principals, Teachers and Category B Education Support and Category B School Services Officers are entitled to school holiday pay. Category C Education Support and Category C School Services Officers are entitled to seven weeks of the school holidays without deduction of pay.
Unfortunately, unless your school has policies in place for such cases, you can't argue to leave a class if a teacher is 15 minutes late. In case it does happen, however, the best solution is to either find a principal and report the missing teacher.
Primary schools - face to face teaching hours
A primary school teacher is required to teach face to face for 4 hours and 45 minutes each day. Over a week this equates to 21 hours and 45 minutes face to face teaching time per week for a fulltime teacher, excluding RFF time.
Widely considered one of the most fulfilling and interactive jobs available today, teaching is an excellent career path. Not only are you near-guaranteed to get enrichment from the role, but teaching is also one of the most consistently in-demand professions in Australia – and it's expected to stay that way.
The average primary teacher salary in Australia is $89,715 per year or $46.01 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $78,397 per year, while most experienced workers make up to $99,786 per year.
The average annual salary for Teacher jobs in Australia ranges from $90,000 to $95,000.
Almost half of Australia's working teachers say they are overworked, underappreciated and would quit if offered a more satisfying career option.
Up to 30% of new teachers are quitting their job within 5 years of teaching. 13% of teachers reported quitting their job due to not getting paid as much as they should have been paid.
Curtin University School of Education professor Saul Karnovsky said research showed more than 70 per cent of teachers in Australia had considered leaving the profession in 2022 due to growing workloads which left them demoralised and burnt out.
Other benefits of pursuing a career as a primary teacher include job stability and high demand for teachers' education and skills. You'll have a career where no two days are the same and you get the chance to impact people's lives from childhood.
You also help children build various skills like creativity, reasoning and problem-solving that prepare them for their next step in education. As a primary school teacher, your job involves evaluating and assessing students' progress. You also write reports and provide updates to the administrators and parents.
Non-contact time – primary and special school classroom teachers. A full-time primary/special teacher will be provided with a minimum of two hours and thirty minutes (150 minutes) of non-contact time per week. This must be provided in usable blocks of time of no less than 30 minutes.
And if you thought the major cities like Sydney or Melbourne offered the highest salaries, then you'd be wrong. The state with the highest teacher salaries is actually the Northern Territory.
Permanent teachers are entitled to pay over the summer school vacation period on the basis of the number of school days worked during the school year. Remote schools attract an entitlement of 33 days' vacation, while other schools are entitled to 28 days.
Secondary Teacher Salaries in Australia
The national average salary for a Secondary teacher is $87,750 in Australia.