Most teachers choose teaching as a career for altruistic reasons (TALIS 2018). It’s a simple motive – looking for ways to support the younger generation and help build a better future. All of us can understand that. However, the picture becomes more complex once we take practical things into account. Depending on a number of criteria, it can be hard to figure out how much do teachers make.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, we should mention one caveat. There’s quite a difference if you search for “private school teachers’ salary Australia” or if you look into public schools. There’s more room for salary and benefit negotiation in private settings. This means each private school teacher might have benefits others don’t. As we are looking at a more global picture we won’t be making this distinction.
2. Teacher Salary Depending on State or Territory
When it comes to entry-level positions teaching competes well with other jobs. However, each state has its own rules. This means the same position might be paid differently in different locations. You’ll easily spot the link. Just have a look at common job advertisements, searching for terms like “WA teacher salary” and “NSW teacher salary”.
In general, new teachers in Western Australia tend to have better prospects. If they perform well during their first year on the job their salary is further increased by another 10% approximately (Australian Bureau of Statistic). The starting salary for a teacher in Queensland will be lower. If you look for “teaching salary Victoria” you’ll notice another drop, but the difference isn’t drastic. This is also true for a new NSW teacher and someone getting into teaching in South Australia.
3. Teacher Average Salary Change by Experience
As mentioned, the average teaching salary compares relatively well to other industries. However, this is not true for more experienced teachers. An Australian teacher’s pay stops rising after ten years. The incomes of their peers increase well into their thirties and forties.
Some earn higher salaries by investing in their education – a bachelor degree only goes so far. Others switch to a management position, completely putting teaching aside. The average pay for teachers, especially experienced ones, quickly falls behind other industries. This explains why there’s a noticeable need for experienced and high-quality teachers (Grattan Institute).
4. Average Teacher Salary and Median Salary
On average, across states and experience levels, teachers earn 74,800 AUD per year. If you search for “high school teacher salary” this is the number you’ll get. That includes housing, transport, and other benefits. Correspondingly, an average high school teacher wage is 36 AUD per hour.
However, we still need to take a closer look at the salary distribution. We’ll find that 1/4 of teachers earn less than 50,800 AUD and 1/4 earn more than 98,500 AUD. While the average salary could be a good indicator of how much teachers really earn, to be precise we need to know the median value.
In this case, the median is 76,300 AUD. While it’s not a big leap from the average 74,800 AUD, a salary estimated at 76,300 AUD is more accurate. And we’ll explain how.
Just a quick maths lesson, we promise. If two teachers found a way to make a fortune through teaching, that could significantly skew the average. While, hypothetically, they did become millionaires by teaching, that’s simply not true for all teachers. Averages are sensitive to this kind of influence.
Luckily, a median will provide a good insight as it gives us a cut through the middle of our sample. In layperson terms – we know that half of classroom teachers earn more than this and half of them earn less. It’s a more precise middle salary value.
5. Conclusion
By now, one thing is clear. Simply searching for “teacher salary Australia” won’t get you far. We need to take into account experience levels and job location, at least.
Another thing that sticks out, is that teaching might become a young person’s game. We might see careers shift and casual teachers becoming more and more prevalent. It’s worth noting that better pay and benefits for teachers is a direct investment in the future generation. (Grattan Institute) Happy teachers means happy students. By the same token, well-paid teachers means better learning outcomes.
