Benefits and support

72 schools in Perth are part of the Metropolitan Teaching Program. These schools are considered more challenging due to a range of factors including location and socio-economic status indicators.

Teachers in the program receive:

• additional financial incentives of up to $3000 a year depending on location
• permanency after two years’ continuous and satisfactory service.

146 country schools are part of this program. Many of these schools are in small, isolated communities.

Teachers working in schools within the program receive:

• financial incentives of between $5000 and $13 730 a year depending on location
• permanency at their last Country Teaching Program school after two years’ continuous and satisfactory service.

Use the benefits calculator to view rural, regional and remote allowances.

Salary packaging is a tax-effective way for you to receive your salary as a combination of cash and benefits. The amount you choose to spend is deducted from your gross salary which reduces your taxable income and therefore the amount of tax payable. Salary packaging is available to many of our employees. You can decide the proportion of cash and benefits you receive.

Lots of our employees choose to salary package superannuation contributions and/or their rent if they live in government housing.

We offer flexible working arrangements to support you to balance the demands of your professional and personal life.

• part-time work
• job sharing - sharing of a teaching position between two teachers
• deferred salary scheme – this benefit allows you to defer part of your annual salary over four years. Your deferred salary is then paid to you during the fifth year while you spend the year on approved leave.

We provide our employees with a wide variety of leave entitlements:

• sick leave and carer’s leave (personal leave)
• long service leave
• paid parental leave (partner leave, surrogacy and adoption leave) and an extended period of unpaid parental leave
• leave for study and examinations
• special leave for specific purposes, such as cultural or ceremonial responsibilities, international sporting competitions or jury duty
• additional leave for teachers in the Remote Teaching Service.

Our teachers are supported, developed and challenged to be their best and to deliver differentiated curriculum to students that enhances their learning experiences.

Working as a teacher in a public school, you are supported to be the best teacher you can be. 

We recognise that teaching is a collegial profession and our Teacher Development Schools provide peer based support to implement the Western Australian Curriculum and improve what happens in classrooms.  Teacher Development Schools deliver practical, school-based professional learning opportunities for teachers and school leaders to learn directly from the successful practices of others.  This enables expertise to be applied and shared across schools and the system. 

Teachers in public schools use Connect Communities to network, share practices, ideas and resources.

Our Statewide Services team offers support with curriculum, student behaviour and wellbeing, literacy and numeracy and inclusive education.  

Teachers in public schools engage with contemporary education delivery models in their classrooms.  They are supported to use online tools such as Connect, Office 365, web conferencing and other integrated systems for teaching and learning and collaboration with teachers, school leaders, students and parents.

Recognition of prior teaching service

Once employed with us, you can apply to receive a higher salary, based on prior teaching experience. We may recognise previous service if your experience is not in a school teaching role. such as:

• TAFE and university lecturers
• teachers in alternative schools
• childcare workers.

We complete all assessments of prior experience on a case-by-case basis. As an employee, you will be able to apply online via the Department's intranet, Ikon. You will need to provide statements of service showing your work history which include the:

• name of the employer
• start and end date of employment
• job title
• work capacity or full-time equivalent (FTE)
• start and end date of any unpaid leave. If you did not take unpaid leave, your statement must say so.

You must provide a copy of your marriage certificate or change of name document if the name on your statement is different to our records.

Note:

• We cannot assess payslips, references, resumes, employment contracts or registration documents.
• We will only consider full years of continuous service. We do not recognise casual work.
• We reserve the right to determine whether we will award a higher salary.

Recognition as a 5-year trained teacher

Once employed, you can apply for a higher salary as a 5-year trained teacher. To apply, you must have completed at least 5 years of full-time study, or the part-time equivalent.

You will be able to apply online via the Department's intranet, Ikon. You will need to submit a copy of:

• all qualifications and certificates
• full academic transcripts with course completion dates.

We will not be able to consider your application without these documents.

We assess all applications on a case-by-case basis. We reserve the right to determine whether we will award a higher salary.