Teaching in Australia

There are approximately 10,000 schools with over 3,000,000 students in Australia's eight states and territories. Each state is responsible for its own teacher employment and teacher certification policies. There are no school districts, therefore in each state the department of education is the employer. In recent years Australia has had a surplus of teachers except in isolated areas and in some specialised subjects. However, that seems to be changing and a 1998 study for the Australian Council of Deans of Education predicted that teacher shortages, both elementary and secondary, would develop during the following five years.

The school year starts in late January/early February and ends in early-mid December. As in Canada, most of the hiring would be for the beginning of the school year but, inevitably, vacancies would occur at other times. Approximately 25% of all students attend non-governmental schools with most of these linked to religious organizations. Generally they follow the curriculum established by the state government education department.

State	Addresses for Certification	Addresses for employment in government schools.(Contact individual employers regarding employment in non-governmental schools.)
New South Wales	Overseas Qualifications Officer Ground Floor 255 Elizabeth St. Sydney, NSW 2000 011-61-9269-3500	School Staffing Unit Department of School Education Locked Bag 3003 Blacktown, NSW 2148 011-61-2-96729786
Queensland  (see Registration Authorities below)	Skills Recognition Branch Level 6, 30 Mary St. Brisbane, QLD 4000 011-61-7-3234-9900	School Staffing and Recruiting Education Queensland PO Box 33 50 Albert St. Brisbane, QLD 4002 011-61-7-32371368
Victoria  (see Registration Authorities below)	Overseas Qualifications Unit Level 27 Nauru House 80 Collins St. Melbourne VIC 3000 011-61-3-9655-6164	Employment Assessment Centre Department of Education Level 17, Rialto South Tower 525 Collins St. Melbourne, VIC 3000 011-61-3-96282211
Western Australia	Overseas Qualifications Unit Level 5, 81 St. George's Terrace Perth, WA 6000 011-61-9-426-8824	Education Department of Western Australia Personnel Directorate 151 Royal St. East Perth, WA 6004 011-61-9-2644111
South Australia (see Registration Authorities below)	Immigration Promotion and Settlement Unit 24 Flinders St. Adelaide, SA 5000 011-61-8-8226-1944	Department for Education and Children's Services 31 Flinders St. Adelaide, SA 5000 011-61-8-2261000
Tasmania	Overseas Qualifications Unit 6th Floor Legal and General Building 169 Liverpool St. Hobart, TAS 7000 011-61-02-337948	Department of Education and the Arts GPO Box 169B Hobart, TAS 7001 011-61-02-338011
Northern Territory	Office of Ethnic Affairs Ground Floor, Palm Court 8 Cavanaugh St. Darwin, NT 0800 011-61-8-8999-7332	Department of Education Human Resource Management Branch PO Box 4821 Darwin, NT 0801 011-61-8-89995723
Australian Capital Territory	National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition GPO Box 1407 Canberra, ACT 2601	Australian Capital Territory Department of Education and Training PO box 1584 Tuggeranong, ACT 2900 011-61-6-2050005

Registration Authorities

Registration authorities do not employ teachers, but in the following states registration is required before teachers can be considered for employment. Registration does not guarantee employment.

Queensland

Board of Teacher Registration
PO Box 389
Toowong, QLD 4066
011-61-7-38707168

South Australia

Teachers' Registration Board
1st Floor, 45 Wakefield St.
Adelaide, SA 5000
011-61-8-2070066

Victoria

(non-government schools only)
Registered Schools Board
Level 15, South Rialto Tower
525 Collins St.
Melbourne, VIC 3001
011-61-3-96282722