Adult Literacy / Numeracy Teacher

An Adult Literacy/Numeracy Teacher delivers foundation-level reading, writing, and mathematics instruction to adults in community education, TAFE, or workplace settings across Australia. They design and deliver programmes tailored to learners with low foundational skills, monitor progress against individual learning goals, and adapt teaching methods to diverse adult learning needs and cultural backgrounds.

Assess adult learners' literacy and numeracy levels using diagnostic tools and observation to establish baseline skills and identify learning gaps. Plan and deliver lessons in reading, writing, phonics, spelling, and numeracy concepts suited to adult learners with no or minimal prior education. Use multimodal teaching resources including digital platforms, print materials, and manipulatives to teach foundational numeracy (number, place value, operations, fractions, decimals). Teach functional literacy skills including reading instructions, completing forms, writing emails, and interpreting workplace documents. Deliver numeracy instruction for everyday contexts such as budgeting, shopping, time-telling, measurement, and data interpretation. Record and analyse learner progress against individual learning plans and ACSF (Australian Core Skills Framework) bands. Modify teaching approaches and pace to accommodate diverse learning needs, including learners with low English proficiency, learning disabilities, or interrupted education. Incorporate digital literacy and numeracy skills into lessons, including use of computers, mobile devices, and online learning platforms.

The standard entry pathway requires a bachelor degree or higher (ABS Skill Level 1). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

Most roles are part-time or casual at TAFE and community colleges, with no guarantee of ongoing work. The emotional labour is real too: you'll work with adults facing serious barriers, poverty, and past educational trauma, which takes a toll. Progression to leadership is limited.

Concentrated in capital cities and larger regional centres where TAFE institutes, community colleges, and migrant resource centres operate. Rural and remote areas have fewer roles. In practice most jobs cluster around metro areas and industry-specific training providers (aged care, hospitality, construction sectors). Remote teaching exists but is less common than face-to-face.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 2422, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Active Listeningcore
• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
• Continuous Learning and Upskillingcore
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivitycore
• Customer Needs Assessmentcore
• Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
• Goal Setting and Planningcore
• Group Facilitationcore
• Inclusive Practicecore
• Trauma-Informed Communicationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Workload Self-Managementcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Conflict Resolution
• Digital Literacy
• Disability Awareness and Inclusion
• Feedback Collection and Actioning
• Interpreter and Accessibility Coordination
• Professional Boundaries Maintenance
• Record Management
• Report Writing
• Service Navigation and Referral

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

What Adult Literacy / Numeracy Teacher workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026