NSW teachers

90 per cent of NSW teachers can’t afford to live where they teach

PHOTO:  New research shows 90 per cent of NSW teachers can’t afford to live where they teach

The surging cost of housing over the past decade has led to teachers being unable to afford a home in the same location they teach in, according to new research.

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The study, published in the Australian Educational Researcher, analysed quarterly house sales and rental reports in NSW and found more than 90 per cent of teaching positions across the state – around 50,000 full-time roles – are located in Local Government Areas (LGAs) where housing is unaffordable on a teacher’s salary.

The situation is particularly dire for new teachers, with nearly 23,000 full-time graduate teachers across 675 schools, unable to afford a one-bedroom apartment on their base salary.

The study also found that even for experienced educators at the top of the pay scale, a single-bedroom dwelling is also unaffordable across 70 schools.

According to the study, if a teacher was to pay more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, it would be considered unaffordable.

Deputy Director of the Gonski Institute for Education at UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture, Professor Scott Eacott said the study showed the last time a first-year teacher salary could comfortably afford the rent for a one-bedroom dwelling was around a decade ago.

“Fundamentally, there’s been an increasing gap between salary and the costs of housing that the standard pay rise isn’t covering, and it’s pushing teachers further away from their workplaces or out of the profession entirely,” Professor Eacott said.

“The issue is not just limited to teachers, but all essential workers who are increasingly finding it difficult to find affordable places to live within a reasonable distance of their workplace.”

Homeownership is also out of reach for teachers on a single income, with median prices in some areas more than 10 times the average teacher salary.

Sydney is particularly cost-prohibitive, with the most unaffordable LGAs for teachers being Bayside, Canada Bay, Sydney, and Waverley.

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“We’ll find it hard to attract new teachers when even a modest one-bedroom apartment is unaffordable,” Professor Eacott said.

“But also, we’ll lose many experienced teachers simply because they can’t afford to live close to where they work.”

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