Special Education Teachers

Overview of this occupation

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.

What they do:

Administer tests to assess educational needs or progress
Assess educational needs of students
Create technology-based learning materials
Deliver inclusive, accessible, and culturally appropriate programs, policies or services
Develop educational or training programs
Develop instructional objectives
Develop instructional or training materials
Develop strategies or programs for students with accessibility needs
Document lesson plans
Encourage students
Enforce rules or policies governing student behaviour
Establish rules or policies governing student behaviour
Evaluate student work
Maintain a working understanding of the cultural, diversity and accessibility needs of others, and how this applies to the role
Maintain student records
Modify teaching methods, materials, or environments to accommodate student needs
Monitor student behaviour, social development or health
Monitor student performance
Plan and lead experiential learning activities
Plan educational activities
Prepare academic or educational tests
Prepare reports detailing student activities or performance
Provide for basic physical, emotional, and social needs and wellbeing of children
Supervise school or student activities
Support individuals with diverse needs to understand, access and utilise information or services
Teach or promote the development of living skills, behaviours, or strategies
Teach others to use technology or equipment
Tutor students who need extra assistance

What technology tools they use:

Audio/video conferencing software
E-learning software
Flow chart and diagram software
Inventory management software
Project management software
Social media platforms
Sound and audio hardware
Student and learning management systems
Video creation and editing software

What their interests are:

Creative – they enjoy designing, creating and decorating; composing, dancing and singing; writing and storytelling.
Practical – they enjoy working with equipment, operating machinery and fixing things.
Social – they enjoy focusing on social welfare and working with people.

Source: Australian Skills Classification, job and Skills Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Used under Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence and Jobs and Skills Australia, ABS Census 2016, Customised Report.

Quick facts

Special Education Teachers

All employees nationwide¹

The number of people employed in an occupations as their main job across all Australian states.

27,359

Projected growth²

The projected increase in employment in Australia from May 2023 to May 2028.

6.9%

Working in NSW³

The distribution of people employed in an occupation in NSW.

33%

Median age of all workers⁵

This shows the median age of all workers in this occupation.

Part-time workers⁶

Those who usually work less than 35 hours per week.

44%

See footnotes for source details and additional information.

Skills and knowledge

What are they good at?

This table lists skills and knowledge categories according to how relevant they are for this occupation.

High expertise	Intermediate
Initiative And Innovation Planning And Organising Teamwork	Digital Engagement Learning Numeracy Oral Communication Problem Solving Reading Writing

High expertise

Initiative And Innovation
Planning And Organising
Teamwork

Intermediate

Digital Engagement
Learning
Numeracy
Oral Communication
Problem Solving
Reading
Writing

Source: Australian Skills Classification, Jobs and Skills Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Used under Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence.

Education and qualifications

Special Education Teachers – Skill level 1

Occupation at Skill Level 1 have a level of skill commensurate with a bachelor's degree of higher qualification .

At least five years of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualification

Show all skill levels

Skill level 1	Occupation at Skill Level 1 have a level of skill commensurate with a bachelor's degree of higher qualification . At least five years of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualification
Skill level 2	Occupations at Skill Level 2 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following: AQF Associate degree, Advanced Diploma or Diploma At least three years of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.
Skill level 3	Occupations at Skill Level 3 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following: AQF Certificate IV or AQF Certificate III including at least two years of onthejob training At least three years of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.
Skill level 4	Occupations at Skill Level 4 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following: AQF Certificate II or III At least one year of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.
Skill level 5	Occupations at Skill Level 5 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following: AQF Certificate I or compulsory secondary education For some occupations, a short period of on-the-job training may be required in addition to or instead of the formal qualification.

Skill level 1

Occupation at Skill Level 1 have a level of skill commensurate with a bachelor's degree of higher qualification .

At least five years of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualification

Skill level 2

Occupations at Skill Level 2 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following:

AQF Associate degree, Advanced Diploma or Diploma

At least three years of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.

Skill level 3

Occupations at Skill Level 3 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following:

AQF Certificate IV or
AQF Certificate III including at least two years of onthejob training

At least three years of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.

Skill level 4

Occupations at Skill Level 4 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following:

AQF Certificate II or III

At least one year of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.

Skill level 5

Occupations at Skill Level 5 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following:

AQF Certificate I or compulsory secondary education

For some occupations, a short period of on-the-job training may be required in addition to or instead of the formal qualification.

Source: Conceptual basis of ANZSCO, ABS Survey, Release Nov 2021.

