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Special Education Teachers

Special Education Teachers teach primary, middle or intermediate, and secondary school students with learning difficulties, hearing impairment and sight impairment, and promote students' social, emotional, intellectual and physical development.

Education & trainingANZSCO 2415
$2,160/wkMedian full-time pay
34kPeople employed
+13% ▲Growth to 2035
64%Work full time
42Median age
Source: ABS · JSA, 2025-26ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 2415.More about our sources: How we check our facts

What they do

The main tasks of this occupation, from the national occupation standard.

assessing students' abilities and limitations with regard to intellectual, physical, social and emotional disabilities, exceptional intellectual gifts, or specific problems of language and cultureplanning, organising and implementing special programs to provide remedial or advanced tuitionadministering various forms of assessment and interpreting the resultsteaching basic academic subjects, and practical and self-help skills to hearing and sight impaired studentsdevising instructional materials, methods and aids to assist in training and rehabilitationadvising, instructing and counselling parents and teachers on the availability and use of special techniques
Source: JSA occupation profileTask list from the Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profile for ANZSCO 2415 (ANZSCO task statements).More about our sources: How we check our facts

The outlook

Room for 3,800 more people in special education teachers by 2035 ▲

The field grew 8.5% in the year to February 2026, adding about 2,700 workers. Most of the jobs are in NSW and QLD, with VIC third.

Source: JSA · ABS, 2025-26ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 2415.More about our sources: How we check our facts
29.6k2025
31.4k2030 PROJ.
33.4k2035 PROJ.

Getting in

9 in ten people here have a degree. You can still get in without one.

7% came through a VET qualification. These are the nationally recognised courses mapped to this occupation, with the number of registered training providers that offer each one.

Source: JSA · training.gov.auEducation split: JSA (Jobs and Skills Australia) occupation profile, using ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Census data, ANZSCO 2415. Qualification mapping and provider counts: training.gov.au, the national register of vocational education, October 2026. Listed providers are current registered training providers (private providers and TAFE institutes).More about our sources: How we check our facts

Nationally recognised training · most offered first

52897WACertificate III

Certificate III in Teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages

See 0 providers
52898WACertificate IV

Certificate IV in Teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages

See 0 providers
22684VICGraduate Certificate

Graduate Certificate in Teaching Autistic Students

See 0 providers
See all 4 mapped courses
52897WACertificate III in Teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages · 0 providers
52898WACertificate IV in Teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages · 0 providers
22684VICGraduate Certificate in Teaching Autistic Students · 0 providers
22685VICGraduate Diploma of Teaching Autistic Students · 0 providers

Providers are shown in A-Z order on each course page. A listing is not a recommendation.

Jobs open right now

34k Australians do this work. See who is hiring this month.

Search job ads by state

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Source: ABS · JSA, 2025-26State chart shows people employed, not current job ads. ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 2415.More about our sources: How we check our facts

People employed by state, 2025-26

NSW11.2k
QLD7.7k
VIC6.1k
WA2.9k
SA2.1k
ACT0.6k
TAS0.6k
NT0.5k

Occupations near this one

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