One in every five permanent teaching positions across Far North Queensland's state schools sat vacant or filled by a temporary relief instructor at the start of Term 3 this year, according to figures released by the Queensland Department of Education on June 30. In Cairns itself, the number is sharper: across the 34 state primary and secondary schools administered through the Cairns North and Cairns South district offices, the vacancy rate hit 22 per cent — the highest recorded since the department began publishing regional breakdowns in 2016.
The timing matters. Queensland's Minimum Standards review panel handed down its final report in May, recommending that relief teacher ratios above 15 per cent in any given school should trigger an automatic intervention from the department within 30 school days. That threshold is already being breached across a dozen Cairns schools before the panel's recommended start date of January 2027.
The schools carrying the heaviest load
Gordonvale State High School, sitting on Norman Street about 25 kilometres south of the Cairns CBD, has operated with a rotating pool of up to 11 relief teachers per fortnight this semester — covering subjects ranging from Year 10 mathematics to senior agricultural science. Trinity Beach State School, on the northern coastal corridor, reported to its Parents and Citizens association in June that three of its eight classroom teacher positions were filled by casuals for at least part of each week during Terms 1 and 2.
James Cook University's College of Arts, Society and Education, based on the McGregor Road campus in Smithfield, enrolled just 67 students into its Bachelor of Education (Primary) program in 2025, down from 104 in 2021. The university flagged this decline in its 2025 Annual Report, noting that Cairns campus enrolments in education degrees dropped 35 per cent over four years — a steeper fall than the national average decline of 18 per cent cited by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership in its 2025 workforce report.
The cost of plugging the gaps is not trivial. Queensland Education pays casual relief teachers a daily rate of $476.18 for a standard teaching day as of the current enterprise agreement. A school like Gordonvale, running 11 relief positions across a five-day fortnight, is spending close to $52,000 per term on casual staffing alone — money that competes directly with school improvement budgets and classroom resource allocations.
What the department is doing — and what it isn't
The state government's Remote Area Incentive Scheme currently offers up to $18,000 in attraction payments for teachers who relocate to designated remote Queensland communities. Cairns, classified as a regional centre, does not qualify for the full payment, though principals in the Cairns South district have lobbied the department since 2024 to have specific high-need schools reclassified. A decision on that reclassification has been deferred until the September budget review.
TAFE Queensland Far North, operating from its main campus on Florence Street in the CBD, launched a School Industry Partnership Program in February that aims to fast-track 40 teacher aides into provisional teaching credentials by mid-2027. Twelve candidates are currently enrolled. Supporters of the program argue it draws on people already embedded in local communities, including First Nations Australians and Pacific Islander families who make up a significant share of Cairns' school population, but 12 enrolments is a long way short of filling 22 per cent of a regional teacher workforce.
Parents registering children for Prep and Year 7 placements in 2027 should contact their preferred school's enrolment office before September 30, when the department's placement algorithm runs. Schools with the highest relief teacher ratios may have altered their specialist subject offerings for senior students — worth checking directly with the school's heads of department before subject selection closes in August. The Queensland Parents and Citizens Council has a regional contact for Cairns at its Sheridan Street office for families wanting to escalate concerns before the next district board meeting, scheduled for August 12.
