We looked at staff salaries at 60 private schools. These pay the most

One Sydney private school will pay its most experienced teachers more than $160,000 next year, as principals warn a failure to attract high-quality talent to the profession is hindering students’ academic progress.

Catholic Secondary Principals Australia said the quality of Australia’s teaching workforce, along with its lack of specialised mathematics teachers, is the “single most significant in-school factor impacting student progression and achievement”.

“Australia faces an acute crisis in attracting and retaining high-calibre educators, a challenge magnified exponentially in rural and remote locations. The shortage is particularly severe in specialised fields,” they said.

Its former president Dr Stephen Kennaugh and executive officer Michael Egan made the remarks in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry probing declining academic achievement earlier this year.

“There is an urgent need to lift teacher qualifications, especially in pure mathematics and secondary sciences, where out-of-field teaching has become a necessity rather than an exception.”

The latest global report card, released last week, showed Australia’s academic results have continued their long-term slide in English and mathematics , while science results are stagnant.

The quality of the teacher in front of students makes the single most significant difference to academic outcomes, research shows. Last year, almost 500 students across the country were admitted to teaching degrees despite having an Australian Tertiary Admission score less than 50.

The latest national figures show technology, arts, and mathematics subjects had the highest rates of out-of-field teaching. One-third of subjects were taught by a teacher with no relevant tertiary study in the subject, according to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.

Separate data collected by the OECD’s Program for Student Assessment found in 2025 that 49 per cent of students in Australia were in schools whose principals reported that instruction was hindered, at least to some extent, by a perceived lack of teaching staff. The OECD average was 39 per cent.

Shore School in North Sydney is set to pay its most experienced teachers $162,236 next year, with a spokeswoman noting the school was committed to attracting and retaining outstanding teachers who deliver exceptional educational outcomes.

St Joseph’s in Hunters Hill will pay teachers $150,000, according to its latest enterprise agreement, while Mount St Benedict College and Brigidine in St Ives will pay the most experienced teachers $145,000.