Graduate/Early Career Opportunities
Ignite your career and explore the exciting opportunities available across our community of schools in the Diocese of Ballarat.
With almost 19,000 students across 52 primary schools and 11 secondary colleges and around 2,900 educators and support staff, we can offer opportunities for you to begin your teaching career in a wide range of settings.
Our schools provide a high-quality, faith-based, and holistic education. We are a progressive system of schools, responding to the latest evidence to ensure students have opportunities to flourish fully in their learning.
Our schools foster a deep sense of community and care for the wellbeing of students, staff, and families.
We particularly value the new perspectives and enthusiasm early career teachers bring to our school communities.
SHANIA
"From the start, I felt welcomed into a kind, inclusive community that values connection, collaboration, and student learning."
EMMA
"I immediately felt welcomed into a supportive community of teachers who genuinely care about each other, their students, and the meaningful work they do every day."
ROWIE
"As a beginning teacher, having a trusted mentor and strong professional development opportunities has been incredibly supportive."
Within our system of schools and beyond, we want to help you grow as an education professional and advance your career.
Our schools are located in vibrant regional and rural communities from Mildura on the Murray River in the north, to the coastal towns of Portland and Warrnambool in the south, and west to Edenhope and Nhill.
The welcoming spirit of regional Victorians is legendary, and communities offer rich tapestries of lifestyle opportunities from culture and history, food, wine, to sports, and the outdoors, and all within reach of Melbourne for those big events.
We want you to love working with us and we work hard to support our graduate and early career teachers.
From the moment you accept your position you will be supported to successfully transition from university to teaching in your own classroom.
We provide induction and mentoring programs across the first three years of your career, as well as other professional learning opportunities to meet and gather with colleagues from around the diocese.
Some of the additional benefits of working with us include:
- Remuneration and increments comparable to the Department of Education starting at $77,248.
- Graduate Teacher lump sum payment in your second year of teaching up to $859.
- A lump-sum position allowance equivalent to 1% of total salary paid each December.
- Financial incentives for some rural locations.
- Accommodation and relocation allowances for select schools.
Applications for Early Career Incentives Program 2026 Closing Soon!
Applications for DOBCEL's Early Career Incentive Program 2026 will be closing soon! Submit your applications on or before 14 December 2025 by accomplishing the form on this link: ECIP2026.
What’s on offer?
✅ $5,000* graduate sign-on bonus
✅ $10,000* graduate sign-on bonus in identified remote or small schools
*Pro-Rata payment for part-time
Additional for remote and small schools:
✅ $5,000 relocation support
✅ $9,629 annual remote allowance (paid fortnightly for 3 years)
- Equivalent to POL 3 (CEMEA)
- Indexed annually
Limited funding available. Click here to know more about the program.
For more information, kindly contact James Murphy (JMurphy@dobcel.catholic.edu.au) or Vicki Dekker (VDekker@dobcel.catholic.edu.au).
So what are you waiting for? Explore the exciting opportunities we have to offer below.
For more information, please contact the DOBCEL Talent Acquisition Team at employment@dobcel.catholic.edu.au
