Professional conduct
When performing its functions and exercising its powers, the Board must consider the welfare and best interests of students to be of paramount importance. The Board is responsible for:
- investigating complaints made under the Teachers Registration Act 2000 (the Act)
- conducting investigations, inquiries, and hearings for the purposes of the Act
- taking disciplinary action under the Act in relation to persons who are or were registered teachers or holders of limited authorities
- developing and improving teaching standards
- maintaining a code of professional ethics for the teaching profession
- investigating and recommending the prosecution of offences against the Act.
The processes and procedures for dealing with complaints, disciplinary matters, inquiries, and hearings are established by the Teachers Registration Act 2000.
Teacher registration - standards and expectations of the profession
Teachers must be of good character and fit to teach to maintain public confidence in the teaching profession. The Board must consider any behaviour that does not satisfy the standards generally expected of a teacher and shows the person is unfit to be granted teacher registration or a Limited Authority to Teach (LAT).
Good character
Factors that the Board must consider in deciding about a person’s good character are outlined in Section 17J of the Act. These include:
- charges and convictions (in Australia or overseas)
- Working With Vulnerable People Registration status
- any behaviour that:
- does not satisfy a standard of behaviour generally expected of a teacher
- is otherwise disgraceful or improper.
The Board may also consider “any other matter it considers relevant”.
Fitness to teach
Factors that the Board may consider in deciding about a person’s fitness to teach are outlined in Section 17K of the Act. These include:
- any medical, psychiatric, or psychological condition
- the competence of the person as a teacher
- any other matter it considers relevant.
Members of the teaching profession in Tasmania are committed to these principles:
- Dignity – Teachers honour the principle of dignity by upholding the intrinsic worth of all persons, including self, students, colleagues and parents.
- Respect – Teachers honour the principle of respect by having due regard for the feelings, rights and traditions of all persons and by developing relationships that are based on mutual respect and trust.
- Integrity – Teachers honour the principle of integrity by acting impartially and responsibly and by being honest, trustworthy, and accountable with regard to the obligations that concern the profession.
- Empathy – Teachers honour the principle of empathy by being aware of the feelings and perspectives of others and by being open-minded and responding compassionately.
- Justice – Teachers honour the principle of justice by being fair and reasonable and committed to the well-being of individuals, the community, and the common good.
The Teacher Standards are a public statement of what constitutes teacher quality. They define the work of teachers and make explicit the elements of high-quality, effective teaching in 21st-century schools. The Standards provide a framework that makes clear the knowledge, practice, and professional engagement required at each stage of a teachers’ career.
There are seven Standards, which teachers will meet at differing levels depending on their career stage and level of experience. The seven Standards fall into three teaching domains: professional knowledge, professional practice, and professional engagement.
As a registered teacher, your rights and responsibilities are set out in the Teachers Registration Act 2000.
Click here to download a copy of the Rights and Responsibilities of Registered Teachers.
As a registered teacher in Tasmania, it is your right to:
- have your name placed on the Register of Teachers in Tasmania
- declare that you are a registered teacher in Tasmania and to download and display your certificate of registration
- seek employment or be employed as a registered teacher in education settings within Tasmania appropriate to the scope or category of your registration and any conditions that have been placed on your registration.
As a registered teacher in Tasmania, it is your responsibility to:
- ensure that you hold current and valid registration before being employed or engaged to teach
- uphold the Code of Professional Ethics for the Teaching Profession in Tasmania
- ensure that, at all times, you satisfy a standard of behaviour generally expected of a teacher
- ensure that, at all times, you maintain your teaching competence to a standard that satisfies the Teachers Registration Board of Tasmania that you are fit to be a teacher. Teaching competence is assessed against the National Teacher Standards
- notify the Board in writing, within 28 days if you are charged with or convicted of a prescribed offence in Tasmania or anywhere else (a prescribed offence is any offence for which a term of imprisonment may apply and includes offences like drink driving)
- notify the Board in writing, within 60 days, of any change in your name, address and/or qualifications
- familiarise yourself with the requirements of the Teachers Registration Act 2000 and the relevant Board policies.
Lodging a complaint
The following questions can be used as a guide to help you determine whether or not your complaint is one that the Board has the authority to deal with under the Teachers Registration Act 2000.
If yes, you should direct your issues to the school or employing authority. This is outside the legislative authority of the Board.
If yes, you should direct your issues to the school or employing authority. This is outside the legislative authority of the Board.
If yes, and if you have not already done so, you should also refer your concerns to Tasmania Police.
Note
Pursuant to section 17L of the Teachers Registration Act 2000 there are arrangements between the Board and Tasmania Police for the sharing of information.
if yes, you should refer your complaint to the employing authority. The Board may also want to consider this matter.
If, yes, this is a complaint that the Board has the legislative authority to address.
If yes, this is a complaint that the Board has the legislative authority to address.
Section 19 of the Teachers Registration Act 2000 relates to complaints and states that a person may complain to the Board about the professional conduct of a person who is or was either:
- a registered teacher
- theholder of a limited authority to teach.
The board only has authority via the Act in relation to complaints involving registered teachers and limited authority to teach (LAT) holders in Tasmania.
The Board can investigate complaints about the professional conduct or competence of a registered teacher or a holder of a limited authority to teach.
Under section 24 of the Act, the Board may:
- caution the person
- impose a condition on the person’s registration
- suspend a person’s registration for a period and subject to conditions
- cancel the person’s registration
- make a determination that the person is unfit to be a teacher or is not of good character
- determine that the complaint is without substance.
See also: Can the Board dismiss my complaint?
As a consequence of the available decisions, it is unlikely that disciplinary action would be undertaken by the Board against an individual who was not a recently registered teacher or LAT holder.
If the complaint does not relate to the professional conduct of a registered teacher or holder of a limited authority to teach, it is not a valid complaint under section 19 of the Act and cannot be accepted by the Board.
After conducting a preliminary assessment of the complaint, the Board may dismiss a complaint without taking further action for any of the following reasons:
- if the complaint is vexatious, misconceived, frivolous, or lacking in substance
- that the details of the complaint have previously been dealt with
- the Board believes it is not in the public interest to conduct an inquiry
- the matter should be referred to another more appropriate body
- due to the passage of time, it is impossible or inappropriate to conduct an inquiry.
The Board has to consider if your complaint is within an area of the Board’s responsibility, whether they are the appropriate body and what action has been undertaken prior to the complaint being submitted to the Board.
- Your complaint will be acknowledged and assigned to a case officer
- The case officer will consider the information you have provided
- If the complaint is a matter for the Board to deal with, Board staff will undertake a preliminary assessment
- Following the preliminary assessment, a report will be prepared for the Professional Conduct Committee (the PCC), as the delegate of the Board
- The PCC will determine any further action, for example:
- whether the matter is dismissed
- whether the matter proceeds to an inquiry, if reasonably satisfied it is in the public interest to do so.
At all stages of the process, the case officer will be in contact with you to inform you of the progress of your complaint.
If after reading the information above, you have determined you wish to submit a complaint, please use the form on our website to lodge your complaint.
If you would like to make a complaint about more than one registered teacher or LAT holder, please complete a separate form for each person.
In addition to submitting a completed complaint form, you may provide any supporting documentation or evidence you believe is relevant to the Board in its consideration of your complaint.
Your name and copies of the complaint form and any documents you provide to the Board may be provided to the person you are making a complaint about.
If you have any questions or require assistance in completing the complaint form, please contact the Professional Conduct team by calling (03) 6165 5977 or email conduct@trb.tas.gov.au.