That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Department of Education (DoE) to ensure time spent working under the Permission to Teach (PTT) program or equivalent programs, counts towards the time required to access the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt reduction scheme in very remote areas.
In Queensland, a range of rural teacher incentives currently exist to attract teachers to rural placements and are made available to PTT staff. One key incentive for teachers to work in remote schools is to access the HELP debt reduction scheme after completing four years of rural employment. At present, the time spent working under the PTT program does not count towards this four year period.
Case Study:
A teacher in Winton moved to town in 2024 as part of the Permission to Teach (PTT) scheme. They worked full-time at Winton State School in 2024 and 2025 while completing their tertiary studies (teaching a 0.9FTE). Upon completing their studies, they have continued in their position at Winton State School. As Winton is classed as ‘very remote’, teachers working for the Department of Education are eligible for the HELP debt reduction scheme after four years of service; however, time working as a PTT does not count towards this service. Therefore, this teacher would have to complete six years of service in a very remote location, whereas a teacher with provisional or full QCT registration working in a very remote location would only be required to complete four years of service.
