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Registration

Teacher registration was introduced in the Northern Territory on 13 September 2004 when the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Act (the Act) came into operation. The objective of the Act is to ensure that only persons who are fit and proper, and who are appropriately qualified, are employed as teachers in the Territory. The objective is achieved by the establishment of the Teacher Registration Board to register persons as teachers and to facilitate the continuing competence of teachers in the Territory.

Teaching in the Territory

The Act defines 'teacher' to mean a person who is qualified to program and deliver a course of instruction at a school and to assess the work of students in relation to that course of instruction.

A person who is registered as a teacher in the Northern Territory can undertake the duties of a teacher in any school in the Northern Territory.

Since the commencement of sections 72 and 73 of the Act on 1 February 2005 it is an offence to employ an unregistered teacher and it is an offence to teach when unregistered. The penalty for each offence is 50 penalty units (currently $6,500).

Requirements for registration

An applicant is entitled to registration if the Teacher Registration Board is satisfied that 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 as determined by the Board; and
  • is not disqualified, in the Territory or elsewhere, from registration as a teacher.

Minimum academic requirements

The minimum requirement for registration in the Northern Territory is:

  • a four year Degree of Education that includes a minimum of 45 supervised practice teaching days, or
  • four years of completed tertiary programs including a bachelor degree plus a Diploma of Education or other initial teacher education program of at least one year that includes a minimum of 45 supervised practice teaching days.

A person may apply to the Teacher Registration Board for registration if he or she has successfully completed an accredited course for registration in the Territory or successfully completed a course outside the Territory that the Teacher Registration Board considers is at least substantially equivalent to an accredited course for registration.

Competence to teach

An applicant is deemed ‘competent to teach’ if he or she has:

  • recently completed an appropriate initial teacher education program including a minimum of 45 supervised practice teaching days, or
  • completed an appropriate initial teacher education program and is an experienced classroom teacher.

The Teacher Registration Board may require an applicant to provide evidence of completion of 45 supervised practice teaching days, or evidence of competence as an experienced classroom teacher, in order to consider an application for registration.

English language requirement

An applicant is deemed to have a good command of the English language if he or she has graduated from an initial teacher education program at a tertiary institution in Australia, New Zealand, English-speaking Canada, the Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and the United States of America.

Applicants who do not qualify under the above exemption list are required to sit for one of the English language tests approved by the Teacher Registration Board. The tests are:

  • the International English Language Testing System (IELTS),
  • the International Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ISLPR), and
  • the Professional English Assessment for Teachers (PEAT).

Guide to establishing your English language proficiency

Criminal history record check

In determining whether a person who is an applicant for registration is of good character, the Teacher Registration 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 Teacher Registration 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 Teacher Registration Board, or shows that the person is unfit to be a teacher.

Disqualified teachers

A person who has been disqualified, in the Territory or elsewhere, from registration as a teacher is not entitled to registration as a teacher in the Northern Territory.

The Teacher Registration Board may require an applicant to provide evidence of good standing as a registered teacher in another jurisdiction in order to consider an application for registration.

Mutual recognition

Teachers who are currently registered as a teacher in Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia or New Zealand are eligible to apply for registration as a teacher in the Northern Territory under the Mutual Recognition principle.

Teachers applying for registration under mutual recognition use Form B. Please note: mutual recognition does not exist with New South Wales or the Australian Capital Territory.