Casual teachers play an important role supporting students when their teachers are on leave, or a school requires additional support.

Supporting schools in this way also offers many professional and personal benefits including superannuation contributions, an additional 20 per cent pay loading and networking opportunities.

Teachers seeking casual/relief teaching opportunities can now apply and register their school preferences through a simple online process.

From Term 3, 2021, several public schools will be using the Department of Education’s (DoE) new Casual Staff Seeker tool.

As schools start to use this tool, casual/ relief teachers will no longer need to apply directly to them or maintain their details on individual relief lists. However, it is important to check with schools to see if they are opting into this new initiative.

An additional feature of this Casual Staff Seeker tool is that employee numbers will be generated for those applicants who do not have one. Therefore, individual schools will no longer need to generate employee numbers for new casual teachers.

How the new process will work

Letting schools know you are interested in casual work is a simple, two-step process.

1. Apply to the Casual Teacher Pool, available on the JobsWA website. You must be eligible and qualified.

2. Update your online profile. When you have had your application accepted, you will be given access to the department’s Casual Staff Seeker tool. This is where you update your availability, location preferences and other information. This will be used by schools to match you to available casual work opportunities.

Applying to the Casual Teacher Pool can widen opportunities for casual work. While the DoE is transitioning to this new process, some schools will continue to engage casual staff using existing methods. Applying to this new pool does not guarantee that you will receive requests to work in your preferred schools. Eventually all public schools will use the Casual Staff Seeker tool to find, book and pay casual staff.

Who should apply?

If you are a qualified teacher looking for casual teaching work, the new Casual Teacher Pool will enable you to register your interest quickly. As the DoE implements this new system, all teachers who want access to the Casual Staff Seeker tool must first apply to the Casual Teacher Pool. This includes new teachers, current casual teachers and others looking for extra casual work.

It is important to read all the information about the Casual Staff Seeker tool on IKON. You can also find out more, including additional information about the application process via the JobsWA website: search.jobs.wa.gov.au

And finally, casual appointments can range from three-hour engagements to four-week appointments at a single school or educational site. For employment of more than four weeks at one site, you would need to be employed in a fixed-term position.