Frequently Asked Questions

Teacher registration
Authorisation to employ an unregistered person
Renewal of registration
Employers' obligations under the Act
Indictable offences

Teacher registration

Please note these pages are under development. Feedback will be welcomed, especially regarding additional information principals and employers would find useful.

Teachers may apply for registration to teach in the NT in two ways: under the provisions of the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Act and under the Mutual Recognition Principle.

What is the Mutual Recognition (MR) Principle?

The Mutual Recognition (MR) Principle is that a person who is registered for an occupation in the first State is entitled to registration in the second State for the equivalent occupation.

Under the terms of the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 (Cth) and the Trans Tasman Mutual ecognition Act 1997 (Cth), the Board is required to register a person who is currently registered to practice as a teacher in any other participating Australian State/Territory or in New Zealand. All jurisdictions, except for the Australian Capital Territory, have teaching regulatory authorities. The mutual recognition arrangements apply to all jurisdictions except New South Wales and the ACT.

How does a teacher apply for registration under MR?

Please see Form B - Application for NT teacher registration under mutual recognition

What is the objective of the Teacher Registration (NT) Act?

The objective of the Teacher Registration (NT) Act, is to ensure that only persons who are fit and proper and who are appropriately qualified, are employed as teachers in the NT. The Teacher Registration Board was established to register persons as teachers and to facilitate the continuing competence of teachers in the NT.

Who is entitled to registration as a teacher in the NT?

A person is entitled to registration as a teacher in the NT if the Board is satisfied the applicant is a fit and proper person. A person is 'fit and proper' if he or she:

meets the prescribed educational qualifications;
is competent to teach (including having a good command of the English language);
is of good character; and
is not disqualified in the Territory or elsewhere from registration as a teacher.

With regard to the issue of 'competence to teach', the Board may take into account evidence of an applicant's recent practice or continued experience in teaching in addition to anything else the Board sees fit.

What qualifications does the Board recognise for registration in the NT?

The required educational qualifications are prescribed by the Teacher Registration (NT) Regulations. The Board may grant registration to an applicant who possesses:

A four year degree in education, diploma of education and degree from Charles Darwin University (or its predecessor institutions) or the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education; or
A four year degree of education obtained in a state or another territory that is accepted by an accreditation body in that state or territory or accepted for teacher registration by the registration authority in the state or territory; or
A four year degree of education obtained in a country outside Australia and New Zealand, that includes a minimum of 45 days of supervised practice teaching and is accepted for registration as a teacher by the registration authority of a state or another territory or is assessed by the Board as appropriate for registration in the Northern Territory.

Teachers who have a three year teacher education qualification are not entitled to apply for registration in the Northern Territory under the provisions of the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Act.

Why does the Board require a criminal history record check?

The Board must be satisfied of the good character of an applicant for teacher registration. In determining whether an applicant is of good character the Board must obtain a criminal history check in relation to the person and take into account any finding of guilt or charge made against him or her. The Board must take into account any behaviour of the person that:

does not satisfy a standard of behaviour generally expected of a teacher;
is improper or otherwise not in accordance with a code of ethics developed and promulgated by the Board; or
shows that the person is unfit to be a teacher.

The Board may take into account any other matters that it considers relevant.

Why does the Board ask some applicants to submit additional information or documents?

To be considered 'complete' an application for registration must, in the first instance, be accompanied by the information and evidence that the Board requires of all applicants as set down in Form A and the registration information.

Sometimes the Board may require an applicant to provide further information or evidence as it considers necessary in order to consider the application. The further information or documents may include:

evidence that a teaching qualification included a minimum of 45 supervised practice teaching days (e.g. official letter from teaching institution);
evidence that a person is competent to teach (e.g. employment reference);
evidence that a person is of good character (e.g. character reference);
evidence that a person has not been disqualified as a teacher in another jurisdiction (e.g. letter of Professional Standing or Certificate of Qualified Teacher Status).

How do I check if a teacher is registered?

Since January 2008, the register of teachers in the Northern Territory has been available online via the TRB website. An online search will call up the name of the teacher, the teacher's unique registration certificate number and the registration expiry date. When teachers apply to the Board for registration under the Mutual Recognition Principle, as soon as the application is complete and verification confirmed in the state of origin, the teacher is registered and included on the Online Register of Teachers.

