Eligibility for registration

Qualifications

The Board must be satisfied that you hold appropriate qualifications to teach children in the Northern Territory. This means that you must hold:

• 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;
• At least 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 degree/s including an alternative 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.

Competency

Competence is a measure of whether you have the requisite knowledge and skills to be able to teach children, including whether you are proficient in the English language and able to teach in accordance with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (the Standards). In determining your competence to teach, the Board will consider your ability to teach in accordance with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Some of the considerations the Board may make to determine this include:

• Whether you have a physical or mental condition, disability or disorder that may impair your ability to be eligible for registration as a teacher, including the ability to work professionally, appropriately and safely with children;
• Whether you have been the subject of previous or current disciplinary investigations, inquiries or action undertaken, by the Board, an employer or another authority, for reasons of incompetency or unsuitability to teach;
• Whether your registration has been refused, cancelled, suspended or subject to conditions by the Board or another authority, for reasons of incompetency or unsuitability to teach; and
• Whether you obtained your initial teacher qualification in a country other than Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, The United Kingdom, English-speaking Canada or the United States of America. If so, the Board will consider your English language proficiency against your results in either the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the International Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ISLPR).

Fitness and Propriety

The Board must decide whether an applicant for registration is a fit and proper person to teach. This means that the Board must be satisfied that you are honest, of good character and conduct yourself in a way that meets the standard of behaviour expected of a teacher.

In determining whether you are a fit and proper applicant, the Board will consider:

• Your criminal history;
• Any behaviour that indicates that you are not of good character, including behaviour that is not in accordance with the Code of Ethics for Northern Territory Teachers or does not meet the standard of behaviour reasonably expected of a teacher.
• Whether you have had registration refused, suspended or cancelled in the Northern Territory or elsewhere;
• Whether you have been disqualified from registration as a teacher by the Board or by another registration authority;
• Any conditions currently or previously imposed on your registration as a teacher, whether in the Northern Territory or elsewhere;
• Whether you hold a Northern Territory Working with Children clearance that is in force.

The Board may take into account any other matters it considers relevant. Such matters may include whether you have a physical or mental condition, disability or disorder that may impair your ability to conduct yourself as a fit and proper person, including your ability to work professionally, appropriately and safely with children.

Professional experience and currency of practice

To be eligible for full registration, an applicant must demonstrate they have sufficient professional experience and currency of practice. This means that you have to have completed at least 180 days of full-time service (or the equivalent part-time service) within the five year period immediately before your application date. Service is counted as:

• As a principal or a teacher at a school in Australia or New Zealand; or
• At a place in Australia or New Zealand, other than a school, undertaking duties that include the delivery or assessment of student participation, or the administration of an educational program to implement an approved curriculum. For more information on equivalent practice, please refer to the Equivalent Practice in the Teaching Profession guidelines.  

Duties undertaken in roles such as teacher’s aides, teacher’s assistants, student teachers and unpaid volunteers are not considered to contribute to professional experience or currency of practice requirements.

If you do not meet the professional experience and currency of practice requirements, but are otherwise eligible for registration, you may apply for provisional registration.