Primary School Teacher

Primary school teachers teach one class of children aged about five to twelve, covering reading, maths, science, art and sport across the school year.

Median salary: $115,800; 4.2%vs last year, before tax
People employed: 165,900; 1.3%vs last year
Projected growth: +11.7%; to 2035
AI exposure*: Low; 2 out of 10
Average hours: 45/wk; +5h vs all jobs
Shortage status: Not in shortage; national

Primary teachers work in government, Catholic and independent schools, in cities, regional towns and remote communities.
Unlike high school teachers, you take the same class for most subjects and stay with them through the year.
To teach in an Australian school you must complete a degree the local teacher authority recognises, then register with that authority.

How much do primary school teachers earn?

The median full-time salary for a primary school teacher is $115,800 per annum, before tax, up $24,400 since 2018.

Your salary comes from a state or territory industrial agreement, so it rises with each year you teach and with the band you're placed on. Taking on a lead teacher, literacy coordinator or year level role adds an allowance, and Catholic and independent schools set their own scales. Ask what a quoted figure covers: the classification, any extra duties, and how relief days are paid.

Median annual salary, 2018–2028

Median annual salary (AUD/year), Modelled trend anchored to a real ABS Employee Earnings figure, interim years are indicative, not a real yearly series. 2025-2028 is a projection from that anchor using the real ABS Wage Price Index annual growth rate (3.2%, June quarter 2026), not a role-specific forecast., Estimate
Period	Median annual salary (AUD/year)	Change
2018	91,400	-
2019	95,500	+4,100
2020	98,600	+3,100
2021	103,000	+4,400
2022	107,500	+4,500
2023	111,100	+3,600
2024	115,800	+4,700
2025estimated	119,500	+3,700
2026estimated	123,300	+3,800
2027projected	127,300	+4,000
2028projected	131,300	+4,000

The median salary rose by $24,400 between 2018 and 2024; the dashed line shows a projection to 2028 based on the real ABS Wage Price Index growth rate, not a role-specific forecast.

Full primary school teacher salary breakdown →

What does a primary school teacher do day to day?

The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.

Teaching the same class right across the day, moving from reading groups to fractions to art before lunch
Taking playground duty at recess and lunch, which usually means eating standing up
Planning the week's lessons in the relief-from-face-to-face time the timetable allows, then finishing the rest after the last bell
Meeting parents and carers, writing reports and sitting through staff meetings, on top of the paperwork a class generates
Reading the room and changing tack mid-lesson when a group of children hasn't followed the explanation

What skills do primary school teachers need?

Employers look for teaching and instruction, curriculum and lesson design, classroom and behaviour management, backed by Learning Management Systems (Seqta, Compass) fluency and strong written communication.

Specialist skills

Teaching and instruction
Curriculum and lesson design
Classroom and behaviour management
Student assessment and reporting
Pastoral care and wellbeing

Software and tools

Learning Management Systems (Seqta, Compass)
Microsoft Office / Google Workspace
Interactive whiteboards (Smartboard, Promethean)
Assessment tracking software
Digital content libraries (TES, Canva)

General skills

Written communication
Stakeholder management
Problem solving

Specialist skills

Teaching and instruction: A primary teacher spends most of the day in front of one class, explaining an idea several ways because the room holds children reading well above and well below their age. Much of the skill is noticing who has followed and adjusting the next day around them.
Curriculum and lesson design: Planning works from the Australian Curriculum and each school's own scope and sequence, so a teacher maps out a term of reading, writing and maths before writing individual lessons. Much of that happens in relief-from-face-to-face time, with the rest finished after the last bell.
Classroom and behaviour management: Much of the day goes on routines, moving a class between activities and settling disputes over equipment, because little learning happens in a noisy room. The same skills carry into playground duty at recess and lunch.
Student assessment and reporting: Teachers gather running records, work samples and test results through the term to see what each child can do, then turn that into written reports and parent interviews at the end of each semester. The wording matters, because families read a report closely.
Pastoral care and wellbeing: A teacher is often the adult who notices a child arriving hungry, withdrawn or bruised, and follows the school's process for reporting it. Day to day that means checking in, keeping an eye on friendships and working with parents and the school counsellor.