Teachers applying for registration under the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Act are not included on the online register of teachers until they have been granted teacher registration by a meeting of the Teacher Registration Board.

What is interim registration?

Interim registration may be granted between Board meetings to an applicant for registration who the TRB Director is satisfied meets the criteria for registration and is therefore entitled to registration.

Interim registration may only be granted when a complete application has been received and assessed and the applicant is entitled to be granted registration by resolution of the Board.

Applicants are advised by email that they have interim registration, usually granted only for the period to the next meeting of the Board. Emails granting interim registration should only be accepted if they are clearly sent from the Board.

How does a teacher apply for registration under the Teacher Registration (NT) Act?

Please see Form A - Application for teacher registration in the NT

What is the registration process?

Please see the registration process

Can a three-year trained teacher apply to be registered in the NT?

A teacher who is three-year trained may apply to be registered in the Northern Territory if the person is applying for registration under the Mutual Recognition Principle.

A teacher who is three-year trained and applies under the provisions of the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Act is not entitled to registration.

Why are some two- and three-year trained teachers registered?

In the Northern Territory, when the Teacher Registration (NT) Act commenced in 2004, provisions were made under part 9 of the Act for teachers employed in the NT to be registered even if they did not hold the prescribed qualifications as long as they could demonstrate they were competent teachers. Similar provisions applied in all Australian jurisdictions at the commencement of teacher registration.

Of the 5086 teachers registered in the Northern Territory as of 30 June 2008, 650 (or around 12%) are teachers who have three years or less of teacher training and were registered at the time of the commencement of the Act.

In addition, there are teachers registered in the Northern Territory who do not meet the four-year qualification but are registered because their application was made under the Mutual Recognition Principle.

top

Authorisation to employ an unregistered person

What is authorisation?

The Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Act makes provision for the employment of unregistered persons as teachers in certain circumstances. Part 5 of the Act provides for:

the conditions under which authorisations to employ unregistered person as teachers may be granted;
the obligations of the employer; and,
the obligations of the unregistered person.

It is important to note that authorisation is only granted for unregistered persons to be employed in teaching positions, not teaching assistant, tutor, instructor or other such roles.

What are the criteria for granting authorisation?

The Board may grant authorisation if it is satisfied that the unregistered person in relation to whom an application for authorisation is made:

is a fit and proper person; and
will be appropriately supervised to safeguard learning outcomes.

The Board may grant authorisation subject to any conditions the Board thinks appropriate for the applicant to employ the unregistered person as a teacher.

In considering whether a person is 'fit and proper', the Board will take into account whether the person is:

of good character
competent to teach the subject specified in the application at the level specified
not disqualified, in the Territory or elsewhere, from registration as teacher

[s. 43]

Who is responsible to the Board in relation to an authorisation?

All responsibility to the Board in relation to an authorisation to employ an unregistered person to teach lies with the Principal acting on behalf of the employer.

How does a principal apply for authorisation to employ an unregistered person?

Please see Form C - Application to employ an unregistered person in the NT

Can I do an online search to check an authorisation?

The register of teachers does not include unregistered persons employed under authorisation.

Principals receive a letter from the Board granting authorisation to employ an unregistered person. This letter should be kept as a record of the authorisation.

How do I know authorisation has been granted?

Following each Board meeting, successful applicants for authorisation to employ unregistered teachers are advised by letter from the Director of the Teacher Registration Board that they have been granted authorisation. This letter sets out clearly:

the duration of the grant of authorisation;
the subject areas;
the level;
who are the supervisors and mentors; and
any other conditions relating to the authority such as an expectation on the part of the Board that an applicant continues to make progress in upgrading his or her qualifications.

Persons employed as teachers under authorisation may only be employed to teach in the circumstances outlined in the letter to the Principal.

What is interim authorisation?

The Board has delegated to the Director of the Teacher Registration Board the power to grant interim authorisation until the next Board meeting in those circumstances where the application is complete and has been assessed as meeting all the requirements for authorisation. This enables the unregistered person to be employed.

Because authorisations are assessed case by case by the Board at each meeting, interim authorisation is granted less frequently than is the case in granting interim registration and most often interim authorisation will be granted to repeat applications rather than new applications.

