Teaching roles with South Australian government schools and preschools include:

• permanent school and preschool teachers
• temporary contract teachers
• relief teachers
• school and preschool leadership positions.

Requirements

To teach in a South Australian government school or preschool, you must:

• register to teach or apply for specific positions advertised on Edujobs
• have a current employable teacher registration (ETR) application with the department
• hold a university qualification (PDF 400KB) appropriate to subject and year level being taught
• hold a current full or provisional South Australian teacher registration (valid for 3 years)
  • to obtain teacher classification at salary increment step 4 and above or appointment to a school or preschool leadership role, you must hold a current full South Australian teacher registration (from 2021) 
• comply with Department of Human Services (DHS) working with children checks (WWCC)
• be an Australian resident either with an Australian birth certificate, residency permit or current work visa
• have completed full day responding to abuse and neglect - education and care training and maintained training by holding a current approved full day or update responding to abuse and neglect training certificate
• hold a current approved first aid training certificate, at the time of your appointment. Permanent and contract teacher first aid training requirements are managed by their site leader. 

Once all the requirements for employment have been met, an applicant will receive an approved authority to teach letter by email.

See Edujobs application hints to avoid delays in your application for employment.

Following successful employment, it's also expected that provisionally registered teachers will gain full registration within 3 years, or up to 6 years depending on individual circumstances.

Qualifications and subject verification

South Australian teachers must hold university teaching qualifications in an area of specialisation or level of schooling. The codes for subject specialisations and levels of schooling can be accessed from teaching subjects and skill codes (PDF 141KB) in the ‘help’ of section 4 of the online teaching application.

You are asked to self-rate yourself for each subject (PDF 400KB) you are prepared to teach based on your teaching experience and university qualifications, and to provide evidence for these ratings based on practicum reports, employment history and academic transcripts.

From January 1 2019 all students enrolled in teaching qualifications in South Australia will be required to pass the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students (LANTITE) before they graduate. More information on the test is available from ACER.

Early childhood certification

In addition to the requirements listed above, early childhood teachers must meet 1 of the following requirements:

• hold a four-year early childhood teaching qualification
• hold a university undergraduate degree and approved post graduate pre-service university qualification in early childhood teaching, eg a Master of Teaching and Graduate Diploma in early childhood will together satisfy teacher registration
• be a permanent Department for Education teacher prior to 2012 and hold a letter of approval from the assistant director, People and Culture Operations, to work in an early childhood program
• hold an authority to teach letter clearing you to be employed in an early childhood program.

Please note:

• TAFE qualifications are not accepted as a teaching qualification in the South Australian Department for Education
• teachers who have completed provide an emergency first aid response in an education and care setting (HLTAID004) will increase their employment opportunities in early childhood programs.

Refusing an offer of teaching employment

Make sure you keep your availability for employment in your application up to date and accurate, as refusing an offer of employment will restrict any further offers for the school term. A second refusal may result in your application being withdrawn for the rest of the school year.

Common application errors

The common errors detailed below will delay the processing of your application.

No documentation to verify your name or residency

Ensure your application has the same full name (including all middle names) as it appears on your birth certificate, passport or any name change documents in your application for employment.

Make sure all residency and name change documents are attached so we can link all the changes. For example attaching your birth certificate is not enough alone if you are now using your married name and you do not provide the marriage certificate.

Have the appropriate visa if you require one, and make sure you have attached it to your application with a copy of your passport. 

Please note that the department does not sponsor visas.

Teacher Registration Number

The Department for Education has a direct link to the Teacher Registration Board of South Australia to confirm your teacher registration however this only works when you complete your correct teacher registration number on your application for employment.  

The most common error is applicants put their education ID number in as their teacher registration number. Your teacher registration number is at the top of your registration certificate and has 6 numerals only.

Pre-employment declaration

Always be honest and declare everything when completing your pre-employment declaration. Where you answer yes or unsure to any question provided full details, the more the better no matter how insignificant as it will mean less time wasted following up with you for more details.

Do not change your answers unless your situation has changed, any changes require us to do a full check again.

Have an up-to-date registration of interest for teaching – see Edujobs.

The extra time required for follow-up will vary and depends on the nature and complexity of the issues identified. Varying system and site needs may cause other delays.