Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher
An early childhood teacher designs and delivers play-based learning programmes in pre-primary settings that meet the Australian Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) outcomes for children aged 3 to 5 years.
What this job is
An early childhood teacher designs and delivers play-based learning programmes in pre-primary settings that meet the Australian Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) outcomes for children aged 3 to 5 years. They establish safe, inclusive environments, observe and assess individual development, communicate with families, and work with education support staff to support children's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical growth.
Are employers advertising this role?
Falling, down 27.9% over 5 years
Counted across a group of similar roles. These are three-month rolling averages of online job advertisements, not filled positions.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index.
Day-to-day
Plan and implement daily learning experiences aligned to the EYLF five learning outcomes: identity, community, wellbeing, learning and thinking, communicating. Observe, document, and assess individual children's development using anecdotal notes, photographs, and learning stories to track progress across developmental domains. Set up and supervise learning areas (art, music, literacy, numeracy, sensory play, outdoor spaces) with developmentally appropriate resources and materials. Facilitate small group and whole-group activities including storytelling, music, movement, guided play, and structured learning tasks. Implement behaviour guidance strategies that are consistent with the service philosophy and responsive to individual children's needs and temperament. Conduct child protection and mandatory reporting obligations in accordance with state or territory legislation and report suspected abuse or neglect to the appropriate authority. Communicate progress, concerns, and developmental observations to families through written reports, learning journals, conversations, and formal parent-teacher conferences. Liaise with families regarding health, dietary, allergies, cultural practices, and individual learning needs to ensure responsive and inclusive practice.
Who does this now
About 26,300 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
What this role asks for
Bachelor degree or higher (ABS skill level 1)
Registration or licensing is required.
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation had trouble finding suitable applicants in 2025. This measures how hard employers found it to fill jobs. It is not a count of jobs, and it does not say whether the occupation is growing.
Requirements
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.
The honest hard part
You'll need a bachelor degree to switch in, which takes 3 to 4 years. Pay is modest compared to primary teaching, and you're doing physical, emotionally demanding work (managing tantrums, toileting, conflict) in noisy environments all day. Burnout is real in this sector.
Where the jobs are
Jobs concentrate in capital cities and major regional centres where families can afford childcare fees. Remote work doesn't exist in this role. Check job boards like seek.com.au and state government education sites for actual vacancies in your area.
Pay
Published for ANZSCO unit group 2411, 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.
Skills
- Active Listeningcore
- Adapt teaching to student's capabilitiescore
- Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
- Cultural Awareness and Sensitivitycore
- Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
- Goal Setting and Planningcore
- Inclusive Practicecore
- Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
- Record Managementcore
- Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
- Stakeholder Communicationcore
- Team Collaborationcore
- Time Management and Prioritisationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Written Communicationcore
- Confidentiality and Privacy Compliance
- Conflict Resolution
- Continuous Learning and Upskilling
- Digital Literacy
- Group Facilitation
- Multitasking
- Problem Solving
- Professional Boundaries Maintenance
- Report Writing
- Trauma-Informed Communication
Which of these do you have?
Tick the ones you haveCommon questions
Sources
- 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.
What Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher workers move into, from ten years of tax records.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
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