Eligibility
Eligibility for Full Registration
An applicant is eligible for Full Registration if the Board is satisfied the applicant:
- holds the prescribed qualifications for registration;
- is a fit and proper person to teach as decided by the Board;
- is competent to teach as decided by the Board;
- has the prescribed professional experience and currency of practice for Full Registration; and
- meets any other prescribed requirement for registration.
Eligibility for Provisional Registration
An applicant is eligible for Provisional Registration if the Board is satisfied the person does not have the prescribed professional experience and currency of practice for Full Registration but is otherwise eligible for Full Registration as outlined above.
Requirements
1. Prescribed qualifications for registration
The qualifications for registration are prescribed by the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Regulations, specifically Regulation 4.
Additionally, Regulations 21 and 22 make provision to allow currently and formerly registered teachers under the old Act who do not hold the prescribed qualifications for registration to be taken to hold the prescribed qualifications under the new Act, in specific circumstances.
The minimum academic requirement for registration as a teacher in the Territory is:
- a degree awarded by a higher education institution on completion of a 4 year full-time (or the equivalent part-time duration) initial (pre-service) teacher education course that includes a minimum of 45 days of supervised practice teaching in a school; or
- four years of full-time study (or the equivalent part-time duration) completed at a higher education institution that results in the award of a bachelor degree plus a qualification awarded on completion of a teacher education course of at least one year full-time duration (or the equivalent part-time duration) that includes a minimum of 45 days supervised practice teaching in a school.
Transition provisions for currently and formerly registered teachers
2. Fit and proper person
In deciding whether a person is a fit and proper person to teach, the Board must take into account:
- the person's criminal history
- 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.
- 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.
- any behaviour of the person that:
- does not meet the standard of behaviour reasonably expected of a teacher;
- is not in accordance with a code of professional ethics developed and maintained by the Board; or
- shows that the person is not of good character.
- whether the person:
- has had an application for registration as a teacher, in the Territory or elsewhere, refused;
- has had his or her registration as a teacher, in the Territory or elsewhere, suspended or cancelled;
- has been disqualified from registration by the Board; or
- is, or has been, disqualified from registration as a teacher by a registration authority.
- any conditions currently or previously imposed on the person's registration as a teacher, either in the Territory or elsewhere.
The Board may take into account other matters it considers relevant.
All applicants for teacher registration (except those applying under the Mutual Recognition scheme - using Form B) must complete a criminal history check at the time of applying for registration.
The Board requires confirmation of the registration status and good standing of teachers who have taught in jurisdictions other than the Northern Territory.
3. Competence to teach
In deciding whether a person is competent to teach, the Board must take into account whether the person:
- is able to teach in accordance with the professional teaching standards approved by the Board under Regulation 9; and
- is proficient in the English language.
For the purposes of considering an application for registration, the Board has approved the following:
- Professional Standards for Graduate Teachers in the Northern Territory
- Professional Standards for Competent Teachers in the Northern Territory
Applicants are considered by the Board to be able to teach in accordance with the Graduate Standards if they have recently completed an appropriate teacher education course.
Applicants are considered by the Board to be able to teach in accordance with the Competent Standards if they are an experienced teacher who is able to demonstrate competence against the standards.
Please refer to the Professional standards and ethics page for more details.
4. Professional experience and currency of practice for Full Registration
The prescribed professional experience and currency of practice for a person applying for Full Registration is:
- the completion, within the 5 year period immediately before the application date, of at least 180 days full-time service (or the equivalent part-time service) as a principal (however described) or teacher at a school in Australia or New Zealand; or
- the completion, within the 5 year period immediately before the application date, of at least 180 days full-time service (or the equivalent part-time service) at a place in Australia or New Zealand, other than a school, undertaking duties that include:
- the delivery of an educational program designed to implement an approved curriculum;
- the assessment of student participation in an educational program designed to implement an approved curriculum; or
- the administration, at any level, of an educational program designed to implement an approved curriculum.
The duties mentioned in (b) above do not include duties performed by support staff (including, for example, teacher's aides, teacher's assistants, student teachers and unpaid volunteers).
5. Any other prescribed requirement for registration
At this point in time, no other requirements for registration are prescribed.
Mutual recognition
Teachers who are currently registered as a teacher in Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia, Australian Capital Territory 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.