Victoria, the fastest-growing state territory in Australia, predicts that, in the next four years, it will need around 1300 additional teachers a year to accommodate some 90,000 students expected to enroll.
Teacher shortages have reached critical levels in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Europe and Africa. The supply and demand of teachers, particularly in "hard-to-staff" locations, continues to be an issue and was heightened over the pandemic due to a lack of effective policy solutions.
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.
Georgia had the highest number of vacancies (3,112) for the 2019-2020 school year. More recently, during the 2021-2022 school year, Florida had the most vacancies with 3,911 positions unfulfilled. That same school year, Mississippi and Alabama had over 3,000 vacancies.
The average annual salary for Teacher jobs in Australia ranges from $90,000 to $95,000.
Teachers remain one of the lowest-paid professions and are overdue for a significant increase in salaries, according to a new report by the University of Sydney Business School.
People with a teaching degree in Australia have almost no chance of earning a very high income. More than a third of engineering or commerce graduates in their 40s working full-time earn more than $3,000 a week ($156,000 a year). But for graduates with a teaching degree, that figure is only 2.3 per cent.
Requirements. If you're a qualified Teacher in the UK and completed a 4-year degree or equivalent, your qualifications will be recognized in Australia and will you be eligible to teach there. You will be required to register with the appropriate state-based registration board for teaching.
If you are an early childhood, primary, specialist or secondary teacher with your own working rights, you can apply for vacancies in public schools. Overseas teachers living in Australia with working rights can also apply for our state-wide teacher pool 6 or graduate teacher pool 7.
Teachers migrating to Australia are required to complete a teacher skills assessment through the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). The AITSL will need to assess your qualifications against Australian Standards before you can apply for a Skilled Visa.
Teacher shortages in some regional Queensland schools are so dire that a new 'flying squad' of metropolitan teachers has been created to fill critical vacancies in classrooms. The shortages led 476 school principals to indicate the impact on their staff's and their own well-being had been "high" or "significant".
The demand is quite high in cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Perth but the regulations are stringent here so you'll need to be TEFL qualified and if possible experienced too. In Australia, there are around 300 colleges that are registered to provide courses to worldwide students within the English language sector.
On-going pressures and declining workforce
"The data suggests we are looking at a profession in crisis," Associate Professor Aliza Werner-Seidler. "Teachers are working longer hours with fewer resources and this pressure is building with an increase of burnout and time being taken off due to mental ill-health."
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.
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.
Luxembourg. According to an OECD report, Luxembourg (a European country) has the highest-paid teachers in the world. Another source indicates that a bachelor's degree holder is entitled to an initial salary of €67,000 (US $70,323.20) per annum at the start of their teaching career.
Where can you teach? Australia has a lot of diversity geographically speaking, and you'll be able to find both rural and metropolitan opportunities depending on your preferences. However, the big cities like Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth have the largest number of private language schools and so the most opportunities.
Can you teach in Australia with QTS? The English teaching award is not recognised in Australia for state school teaching. Basically, if you are a fully qualified nursery, primary or secondary teacher QTS is not required for teachers from England, although helps to prove you're a qualified school teacher from UK.
Teaching degrees are generally four years long, focus on early childhood, primary, or secondary education, and require you to complete a concurrent major in the discipline you'd like to teach. Be sure that the degree in which you enrol meets the accreditation requirements of your state's educational regulatory body.
China, the country where teachers have the highest status, compared them to doctors. In general, teachers in Eastern countries had higher status than in Western countries, including the United States.
Maryland and Louisiana saw more teachers depart than any time in the last decade. And North Carolina saw a particularly alarming trend of more teachers leaving mid-school year.