Becoming a teacher
How to become a teacher in Australia
Degrees, scholarships, the Commonwealth Prac Payment, LANTITE, registration and your first year's pay: everything you need to become a teacher in Australia.
To teach in an Australian school you need an accredited initial teacher education degree, a pass in the LANTITE literacy and numeracy test, registration with your state's teacher regulator, and a working with children check. Most people do a four-year bachelor's degree or a two-year Master of Teaching after another degree.
There's more financial help than many people realise: the Commonwealth Prac Payment during placements, Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships of up to $10,000 a year, state scholarships, and paid employment-based pathways that let career-changers earn while they train.
Graduate teachers start on between about $80,000 and $96,000 depending on the state. Choose your state below for its pathways, registration rules and first-year pay.
Becoming a teacher in your state
Guides
Getting started
How to become a teacher in Australia: every step, cost and timeline for 2026
The full route into teaching: degree, LANTITE, placements, registration, checks, funding and your first salary.
Read the guide →Registration
Teacher registration in Australia: every state's regulator, fees and rules compared
A state-by-state comparison of teacher regulators, 2026 fees, provisional and full registration, renewal rules and whether you also need a working with children check.
Read the guide →Career change
Changing careers to teaching in Australia: routes, money and what your experience is worth
How mid-career professionals retrain as teachers: the fastest routes, the money available, the pay you'll start on and how prior work is counted.
Read the guide →Student money
Commonwealth Prac Payment for teaching students: rate, eligibility and how to apply
What the $338.60-a-week Commonwealth Prac Payment is, who qualifies, how to apply through your university and what a full degree's placements are worth.
Read the guide →Scholarships
Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships: amounts, who can apply and the service you owe
How the Commonwealth Teaching Scholarship works: $10,000 a year, the caps, the remote placement top-up, eligibility for 2027 starters and the teaching service you must give back.
Read the guide →LANTITE
LANTITE explained: what it costs, when you can sit it and how to pass
Everything about the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education: fees, dates, format, the standard and re-sit rules.
Read the guide →Pathways
Paid teaching degrees: Teach For Australia, Nexus and state employment-based pathways
Every major earn-while-you-learn route into teaching, what each pays, how long it takes and the commitment you sign up to.
Read the guide →Accreditation
Proficient teacher accreditation: moving from provisional to full registration
What Proficient means, how to move from provisional to full registration in each state, what evidence you need and what it's worth in pay.
Read the guide →Degrees
Teaching degrees in Australia: Bachelor, Master of Teaching and which one you need
Bachelor of Education vs Master of Teaching vs double degrees: length, placements, accreditation and how to choose.
Read the guide →Costs
What a teaching degree costs in 2026: HECS-HELP, hidden costs and the money that offsets them
The real cost of becoming a teacher: the 2026 education HECS band, total degree debt, placement and registration costs, repayments and the payments that cut the bill.
Read the guide →Checks
Working with children checks for teachers: which states need one, and which don't
Which states require teachers to hold a separate working with children check, what each one is called, what it costs, and when it's tax deductible.
Read the guide →First year
Your first year as a graduate teacher: pay, workload, support and what to sort out
What to expect in your first year of teaching: starting salary by state, take-home pay, reduced face-to-face load, induction support and the paperwork that affects your pay.
Read the guide →