How to become a teacher in Australia: qualifications & career paths

When it comes to careers with impact, teaching is right up there. Every teacher you remember – good or bad – shaped how you think, what you believe is possible, and who you became. Now imagine being on the other side of that.

Australia needs more teachers, and the path in is more flexible than people realise. Whether you're finishing Year 12 or thinking about a career change, here's what teaching actually involves, the qualifications you'll need, and the different ways into the profession.

What does a teacher do, day to day?

Teaching is part planning, part crowd control, part performance. Depending on the year level and setting, a typical day might involve:

planning lessons, activities, and assessments that make sense to a room full of very different students
running classes – explaining concepts, fielding unexpected questions, managing behaviour and keeping everyone roughly on track
helping students one-on-one when they're confused, falling behind, struggling socially or ready for a bigger challenge
marking work, giving feedback and figuring out who actually understood the lesson and who just nodded along
working with other teachers, parents, wellbeing staff and support workers to help students who need extra support
the smaller jobs that come with school life: yard duty, excursions, assemblies, parent-teacher interviews, reports and professional learning.

The job is rarely 9-to-3. But few careers give you the same level of day-to-day influence over other people's confidence, direction and sense of what's possible.

Career paths in teaching

Teaching isn't one job – it's a profession with multiple distinct pathways, each with its own training requirements, age group and rhythm.

: You'll work with children from birth to about age five, in long day care, kindergartens, and preschools. This is the area facing the biggest workforce shortage in the country – Jobs and Skills Australia estimates an additional 21,000 early childhood teachers are needed to meet current demand.
: You'll teach across all subjects in a self-contained classroom, usually from Foundation (Prep) to Year 6. You build deep relationships with the same group of students all year and shape the foundations of literacy, numeracy, and curiosity. Primary teaching has been in persistent shortage in Australia for the past five years.
: You'll often specialise in one or two subjects and teach those subjects to multiple year groups, typically Years 7-12. If you have a passion for a specific discipline – maths, English, science, the arts, PE – secondary teaching lets you go deep.
: You'll work with students with disabilities or additional learning needs, either in specialist schools or as part of integration teams in mainstream schools.
: You could work as a teacher aide, integration aide or multicultural education aide, working alongside teachers to support students directly. These roles often suit people who want to test whether classroom work is for them before committing to a full teaching degree.
: After several years in the classroom, you can move into year-level coordinator, learning specialist, head of department, assistant principal, or principal roles. Many teachers also move into curriculum design, education policy, teacher training, or educational research.

Is teaching in demand in Australia?

Yes – big time. Teaching is one of the top occupation groups driving national workforce shortages in Australia, alongside health and construction. Primary teaching, secondary teaching and early childhood teaching are all listed in shortage across every state and territory.

That means qualified teachers are in a strong position for employment – particularly in growth corridors like Melbourne's west.

A teacher in a classroom helping out students.

Average teacher salaries across Australia: state-by-state guide

Thinking about a career in teaching? Get a state-by-state breakdown of what teachers actually earn.

Find out more

What's the lifestyle like?

One of the most common questions people ask about teaching is some version of: do you really get all those holidays?

The school calendar genuinely is different to most careers. Teachers aren't required at school during term breaks and most have a real disconnect over Christmas and January. If you ever plan to have school-aged kids of your own, your calendar will line up with theirs – which is a big lifestyle benefit.

But "off" doesn't always mean "doing nothing": planning, marking, report writing, and professional learning often spill into the holidays, especially for early-career teachers building resources from scratch. And term-time itself is intense – many teachers work beyond contracted hours when classes are running.

So you can expect more predictable extended breaks than most jobs but earned through high-intensity work during term. For a lot of people, that trade-off is appealing.

Signs you'd make a great teacher

There's no single personality type that makes a great teacher. But having these traits are a sign you'll thrive in the profession:

You're patient

Not in a passive way, but in the sense that you don't mind explaining something five different ways until it clicks.

You're curious

About how people learn, why some students grasp things quickly and others don't, and what you could do differently next time.

You can hold a room

You don't need to be an extrovert, but you can command attention when it matters.

You like young people

You appreciate being around and working with them, and find them interesting, not exhausting!

You're organised

You can juggle lesson plans, marking, meetings and a hundred small admin tasks without it falling apart.

You can take feedback

You can handle hearing criticism or feedback (or a bad day) without letting it crush you.

If you're still in school, you might notice some of these in yourself from group projects, helping younger siblings, coaching juniors at sport or just being the person friends come to when they're stuck.