Software and tools

Learning Management Systems (Seqta, Compass): Schools run attendance, marks and reports through Seqta or Compass, and teachers keep them current through the day and at reporting time.
Microsoft Office / Google Workspace: Teachers build slideshows, worksheets and class spreadsheets in Google Workspace or Office, then share them with the class or with colleagues on the same year level.
Interactive whiteboards (Smartboard, Promethean): A Smartboard or Promethean board holds the day's timetable, modelled writing and maths examples, and lets the class annotate a text together.
Assessment tracking software: The school's tracking system holds each child's reading level and test results, which teachers use to form groups and spot who has slipped since the last check.
Digital content libraries (TES, Canva): TES, Twinkl and Canva supply ready-made worksheets, slide templates and classroom displays, which save planning time but usually need adjusting for the class.

General skills

Written communication: Report comments, emails to parents and behaviour notes have to be clear and accurate, because families read them closely and they can be called on later.
Stakeholder management: A teacher keeps parents, the leadership team, specialist staff and aides informed about a child while respecting what stays confidential.
Problem solving: When a lesson falls flat or a child refuses to work, the teacher works out why on the spot and tries another approach before the bell.

Is the job growing?

About 165,900 people work as primary school teachers in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 11.7% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.

Employment, 2015–2024, projected to 2035

Employment (workers), Modelled trend anchored to a real Jobs and Skills Australia employment figure, interim years are indicative, not a real yearly series, Estimate
Period	Employment (workers)	Change
2015	150,700	-
2016	152,800	+2,100
2017	153,500	+700
2018	155,700	+2,200
2019	157,900	+2,200
2020	158,600	+700
2021	160,800	+2,200
2022	163,100	+2,300
2023	163,800	+700
2024	165,900	+2,100
2027projected	171,800	+5,900
2029projected	175,800	+4,000
2031projected	180,000	+4,200
2033projected	184,200	+4,200
2035projected	188,500	+4,300

Employment rose by 15,200 between 2015 and 2024; the dashed line shows the official projection to 2035.

How do you become a primary school teacher?

Here's the path most primary school teachers take, step by step.

1
Choose a teaching degree accredited for the state or territory you'll register in
A Bachelor of Education (Primary) is the most common, usually four years of study with placements built in. If you already have a degree, a two-year Master of Teaching (Primary) also qualifies you to register.
2
Pass the literacy and numeracy test
LANTITE is sat during your degree and has to be passed before you graduate. It checks the general literacy and numeracy expected of a teacher, and you can sit it more than once.
3
Complete supervised professional experience in schools
Around 80 days of teaching practice, mentored by a classroom teacher, are part of every accredited degree. These blocks are unpaid and full time, so they take planning if you're working.
4
Register with your state or territory teacher authority
You'll need a police check and a Working with Children Check, and most states grant provisional registration first, then full registration after a year of supervised teaching.
5
Apply through the recruitment process for the sector you want
Government schools advertise through their state portal and run their own selection rounds, while Catholic and independent schools hire directly, often months before the school year starts.

Study routes we have checked

Qualifications that are a recognised way into this role, and what else you need.

Bachelor of Arts/Master of Teaching (Primary)
A recognised route into this role
Complete an accredited initial-teacher-education programme for primary teaching, its placements and assessments, and meet the relevant teacher-registration requirements. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
Bachelor of Early Childhood and Primary Education
A recognised route into this role
Complete an accredited initial-teacher-education programme for primary teaching, its placements and assessments, and meet the relevant teacher-registration requirements. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood & Primary)
A recognised route into this role
Complete an accredited initial-teacher-education programme for primary teaching, its placements and assessments, and meet the relevant teacher-registration requirements. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary)
A recognised route into this role
Complete an accredited initial-teacher-education programme for primary teaching, its placements and assessments, and meet the relevant teacher-registration requirements. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
Bachelor of Education (Primary and Secondary)
A recognised route into this role
Complete an accredited initial-teacher-education programme for primary teaching, its placements and assessments, and meet the relevant teacher-registration requirements. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
Bachelor of Education (Primary)
A recognised route into this role
Complete an accredited initial-teacher-education programme for primary teaching, its placements and assessments, and meet the relevant teacher-registration requirements. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
Bachelor of Education (Primary)/Bachelor of Arts
A recognised route into this role
Complete an accredited initial-teacher-education programme for primary teaching, its placements and assessments, and meet the relevant teacher-registration requirements. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
Bachelor of Primary Education
A recognised route into this role
Complete an accredited initial-teacher-education programme for primary teaching, its placements and assessments, and meet the relevant teacher-registration requirements. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
Master of Teaching
A recognised route into this role
Complete an accredited initial-teacher-education programme for primary teaching, its placements and assessments, and meet the relevant teacher-registration requirements. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
Master of Teaching (Primary)
A recognised route into this role
Complete an accredited initial teacher education program for primary teaching, its placements and assessments, and meet the teacher registration requirements in your state or territory.

