How to become an early childhood teacher + salary guide

Ask any early childhood teacher why they chose the profession and they’ll rarely talk about job security or career progression. They’ll tell you about a specific child, a moment, a breakthrough that happened in front of them or an experience that changed the rest of their life. The work gets very personal, and that’s part of the reason why people love being early childhood teachers and thrive in this particular field of careers centred around helping.

The science backs up what teachers already know instinctively. A child’s brain has reached 88% of its adult weight by age five, which makes the early years the single most important window for cognitive and emotional development. The quality of teaching a child receives during that window shapes outcomes that follow them for decades. Early childhood teachers are the people standing in that window every single day.

Australia has recognised this in a serious way. Combined government spending on early childhood education and care hit $20.9 billion in 2025, a real increase of 10.6% on the previous year. That investment is helping the sector grow tremendously, and the demand continues to exceed supply in many areas. 

According to a report from Jobs and Skills Australia, Australia currently needs around 21,000 more qualified early childhood professionals just to meet existing demand and support more manageable workloads. If you’ve been looking for a career where your skills are invaluable and in high demand, this is it.

This guide covers everything you need to know about how to become an early childhood teacher in Australia, including the qualifications required, what the role involves on a day-to-day basis, what salary you can expect to earn and how Acknowledge Education’s online Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood Education can get you there in a single year of full-time study.

What does an early childhood (pre-primary) teacher do?

Early childhood teachers design and deliver learning experiences for children from birth to age five, a window that matters more than most people realise. The work is as rewarding as it is varied.

Day to day, early childhood teachers are responsible for:

• Program planning and delivery: You’ll design and lead age-appropriate learning activities that support children’s development through creativity and problem-solving.

• Developmental support: Every child develops differently, so the role involves observing each child closely and adjusting your approach to meet their individual cognitive and emotional needs as they grow.

• Progress monitoring and documentation: You’ll have to keep detailed learning records and track milestones to keep families and specialists informed and ready to act if you flag any developmental concerns.

• Family and educator collaboration: You’ll build relationships with families and work alongside other educators and support staff to create a consistent experience for every child in your care.

• Advocacy and continuous improvement: Great early childhood teachers reflect on their practice all the time and advocate loudly for the children and families in their care.

Work environments

Where you work as an early childhood teacher changes everything, from the age group you spend your days with to the type of community you become a part of.

Some teachers thrive in the structured routine of preschool classrooms whilst others love the variety and longer relationships that come with full-day care. With 18,990 approved early childhood education and care services operating in Australia in 2024, there’s plenty of room to find what suits you:

Early childhood teacher qualifications in Australia

To work as a qualified early education childhood teacher in Australia, you need a degree that meets the standards set by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). Only 19.7% of the paid contract workforce in Australian early childhood services held an early childhood teaching qualification in 2024, which tells you exactly how much room there is for qualified people to step in and build a meaningful career.

There are two main pathways into the profession:

Bachelor of Early Childhood Education

A bachelor’s degree is the traditional route into early childhood teaching, typically completed over three to four years. It covers child development, curriculum theory, play-based learning and professional practice and includes supervised placement hours to prepare you for real classrooms.

Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood Education

If you already hold a degree in any discipline, Acknowledge Education’s Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood Education offers a faster way in. The course is completed in one year of full-time study, during three trimesters and is accredited by ACECQA, which means their graduates can apply for registration as an early childhood teacher with their state teacher regulatory authority. 

Here’s what the course covers:

• Child development: You’ll study development from birth to five, building a deep understanding of how children grow cognitively and emotionally during their first years.

• Play-based pedagogy: The program explores how play is the primary vehicle for learning in early childhood and how to design experiences that are purposeful and engaging.

• Curriculum design: You’ll learn to plan and deliver curriculum that responds to individual children’s needs, aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework.

• Professional leadership: The course prepares you to take on leadership responsibilities, from guiding other educators to advocating for quality practice.

• Practical placements: You’ll complete two 30-day placements in real early childhood settings, one with preschoolers aged three to five and one with infants and toddlers from six weeks to two years old.

How to become an early childhood teacher

The way to become an early childhood teacher is more straightforward than most people expect, and faster too if you already hold a degree. You get qualified, do your placements, register with your state and enter a workforce with strong demand for qualified teachers. That’s a solid position to graduate into. 

1. Complete an approved early childhood teaching qualification

The qualification you choose matters here. To work as a registered early childhood teacher in Australia, your degree needs to meet the standards set by ACECQA and it’s worth checking that box before you enrol anywhere. A Bachelor of Early Childhood Education is the traditional route, which typically takes three to four years.

If you’ve already got a degree under your belt, Acknowledge Education’s Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood Education gets you there in one year of full-time study. Same ACECQA approval, same registration eligibility and a shorter study duration for those who already hold a degree.

2. Complete supervised teaching placements

Reading about child development is one thing. Standing in a room full of three-year-olds who all need something different from you at the same time is another experience entirely. Every approved qualification includes mandatory supervised placement hours and they’re the part of the course most graduates say they valued most.

Acknowledge Education’s Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood Education includes two 30-day placements that take you across the full birth-to-five age range:

Acknowledge Education arranges placements for all students completing them within the scheduled study period, so you’re not left scrambling to find one yourself.

3. Register with a state or territory teaching authority

Your qualification gets you to the door, but registration gets you through it. Once you’ve completed an ACECQA-approved course, you'll need to register with the teaching authority in your state or territory before you can work as a qualified early childhood teacher. Registration requirements vary by state and territory.

