Workforce Support and Initiatives for Schools

Supporting early-career teachers

The department is delivering a range of supports to provide teachers with the best start to their career, and to support them to grow and to help school leaders find the balance they need to excel.

First-year teachers who could do with more support

Career Start – transforming the first years of the teaching career

Career Start is a structured program for graduate teachers which aims to improve the experience of graduate teachers as they are inducted into the profession. Career Start provides time release, practice-focused mentoring, professional development and access to a regionally-based Learning Alliance Leader (experienced teacher) to graduate teachers and their mentors to accelerate the development of graduate teachers’ professional practice and support their wellbeing. Following a successful 3-year pilot in primary and special schools in 3 areas, Career Start expanded in 2024 to support eligible graduate teachers in every Victorian government school (including secondary schools) in Inner Gippsland, North eastern Melbourne, Outer eastern Melbourne, Southern Melbourne, and Western Melbourne. In 2025, Career Start will expand to an additional 8 areas:

For further information, refer to Career Start: transforming the first years of the teaching career.

VIT mentor programs – enhancing the mentoring knowledge and skills of experienced teachers

The Effective Mentoring Program (EMP) is designed to enhance the mentoring knowledge and skills of experienced teachers who hold full registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) so they can support graduate and returning teachers to progress from provisional to full registration with the VIT, and act as the VIT-trained mentor on workplace recommendations panels.

The program is delivered as a partnership between the department and the VIT.

For further information, refer to Effective Mentoring Program.