Rural teacher incentives Australia: $50,000 cash boost for these workers

Thousands of Aussies are being encouraged to move to the regions, with up to $50,000 on offer depending on the state.

Australian teachers are being encouraged to move to the regions to fill staff shortages, with cash incentives of up to $50,000 up for grabs.

In 2022, Australia had 307,000 full time equivalent teaching staff, according to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

But Australia’s teacher shortage isn’t purely a numbers game. In fact, in 2022, there were more teachers for each student than ever before.

Rather, it’s a shortage of the right teachers for the right jobs.

There aren’t enough teachers for rural and regional areas, where there are 4000 jobs on offer according to the Regional Australia Institute, nor are there enough for STEM subjects or to teach students with disabilities.

The federal government predicts by 2025, Australia will be reckoning with a shortfall of 4000 high school teachers. According to education minister Jason Clare, 50 per cent of uni students fail to finish their teaching degrees, while 20 per cent of those who do graduate leave the profession within three years.

The shortage is particularly inflamed in rural and regional schools. Picture: iStock.

Cash incentives for rural teachers

Several states have introduced cash incentives in an attempt to close that rural and regional gap. NSW, Victoria and Queensland are leading the charge, given they have the most regional teaching jobs on offer.

In NSW, for instance, teachers who move to rural and remote public schools may be eligible for a range of benefits, including a retirement bonus of $20,000, a relocation payment of up to $8000, a rural teacher incentive of between $20,000 and $30,000 and a rental subsidy.

In Victoria, the payments can also be considerable. Teachers who take up rural and regional roles may be eligible for an initial payment of between $9000 and $50,000 for hard-to-staff positions, with annual retention payments of up to $9000 for their second, third and fourth years in the job.

In Queensland, a range of cash boosts are available including financial support, relocation assistance and subsidised housing. According to the state’s incentive calculator, for example, a family of four relocating to a school in Far North Queensland could receive a total package of $32,000.

The government predicts a shortfall of 4000 high school teachers by 2025. Picture: iStock.

Uptake of the rural teacher incentives

While uptake of the incentives hasn’t yet filled the skills gap — the cash is still on offer, after all — the Rural Australia Institute says the initiatives might just work.

New research from the institute found a staggering 83 per cent of metro educators could be persuaded to make the move.

Salary increases were the biggest incentive (77 per cent), followed by other financial rewards, such as recruitment bonuses and relocation payments (72 per cent).

Housing support (59 per cent) and the cheaper cost of living in some rural areas (59 per cent) were other attractions.

Primary schoolteacher Courtney McCrone, for instance, moved her family of five back to her home town of Temora, 200km northwest of Canberra, to take advantage of the cheaper lifestyle in the country town.

“It’s definitely a lot cheaper to live here compared to other places, with rent and general living expenses,” Mrs McCrone told Yahoo.

“When we were in Wollongong, I probably paid over double what we pay [for rent] here. So that’s a huge difference.”

And their rental is only temporary. The family is building a five-bedroom house on a small acreage in the town, fulfilling a dream that would likely never have been possible in a capital city.

“There’s no way we could afford to build the house we are building, with the space we are going to have in any capital city. Small rural towns are a lot more affordable and you get more for your money as well,” Mrs McCrone said.

Originally published as Rural teacher incentives Australia: $50,000 cash boost for these workers