Beginning teacher incentives and support

Financial incentives for beginning teachers

We offer a range of financial incentives to help you set yourself up for success, personally and professionally, and to encourage you to consider the schools and locations where your teaching skills and passion will have the most impact.

In addition to a generous starting salary of $84,078 (as at 1 July 2024), you may be eligible for:

• Beginning Teacher Support payment—up to $20,000 (over 4 years) when commencing employment in state schools across our Far North Queensland, North Queensland, Darling Downs South West and Central Queensland regions, between 2023 and the end of 2025.
• Beginning Teacher payment—beginning teachers appointed to TR4–7 locations are eligible to receive a one-off payment of $1,000 (TR4 and TR5), $1,500 (TR6) and $2,000 (TR7). Information about eligible schools and locations is available in our choose your teaching adventure booklet.
• Regional Attraction and Retention payment—payment of $900 to state school teachers working in eligible high priority regional locations in Queensland in 2024 and 2025. View the list of eligible schools.
• Regional Recognition of Service payment—$1,200 for state school teachers who remain in eligible high priority regional locations for the 2024 and 2025 school year. View the list of eligible schools.
• Recognition of Rural and Remote Service—temporary and permanent beginning teachers completing their first year of teaching in rural or remote locations (TR4–7) are eligible for an annual payment of up to $3,000, depending on location. Additional annual payments for subsequent years in these locations are also available. Detailed information is available in our choose your teaching adventure booklet.
• Locality allowances—allowance paid to teachers living in rural and remote locations to assist with general expenses. Allowances up to $4,596 for single teachers and $9,193 for families per year, depending on location. Please refer to the locality allowances directive for specific information about allowances.
• Teacher registration fees—reimbursement of teacher registration application fees paid to the Queensland College of Teachers.

Please note that eligibility for financial incentives is dependent on your school location, transfer rating (TR) and individual circumstances. Information about available incentives will be discussed with you during the recruitment process.

Housing, relocation and travel benefits

• Rural and Remote Housing Incentive Scheme—beginning teachers commencing employment in an eligible school location between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, may be eligible for 12 months of rental assistance and accommodation support. View the list of eligible schools.
• Teacher housing—teacher housing is available in many of our rural and remote communities across Queensland, at a significantly reduced rental fee. Access to housing is dependent on location, personal circumstances and availability.
• Concierge service—relocation and settlement support for teachers relocating to commence employment in priority locations and eligible schools. View the list of eligible schools.
• Transfer and relocation expenses—assistance with organising the relocation of your personal items including furniture and payment of reasonable costs associated with relocation and travel to your new school community.
• Recognition of location travel allowance—teachers and their family members in rural and remote communities (TR5–7) are eligible for up to $3,000 per person, each year to assist with the costs of travel to and from the community. Information about eligible schools is available in our choose your teaching adventure booklet.

Other incentives and benefits for teachers in rural and remote communities

Teachers and their families living and working in rural and remote communities across Queensland also have access to a range of benefits and incentives under the Recognition of Rural and Remote Service Scheme. These are location dependent and eligible schools are detailed in our choose your teaching adventure booklet.

Additional incentives and benefits can include:

• identified location allowance up to $1,000 per year
• access to additional subsidised flights annually
• additional week of summer holidays each year
• access to discretionary leave days during the school year
• accelerated accrual of transfer points and prioritised consideration of transfer requests
• eligibility for Australian Government Reduction of Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debts for teachers in very remote areas.

To find out which incentives you may be eligible for in specific schools or locations based on your personal circumstances, access our online incentives and benefits calculator.

Other personal and professional benefits for all teachers

All Queensland state school teachers have access to a range of benefits including:

• provision of a laptop, through the Computers for Teachers (CFT) program to support teaching, learning and communication
• generous leave entitlements including parental and family leave, reproductive health leave and long service leave
• employer superannuation contribution of 12.75%
• school, regional and statewide professional development opportunities
• access to wellbeing programs and support through the free and confidential Employee Assistance Program
• fitness passport membership, providing discounted access to a range of fitness facilities across Queensland.

We encourage you to seek independent advice about the financial incentives and benefits you may be eligible for and how these may impact on your personal situation. Please note that some benefits may be subject to fringe benefit tax (FBT) and may result in a reportable fringe benefit amount (RFBA) which will be included in your annual income statement.

Induction and support

When you commence your teaching career in a Queensland state school, you will have access to a wide range of support, networking and development opportunities through your school, within your region and from the department, to help set you up for success.

You can access a range of useful resources and information to help you get started in your new role, new school and new classroom through our induction page on the Queensland Education Department website. This includes orientation checklists to guide you on what to do before you start, on your first day and first week, as well as procedures for your school and relocation.

Our Education Futures Institute will also help you build professional expertise and networks as you transition from preservice to beginning teacher, and across your teaching career in Queensland state schools.

The Starting Successfully program for early career teachers will provided you with access to a comprehensive induction program, mentoring and support, opportunities to collaborate with peers and attend a series of masterclasses, as well as access to a dedicated professional learning portal and resources.

Tailored professional learning and support aligned to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers will also assist you to generate evidence of practice to help you achieve full teacher registration.