Ready to apply as a primary school teacher?

Whether you're working toward becoming a primary school teacher or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.

Resume templateExample bullet points grounded in this role's real tasks.View & download →Cover letter templateA structured letter with role-specific example content.View & download →Interview questionsWhat people are actually asked, and why.View & download →

What jobs can a primary school teacher move to?

Moving into Middle School Teacher typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $10,200 a year more on average.

Primary School Teacher

$115,800

Middle School Teacher

$126,000+$10,200

English Language Teacher

$123,000+$7,200

Secondary School Teacher

$120,700+$4,900

Special Education Teacher

$112,300−$3,500

Secondary School Teacher

$120,700+$4,900

Special Education Teacher

$112,300−$3,500

Middle School TeacherRecorded move
$126,000+$10,200
English Language TeacherRecorded move
$123,000+$7,200
Secondary School TeacherRecorded move
$120,700+$4,900
Special Education TeacherRecorded move
$112,300−$3,500

Recorded in tax dataSuggested from skill overlap

Thick lines are moves people were recorded making in Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility (income tax records, 2011-12 to 2020-21). Thin lines are moves we suggest from skill overlap and entry requirements.

Move to	Typical pay change	Overlap	Retraining
Middle School Teacher Primary training in child development and curriculum transfers well to middle years, needing little extra retraining.Known move	+$10,200	84%	minimal
English Language Teacher Primary literacy teaching and classroom practice transfer to English language teaching, with light additional training.Known move	+$7,200	84%	minimal
Secondary School Teacher A primary teacher brings curriculum knowledge and classroom management, but secondary teaching usually needs additional subject specialisation study.Known move	+$4,900	80%	reskill
Special Education Teacher Classroom management and curriculum adaptation carry across, with extra study in inclusive and special education needed.Known move	−$3,500	89%	short course
School Principal An experienced primary teacher can step into school leadership, though principal roles require further formal preparation and registration.Known move	−$4,000	21%	requalify

Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.

Who works as a primary school teacher?

The typical primary school teacher is 41 years old; 82% are women, 63% work full-time, and full-timers average 45 hours a week.

41
Median age: 82%
Female share: 63%
Full-time: +5h
vs all-jobs avg

What's it like being a primary school teacher?

The school week has a fixed rhythm: the bell, the class, the yard duty, the meetings after the last bell. Full-time teachers average 45 hours a week, with planning, marking and reporting sitting either side of the students. Get energy from a room full of children and the term will fly; find constant noise and paperwork draining and the same class gets heavier by week eight.

What people like

The moment a child gets it. A reader who has struggled all term suddenly sounds out a word, or the child who hated maths asks to keep going. Those moments come often enough to carry you through the flat weeks.
You know your class properly. You spend the year with the same faces, so you see progress a specialist teacher rarely does and you learn which child needs what without being told.
The term breaks are genuine. You get the school holidays off, paid across the year, though part of the summer goes on preparing your room and some of it on recovering from term four.
Your own room and routines. You set up the classroom and decide how the day runs, from the seating plan to the way the class lines up after lunch.

What people find hard

The admin follows you home. Planning, marking and report writing crowd into evenings and weekends, and the release time in the timetable rarely covers all of it.
Little slack in the day. When a colleague is away and no relief teacher can be found, your release time goes on covering their class, so the planning you had saved for the afternoon waits.
One class, many levels. A single room can hold children reading years above and below the expected level, along with behaviour plans and students still learning English, and you adjust for all of it every lesson.
Duty of care doesn't switch off. You're responsible for a class of children from the first bell to the gate, including playground duty and the walk to the bus, and you often notice a child is upset before anyone else does.

Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.