If you're thinking about teaching as a career change, you almost certainly bring transferable skills – communication, project management, working with diverse people, explaining complex ideas – these translate directly. Many of the best teachers come into the profession after years doing something else.

Teacher Devika Chaudary teaching a science class

How to get qualified to teach in Australia

To teach in any Australian school or early childhood service, you need two things:

A recognised teaching qualification accredited by the relevant state authority. For early childhood, this is generally a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education or equivalent. For primary or secondary, it's usually a four-year Bachelor of Education, or an undergraduate degree in another field followed by a Master of Teaching.
Teacher registration with the regulatory body in your state or territory. For example, the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) is the relevant body in Victoria. Registration is a legal requirement before you can be employed and involves a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check, evidence of your qualification and an assessment of your suitability to teach.

In Victoria, you'll also need to complete the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education (LANTITE) before graduating from a teaching degree, and a Working with Children Check before going on professional placement.

If that sounds like a lot, don't worry – your uni course takes you through each step so when you graduate, you're ready to enter the classroom.

Becoming a teacher at VU

At VU, you can become a qualified teacher through a few different starting points – and the right one depends on where you're at.

: Get qualified to teach from Prep to Year 12 with VU's Bachelor of Education (P-12). Most teaching degrees in Australia qualify you to teach either primary or secondary – not both. This course gives you a bit more flexibility in the job market, which is handy if you're not 100% sure which age group is your fit.
The degree runs over four years full-time at the Footscray Park campus, includes 103 days of professional placement (more than the VIT minimum of 80), and prepares you for VIT accreditation on graduation. You'll also choose a specialisation – anything from English and mathematics to science, outdoor education, disability studies or student welfare.
: If you don't have the ATAR or recent study history to get into the bachelor's straight away – or you want to build up to it gradually while working in education support roles – a TAFE-to-uni pathway might be right for you:
start with the Certificate IV in School Based Education Support (CHC40221) – a one-year Free TAFE qualification that gets you into schools as an education support officer, learning aide, or integration aide. You complete 120 hours of placement and get a real feel for classroom life.
progress to the Diploma of Education Studies – a one-year undergraduate diploma that builds the academic foundations for a teaching degree. Successful completion guarantees you a place in a VU bachelor degree.
enter the Bachelor of Education (P-12) with one year of credit applied – meaning you complete the degree in three years rather than four.
End to end, the pathway takes five years – one more than going direct. But you're earning, working in schools and learning the trade from day one.
: If you already know your specific direction, VU also offers focused degrees in:
Bachelor of Early Childhood Education – to teach children from birth to age five
Bachelor of Education (Primary) – for primary teaching only
Master of Teaching (Primary Education) and Master of Teaching (Secondary Education) – postgraduate options if you already hold an undergraduate degree in another field.

Meet Devika – teacher & VU graduate

Meet Devika – teacher & VU graduate - transcript

Frequently asked questions about teaching

: Around four years full-time for a Bachelor of Education direct from school. About five years if you start with a Certificate IV or Diploma pathway. If you already hold an undergraduate degree in another field, a Master of Teaching takes around two years.
: Sort of – and it's one of the genuine perks of the job. Teachers don't have to attend school during the standard term breaks, and most get to disconnect over Christmas and January. You often still have other work to do over holidays, however, including planning, marking, report writing, and professional learning. Teaching definitely offers a different rhythm to office work – more predictable extended breaks, but also intense in-term workloads.
: At VU, you need an ATAR for direct entry to a Bachelor of Education (P-12) degree, but pathway options like the Diploma of Education Studies don't require an ATAR.
: For many people, yes. The skills you build in other careers – communication, organisation, working with diverse people – translate directly. And ongoing demand for qualified teachers means strong job prospects on the other side of your degree.
: Education support workers (teacher aides, integration aides) work alongside teachers to support individual students or small groups. They don't plan curriculum or run classes independently, and they don't need a teaching degree – a Certificate IV in School Based Education Support (CHC40221) is usually enough. Teachers are the qualified professionals leading the classroom.
: Sometimes – but your qualification needs to be pre-assessed for equivalency. In Victoria, primary and secondary qualifications are assessed by the VIT, and early childhood qualifications by the Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).

Ready to start?

Whether you're a Year 12 student plotting your next move or thinking seriously about changing direction, teaching is one of the few careers where you can see your impact every single day. Start your journey shaping the next generation at VU.

Apply now