What is the maximum time an authorisation is valid?

Authorisations may be granted for a maximum of one calendar year only. [s. 43]

Can a person employed under authorisation change schools?

No. To change schools, a completely new application for authorisation is required from the principal of the school at which the person will be employed.

Unregistered persons may only be employed under the circumstances described in of the letter granting authorisation.

When do authorisations expire?

Authorisation may be granted for a maximum of one calendar year and expires on 31 December or the date specified on the letter of authorisation. The letter to the Principal granting authorisation will state clearly the period during which the authorisation is valid.

A new application is required if the principal intends to employ a person under authorisation in the following calendar year.

top

Renewal of registration

Section 39 of the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Act outlines the provisions for renewal of registration. Registration is for a calendar year and teachers may register for up to five years.

Are teachers entitled to renew their registration?

The Board will renew a teacher's registration on receipt of the registration fee and a complete Registration Renewal Form.

If you have any further questions please visit the Renewal of registration page for more information.

What is the registration renewal process?

In October each year, registration renewal notices are sent out to all teachers whose registration expires at the end of the calendar year.

No documents are required for registration renewal but applicants for renewal are required to complete a statutory declaration stating they have not, during their last period of registration, either been the subject of disciplinary proceedings or been charged or convicted of a criminal offence.

As soon the Office of the TRB has confirmed the application for registration renewal is complete and is satisfactory, the renewal is entered on the data base with the new expiry date which, in turn, means you can confirm a teacher's registration has been renewed by searching the Online Register of Teachers before the Registration Certificate has been issued.

New Registration Certificates are posted as soon as the payment has been processed. There is frequently a delay of up to six weeks before teachers will receive a new Registration Certificate.

Registration renewal reminders are sent out in the first week of December.

If you have any further questions please visit the Renewal of registration page for more information.

What happens if a teacher does not renew his or her registration by the end of the calendar year in which the registration expires?

While teachers whose registration expires will automatically be removed from the Online Register of Teachers on 1 January, teachers have a period of grace to 31 January in which to renew their registration.

After 31 January, teachers will be required to submit a new application for teacher registration.

If you have any further questions please visit the Renewal of registration page for more information.

How can I check if a teacher has renewed his or her registration?

If you have any further questions please visit the Renewal of registration page for more information.

top

Employers' obligations under the Act

Teacher registration

Only teachers who are registered or authorised by the Teacher Registration Board of the Northern Territory may be employed as teachers in the Northern Territory.

Under the provisions of section 72 of the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Act an employer must not knowingly employ or continue to employ a person to teach in a school in the Territory unless:

the person is a registered teacher; or
the person has been granted interim registration; or
the employer has been granted authorisation in relation to the person.

The penalty for employing an unregistered person is 50 penalty points (currently $6,500). [s. 72]

Notifications

Under the provisions of section 52 of the Act an employer must notify the Board of:

the dismissal by the employer, and the grounds for dismissal, of a registered teacher or person teaching under authorisation;
the resignation of a person who is a registered teacher, or who has been teaching under an authorisation, who was employed by the employer, in circumstances that call into question the fitness of the person to teach; and
any action taken by the employer against a person who is a registered teacher, or who has been teaching under an authorisation, in relation to the person’s serious misconduct, serious incompetence or lack of fitness to teach.

The notification must be made to the Board without delay and within 28 days of the dismissal, resignation or action. [s. 52]

Assistance to the Board during an inquiry

Under section 62(2) of the Act, an employer must provide to the Board any information that is reasonably requested by the Board in relation to a person who is the subject of an Inquiry.

Under section 62(3) of the Act, no civil or criminal proceedings lie against a person who provides information to the Board or a committee of inquiry in good faith about the conduct of a person who is or was a teacher or in relation to whom an authorisation is or was in effect. [s. 62]

Annual returns

Under the provisions of section 78(1) of the Act an employer of teachers must provide the Board, by the end of the first term of each school year, with a return in the approved form of all persons teaching at the employer's school (or schools) as at 1 March of that year.

The return must include all persons who have been called on to act as relief teachers during the school year to 1 March.

top

Indictable offences

Please refer to the Guide to Indictable Offences.