Which industries employ primary school teachers?

Education and Training employs the largest share of primary school teachers.

Top employing industries

1Education and Training

Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.

Highest qualification held
Bachelor degree		69.2%
Postgraduate		24.2%
Diploma / Advanced Diploma		4.3%
Year 12 or below		1.1%
Certificate III/IV		0.3%

Will AI replace primary school teachers?

2out of 10

Low exposure. Unlikely. AI will change some of the work around this job, not the job itself.

Few parts of this job can be handed to software. Learning management systems such as Seqta and Compass already handle attendance, marks and reporting, and a program can draft a worksheet in seconds, but neither teaches a class nor notices that a child has stopped following. If you're heading into the job now, learn the school's systems properly: the judgement you build about children is what the tools can't supply.

How a typical week splits

AI already does a lot of this

of a typical working week

None of the main tasks in this job.

40%

AI helps, you still do it

of a typical working week

Planning the week's lessons
20% of the week
Software can suggest activities or produce a worksheet instantly, but matching it to the reading levels in your room and to the curriculum remains your call.
Marking and writing reports
20% of the week
Assessment trackers turn marks into graphs and comment banks suggest phrasing, which saves hours at report season, though the grade and what you tell a parent come from what you've seen in class.

60%

Stays with people

of a typical working week

Teaching the class
45% of the week
Thirty children don't follow a script: you read the room, re-explain a concept a third way, settle the argument over the glue sticks and keep the pace up, none of which happens on a screen.
Talking with parents, carers and colleagues
15% of the week
A hard conversation about a child's progress runs on trust built over the term, which an email or a generated summary doesn't create.

How we work this out

We break each job into its main tasks, estimate the share of a typical week each one takes, and judge how far current AI and automation tools reach into it. The score out of 10 starts from the job's overall rating (low is 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 6, high 7 to 10) and the task split places it within that range. Source: Career Tips analysis of each role's main tasks.

Common questions about becoming a primary school teacher

Straight answers to the questions people ask most.

How much do primary school teachers earn?

The median full-time salary is $115,800 per year before tax. What moves it most is the classification you're placed on, how long you've been teaching, and any extra duties you take on, and pay differs between the government, Catholic and independent sectors.

How do you become a primary school teacher?

You finish an accredited teaching degree, pass LANTITE and register with your state or territory authority. If you already have a degree, a two-year Master of Teaching (Primary) gets you there sooner. Check the course is accredited for the state or territory you'll teach in before you commit.

Are primary school teachers in demand?

Primary school teachers are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 11.7% over the decade to 2035. Schools recruit through the year as well as at the end of it, so it's worth checking your state's portal regularly and being open to relief or short-term contracts to get a foot in the door.

Will AI replace primary school teachers?

AI is cutting the time spent on the repetitive parts: drafting worksheets, generating practice questions at different reading levels and writing report comments. Checking and editing what these tools produce, and keeping your own notes on what each child can actually do, is the habit to build now. The teaching itself, standing in front of a class and sensing when a child has switched off, is not something a program does.

What can a primary school teacher move into?

Middle school teaching is the shortest step, with a skill overlap of 84% and little extra study, and it pays $10,200 more. Special education teaching uses the same classroom management and curriculum adaptation, with a short course in inclusive education, and it pays $3,500 less. Secondary teaching needs extra subject specialisation study, so it's the bigger commitment.

Can I become a primary school teacher later in my career?

Yes, and career changers are common in primary teaching because a Master of Teaching (Primary) takes two years and draws on whatever you did before. The placement blocks are full time and unpaid, so plan your leave and income around them. Your state authority can tell you how your earlier degree is assessed before you apply.

Related roles

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How much do primary school teachers earn?

What does a primary school teacher do day to day?

What skills do primary school teachers need?

Specialist skills

Software and tools

General skills

Specialist skills

Software and tools

General skills

Is the job growing?

How do you become a primary school teacher?

Study routes we have checked

Ready to apply as a primary school teacher?

What jobs can a primary school teacher move to?

Who works as a primary school teacher?

What's it like being a primary school teacher?

What people like

What people find hard

Which industries employ primary school teachers?

Top employing industries

Will AI replace primary school teachers?

How a typical week splits

Common questions about becoming a primary school teacher

Related roles

Career advice