The requirements vary slightly depending on where you’re based, but the process is pretty straightforward:

1. Complete your ACECQA-approved qualification and confirm you meet the graduate standards for early childhood teaching

2. Gather supporting documents, including your qualification certificate, academic transcript and proof of identity

3. Complete a National Police Record Check and a Working with Children Check for your state or territory

4. Submit your registration application to your local teacher regulatory authority

5. Wait for approval, then collect your registration certificate and start applying for jobs

You can find your local regulatory authority through the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. Your education provider will walk you through exactly what’s needed before you finish your course.

4. Begin working as a qualified early childhood teacher

This is where it gets good. Qualified early childhood teachers step into a job market with many options, real career progression and the kind of daily work that means something. The roles available to you straight out of registration include:

• Early childhood teacher: You’ll lead a room within a long day care centre or preschool, owning the program planning and taking responsibility for children’s developmental outcomes. 

• Qualified educator: A great starting point if you want to build confidence within a team before stepping into a lead role, with plenty of hands-on curriculum delivery and child observation along the way.

• Inclusion support worker: You’ll work directly with children who have additional needs, collaborating with families and specialists to make sure every child gets what they need.

• Out of school hours educator: School-age children need quality care and programming outside the standard school day, and this role delivers exactly that in a slightly less formal but equally rewarding environment.

• Educational leader: Once you’ve got some experience behind you, this is the natural next step. You’ll mentor your team, improve processes, brainstorm new activities and shape the culture of your service.

Early childhood teacher salary in Australia

Early childhood teacher salaries have been a talking point in Australia for good reason. The Australian Government committed $3.6 billion through the Worker Retention Payment to deliver a staged 15% pay increase for eligible early childhood educators and teachers. This is a major milestone that shows how seriously the sector’s workforce challenges are being taken at a federal level. The pay is moving in the right direction, which is great news for aspiring pre-primary teachers.

The numbers look different depending on where you look, though, and that’s worth understanding before you set your expectations. Jobs and Skills Australia puts the median weekly earnings for early childhood teachers at $1,906, which works out to around $99,000 annually for full-time workers. 

SEEK data puts the average yearly salary between $85,000 and $100,000 based on active job advertisements, which skew toward experienced hires. PayScale’s median salary for early childhood educators is $58,950, drawn from self-reported salaries across all experience levels including part-time and casual educators.

The honest picture is that all three are worth thinking about if you’re planning to become an early childhood teacher. A newly qualified teacher working part-time may land closer to the PayScale figure. An experienced teacher or educational leader in a well-funded full-time role will be much closer to the SEEK and Jobs and Skills Australia range. 

Here’s what early childhood teacher salaries are usually like across career stages:

*Salary estimates are based on data from SEEK Australia, PayScale and Jobs and Skills Australia and should be treated as indicative ranges rather than guaranteed earnings.

Factors influencing salary

Where you land on that salary scale depends on more than just years of service, though. These factors can push your earnings up significantly:

• Experience: The more time you spend in the classroom, the more you’re worth to employers. This is especially true in services with high demand for qualified staff, like rural and remote centres and smaller community providers.

• Location: Teachers working in metropolitan areas or regions with acute shortages can attract higher salaries and additional incentives to secure their commitment.

• Type of early learning centre: Private and corporate early childhood providers sometimes offer more competitive packages than community-based or not-for-profit services, though this varies considerably.

• Leadership responsibilities: Taking on an educational leader or director role comes with a big salary bump and much more influence over how a service operates.

• Qualification level: Holding an ACECQA-approved teaching qualification puts you in a higher pay bracket than unqualified educators working at the same place.

FAQs 

What’s the difference between an early childhood teacher and an early childhood educator in Australia?

Early childhood teachers hold an ACECQA-approved degree and are registered with a state or territory teaching authority, subject to meeting their state or territory teaching authority's registration requirements. Educators typically hold certificate or diploma-level qualifications. Both roles are valuable, but teachers take on greater responsibility for program planning and developmental outcomes.

How long does it take to become an early childhood teacher?

Getting a Bachelor of Early Childhood education takes three to four years. If you already hold a degree in any field, Acknowledge Education’s Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood Education gets you qualified and registration-ready in one year of full time study.

Can I become an early childhood teacher with a degree in another field?

Yes. The Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood Education is designed specifically for graduates of other disciplines. You don’t need a background in education to get in, just a completed bachelor’s degree in any field.

Is early childhood teaching a good career in Australia?

Yes, early childhood teaching is a strong career choice in Australia. According to Jobs and Skills Australia, demand for qualified pre-primary teachers is high and the government has made significant investment in lifting sector wages and job security is strong across the country.

What is the salary of an early childhood teacher in Australia?

Early childhood teacher salaries vary depending on experience and whether you’re looking at advertised positions or self-reported data. SEEK puts the average between $85,000 and $100,000, Jobs and Skills Australia reports median weekly earnings of $1,905 for full-time workers and PayScale’s median salary is $58,950 across all experience levels and including part-time practitioners.

The best time to start is now

Early childhood teaching is one of those careers where the timing has never been better and the need has never been more obvious. Australia’s early childhood education and care sector has 268,050 workers, yet less than 20% of them hold a teaching qualification right now. The children showing up to their first year of school deserve better than that, and so do the people who want a career that can make a huge difference in many people’s lives.

The good news is that if you already have a degree, you’re only one year of full-time study away from becoming an early childhood teacher.

Acknowledge Education’s Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood Education is ACECQA-accredited, includes two fully supported professional placements and qualifies you to register as an early childhood teacher anywhere in Australia, subject to meeting your state or territory teaching authority's registration requirements. And it’s available to study online, with intakes in February, May and September.

The demand is there, the qualification pathway is clear and the work is massively important. Talk to an Acknowledge Education adviser today and find out how quickly you can make the move.