As Victorian teachers flock interstate, Kiwis are filling the education gap

Victoria’s already stretched teaching ranks are being propped up by an influx of New Zealanders as the state’s home-grown educators move interstate.

For every teacher moving to Victoria from other parts of Australia, there are now almost two heading in the other direction and choosing to work in other jurisdictions, according to official new registration data.

Though the exodus has gained pace over the past four years, this year alone an average of 38 Victorian-registered teachers a week have been leaving for other parts of the country.

But while Victoria is having difficulty retaining its homegrown teachers or attracting sufficient replacements from interstate, it has welcomed a flood of registrations from New Zealand.

Since the start of 2023, 1732 New Zealand teachers have gained registration in Victoria – more than 10 times the number of Victorian teachers who have moved across the ditch – despite some of the overseas-trained educators being underqualified to meet the state’s minimum qualifications.

Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) registration data, compiled for The Age, reveals that since the start of 2023, 5746 Victorian-registered school and early-childhood teachers have used a mutual-recognition agreement to transfer their qualifications so they can work in other states.

Over the same period, 3692 interstate-registered teachers have used the mutual recognition provision to gain VIT registration and work in Victoria’s education system.

Overall, Victoria has experienced a net loss of 2054 Australian-qualified teachers over the past four years – and the size of the gap between those moving from and to Victoria has grown every year since 2023.

More than 600 Victorian teachers transferred to NSW in 2025 alone, where graduate teachers are paid up to $15,000 a year more, while only 329 moved south of the Murray River.

Relocations between Queensland and Victoria have also been strong, with 419 Victorian teachers transferring to the Sunshine state in 2025 compared with 325 travelling the other way. An entry-level teacher’s wage in Queensland is currently about $11,000 a year higher than that of their Victorian counterpart.

The Northern Territory also attracted 360 Victorian teachers in the last 16 months, while only gaining 111 who relocated in the other direction.

The Victorian government said it was not relying on New Zealand teachers to prop up the state’s school workforce, but it hopes its proposed pay increase – of between 28 and 32 per cent over four years – and improved working conditions will help retain talent.

The proposed deal is facing stiff opposition among the workforce, however, with a vocal and determined group of Australian Education Union (AEU) members opposed to the deal.

They argue the union should have stuck to its original demands for 35 per cent pay increases over three years and greater concessions on workloads and other working conditions.

The union’s leadership is campaigning for members to accept the government’s proposed deal, which has sparked a clash between members on whether to vote yes or no.

With all of this movement, Australian Principals Federation president Andrew Cock told this masthead that teachers from New Zealand are helping to fill gaps in Victoria’s school workforce, particularly outside the cities.

“Colleagues in the rural and regional areas are still finding staffing very difficult,” Cock said.

“The opportunity for employing our neighbours from across the ditch, you know, is particularly a good thing for some of those regional spaces, [and] my experience has been working with some fantastic teachers from New Zealand, so I don’t see that as a negative thing.”

The VIT has about 155,000 teachers and early childhood teachers registered to work in Victoria – including about 30,000 who are not currently working in the field. But amid a national teaching shortage, the state government is currently advertising 894 school staff positions in its 1570 schools.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools had about 110 jobs available across its 290 schools.

While the influx of more than 1700 New Zealand teachers has helped address some of the shortfall, the VIT this year foreshadowed moves to slow the international recruits over concerns about some of their qualifications.

Where New Zealand’s education watchdog registers teachers upon completion of a three-year teaching degree or one-year post-graduate diploma, most Australian states require a minimum four-year teaching degree or a two-year post-graduate diploma, as well as greater supervised classroom experience and English-language competency.

As revealed by this masthead in January, VIT chief executive officer Martin Fletcher is working with his NZ counterparts on policy issues to address the discrepancy in qualifications.

Despite Victoria losing more teachers than it gains, Fletcher said the mutual-recognition arrangements between states were vital.

“We remain committed to mutual-recognition arrangements which support teaching quality around Australia, for both school teachers and early-childhood teachers,” Fletcher said.

A Victorian government spokesperson said the state was benefiting from the largest increase in teachers of any state or territory, with Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing 4700 additional staff were employed in state schools between 2024 and 2025.

“Victoria has the best teachers in the nation, and they will be the best-paid in the nation,” the spokesperson said.

“Our investment in growing and supporting the education workforce is seeing results – Victoria now has about 14,000 more registered teachers than it did in 2020.”

Minister for Education Ben Carroll defended his government’s record on teacher attraction and retention.

“Victoria’s public school system is strong and growing – employing more than 92,000 full-time equivalent teachers and specialist staff, with over 14,000 more registered teachers than in 2020,” he said.

“The proposed agreement will make Victoria’s teachers the best paid in the country because attracting and retaining the best educators starts with valuing the work they do every day.”

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.