Teacher reveals why she quit teaching in Melbourne

A teacher has revealed why ditching city life for the country has made a world of difference to her savings account.

A teacher has revealed why ditching city life for the country has made a world of difference to her savings account.

Zoe Carney was working as a teacher in Melbourne for two years. Like many teachers, she felt her classes were too big. She was exhausted and overworked. She needed a change.

Ms Carney decided to move three-and-a-half hours away. She cashed in on a program that allows her to get an extra $80,000 over four years, on top of her salary.

“Teaching has a lot of negativity at the moment. A lot of people are feeling burnt out,” Ms Carney told news.com.au.

“I wasn’t super happy teaching in Melbourne. I’ve always loved my students but the workload is very overstimulating.”

Zoe Carney worked as a teacher in Melbourne for two years. Picture: Supplied

She said there were incentives for teaching in the country. Before she even started, she was given $50,000 and would receive $10,000 annually for the next three years.

This is called a TFI position. The Victorian Government offers up to $50,000 for teachers before tax for a hard to staff position. The teacher must stay for two years. For every year they stay, there is an incentive payment. There is also relocation support available.

She decided to give it a go.

When she went for an interview, she started second guessing herself. The town only had 1000 people. There was no one around. She was convinced she’d get bored and hate it.

She had visions of sitting home alone on weekends.

Ms Carney decided to throw caution to the wind. She began teaching in the town at the beginning of the year.

Ms Carney decided to make a TikTok documenting her teaching journey in a small town. It’s not an unusual move for a young Australian.

“I wanted to show young teachers this is a really awesome opportunity to get ahead financially and have an easier workload,” she said.

She said that since making the move she’s found a huge community and has rarely been bored. Ms Carney wanted to share her genuine experience.

At the beginning of this year she left to work in a small town. Picture: Supplied

Ms Carney says she has also been able to save a lot. She said the initial $50,000 arrived in the first two weeks. She did get taxed “a lot” on it. But rent and general cost-of-living was cheaper. Groceries were more expensive. But Bendigo is 100km away. It’s a cheaper alternative.

“Everything is just less. Everything is more simple,” she said.

“My classes are so small here. Financially and socially — I’ve joined a netball team. We play in different towns every week. There is way more of a work-life balance.”

She said she has also been able to get to know her students a bit better, and found they were more respectful as she saw them “practically everywhere”. Her Year 12 class had only six students, and she also saved on the commute as she no longer has to battle the traffic.

One downside was the distance. Ms Carney had to get very used to the fact she couldn’t nip to the store quickly. It’s meant she’s had to think about her 100km trips to Kmart.

Ms Carney recently documented her Kmart trip. She’d been putting off fixing up her rental.

She's much happier as a result. Picture: Supplied

The high school teacher had an inkling it would get traction.

And, it did. Many shared their own stories.

“As someone’s who’s nearest Kmart/Target/Big W is over eight hours away. I get your reluctance to drive unless absolutely necessary,” one social media user commented.

One said: “Ours is five hours. Luckily I only have to spend over $50 for free shipping.”

“Ours is six hours round trip away but that’s a day trip so we only do that once a month,” another said.

Another social media user added: “My nearest Kmart is 35 minutes. I couldn’t imagine, I’ve gone from five minutes to 35 and struggle. Ended up getting one pass to get cheaper delivery.”

The distance is something Ms Carney has quickly gotten used to. Despite this, she wouldn’t change her decision to teach rurally for the world. She hopes her content inspires other teachers.

Originally published as Teacher reveals why she quit teaching in Melbourne