Qualifications in this workforce

This table shows the distribution of employment by highest qualification completed (in any field of study).⁷

Year 12 and below

2.3%

Certificate III or IV

1.9%

Diploma or Advanced Diploma

4.6%

Bachelor`s degree

50.2%

Post-graduate

39.9%

Source: ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on place of usual residence.

Use this as a guide for understanding what qualifications are the most common in this field. For personalised support on your education journey, talk to a Careers NSW specialist.

Next steps

Talk to one of our specialists

At any career stage you can talk with a specialist from Careers NSW about your goals and how you can achieve them.

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Show disclaimer and footnotes

Disclaimer

This website contains information supplied by third parties and links to other websites. All information on this website and links to other websites are provided as a general reference source only, with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness, fitness for purpose or of the results obtained from using this information. The information on this website and the links to other websites do not constitute or imply any endorsement or approval by the State of New South Wales of the information or the material at those websites, or any associated organisation, product or service. The information on this website and the links to other websites are provided on the understanding that the State of New South Wales is not providing professional advice on a particular matter. Please see https://www.nsw.gov.au/disclaimer for more information.

Footnotes

1. All employees nationwide:

This is the number of people employed in this occupation as their main job across all Australian states.

Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, November 2023, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) Trend Data.

2. Projected growth:

Employment projections are important to understand how the current expected economic and labour market outlook is impacting Australia’s future workforce needs.

Jobs and Skills Australia has worked with Victoria University to produce employment projections for 2028 and 2033, using their Victoria University Employment Forecasting Model (VUEF). On this page Careers NSW have used the 2028 projections at 4-digit ANSCO level to understand the shorter-term trend for an occupation.

Key Points

Employment projections are important to understand how the current expected economic and labour market outlook is impacting Australia’s future workforce needs. Jobs and Skills Australia has worked with Victoria University to produce employment projections to 2033. Victoria University’s Employment Forecasting Model (VUEF) is underpinned by a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model.

The projections have been calibrated to the macroeconomic and labour market outlook provided by the Australian Treasury. The projections are presented over a 5-year period to highlight the shorter-term trends and over a 10-year horizon to show the impact of longer-term or structural trends.

Caveats

These projections are based off a starting point of employment estimated at May 2023 using the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Detailed Labour Force Survey and trended by Jobs and Skills Australia, which may not align with estimates of employment from other data sources.

Like any forecasts, these projections are based on assumptions and are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. They are useful to demonstrate how current trends could be expected to play out rather than as precise predictions of the future. Caution should be exercised when using these projections.

Source: Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), Employment Projections, May 2023.

3. Working in NSW:

This is the distribution of people employed in an occupation in NSW. Data for occupations with less than 50 people employed has been suppressed to protect confidentiality and prevent identification of individuals.

Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, November 2023, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) Trend Data.

4. Median weekly earnings before tax

Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed.

The "full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate" population has been used because it excludes people paid unusually high or low amounts (for example managers, part-time employees and youths). This allows for more accurate comparison between occupations. These figures are a guide only and should not be used to determine a wage rate as they do not take into account years of experience or other factors that may influence a person’s wage.

Median weekly earnings figures are not produced for the following occupations:

ANZSCO 6–digit occupations
Senior Non-Commissioned Defence Force Officers (1392) and Defence Force Members - Other Ranks (4411), and
ANZSCO 4–digit occupations where there is a high relative standard error.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2021, customised report.

5. Median age of all workers

This shows the median age of all workers in this occupation.

Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, 2022, four-quarter average data, customised report.

6. Part-time workers

This is the proportion of people employed in an occupation who work part-time (those who usually work less than 35 hours per week).

Data for occupations with less than 50 people employed have been suppressed to protect confidentiality and prevent identification of individuals.

Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, 2022, 4-quarter average data, customised report.

7. Qualifications in this workforce

This is the distribution of employment by highest qualification completed (in any field of study).

Data for occupations with less than 50 people employed has been suppressed to protect confidentiality and prevent identification of individuals.

The sum of educational attainment percentages may not equal 100% as "Not stated", "Not applicable", "Inadequately described" and "No educational attainment" responses have been excluded.

Source: ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on place of usual residence.

Special Education Teachers

Overview of this occupation

What they do:

What technology tools they use:

What their interests are:

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Quick facts

Special Education Teachers

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Skills and knowledge

What are they good at?

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Education and qualifications

Special Education Teachers – Skill level 1

Qualifications in this workforce

Year 12 and below

Certificate III or IV

Diploma or Advanced Diploma

Bachelor`s degree

Post-graduate

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Next steps

Talk to one of our specialists

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