Bills

Teachers Registration and Standards (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (15:34): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Teachers Registration and Standards Act 2004. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (15:34): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Teachers Registration and Standards (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill 2020 will amend the Teachers Registration and Standards Act 2004 to modify the size and composition of the Teachers Registration Board (the board) and expand its functions. It will support the implementation of relevant recommendations from national reviews related to teacher registration, it will improve oversight of persons granted special authorities to teach and it will address various other technical and operational issues with the act.

The education and the development of children and young people in our society are essential to that society being informed, productive and well functioning. The success of our society will in many ways depend on the quality of our teachers. The purpose of the Teachers Registration and Standards Act is to ensure that every teacher working in South Australia is appropriately qualified, that they are competent to teach and that they are a fit and proper person to have the care of children. This is so important.

The act establishes the board and provides it with the functions and powers it needs to administer and oversee the registration of more than 35,000 teachers in both government and non-government schools, preschools and early childhood services around South Australia. Since the commencement of the act, there have been significant changes to the regulation of the teaching profession across Australia, including through the introduction of the National Framework for Teacher Registration and the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

In more recent years, the Education Council has commissioned substantial reviews into teacher education and registration, including a review of the preparation of student teachers by higher education institutions in Australia undertaken in 2014 and the National Review of Teacher Registration undertaken in 2017. The findings of these reviews supported the need for changes to the education and regulation of teachers across Australia to improve teacher quality, to strengthen child safety and to streamline registration processes.

In addition, the findings of both the Child Protection Systems Royal Commission here in South Australia and the national Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse have prompted significant reform of child protection here in South Australia, including substantial changes to the screening and oversight of registered teachers. While these reforms have introduced increased child safety measures in respect of teachers, the government believes more can be done to improve child safety and to respond to the outcomes of these royal commissions.

The bill will address these issues and ensure the act continues to provide a sound framework for the registration and the oversight of teachers in this state. In particular, the bill will amend the act to provide that the welfare and best interests of children are the paramount consideration in relation to the operation, administration and enforcement of this act. The bill will provide a number of new functions to the board. It codifies and strengthens some existing activities the board undertakes. This includes functions for the board:

to accredit initial teacher education programs

to undertake or support reviews of research and data collection

to develop and maintain a code of conduct for registered teachers; and

to recognise quality teaching and leadership in the teaching profession.

The bill updates provision for the membership of the board to provide improved flexibility in the size and composition of the board. Members of the board are currently appointed on the basis of nominations by particular stakeholders. The government is introducing changes to ensure that members of the board are appointed on the basis of the knowledge, skills and experience the board needs to carry out its functions effectively.

Importantly, the bill will ensure that the board's membership includes practising teachers in the areas of preschool education, primary education and secondary education, the expertise of a legal practitioner and I think very importantly—and I know that the shadow minister shares this view—the perspective of a parent representing the community interest. The board, through amendments to provisions for committees of the board, will also be able to draw on the expertise of persons who are not members of the board. The bill will clarify the current arrangements for the employment of staff of the board and make it easier for a member of the staff of the board to be appointed to act for the registrar in the registrar's absence.

The bill will introduce a number of amendments to the requirements for teacher registration to improve administrative efficiency in the board's operations and improve the registration and renewal process for teachers. This includes, for example, extending the term of registration from three years to five years and providing an option for the annual payment of fees for registration. This annual payment measure will assist those registered teachers who might have had difficulty paying registration fees up-front for five years.

The bill includes various amendments to improve the oversight of persons granted a special authority to teach to ensure that, as far as possible, they are subject to the same rigorous requirements as registered teachers. The bill also includes various amendments to improve provisions of the act that enable the board to deal with unprofessional conduct, incompetence, incapacity and issues of fitness and propriety in the teaching profession. This includes, for example, providing the registrar with the power to suspend a teacher's registration where the registrar forms a reasonable belief that the teacher poses an unacceptable risk to children.

The bill will make a number of amendments to the act to improve information sharing where necessary for the protection of children. In particular, the bill provides for the board to disclose information to an appropriate person or body if the board is of the opinion that to do so is reasonably necessary to prevent harm being caused to a child.

The bill will further provide for the sharing of information between the board, other teacher regulatory authorities, employers and state authorities relevant to the health, safety, welfare and wellbeing of a child or class of children, or to manage risks to a child or class of children. These changes, among others in the bill, support recommendations of the National Review of Teacher Registration and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The development of the bill was subject to a significant amount of consultation, including an extensive consultation with teachers and other stakeholders on potential reforms to the act and targeted consultation on a draft version of the bill. The feedback from stakeholders has directly helped shape the final form of the bill, and I thank everybody and anybody who has contributed feedback to this important reform.

While I am giving thanks, I also want to thank the chair of the Teachers Registration Board, the Hon. Dr Jane Lomax-Smith, for the extensive work that she did in leading the public consultation on this bill, and I want to pay a special tribute to Dr Peter Lind, who was our teachers' registrar for some 5½ years up until last Friday when he determined that retirement—taking some time to see our beautiful state before eventually moving to New Zealand, from whence he came—was preferable to continuing to act in the service of the people of South Australia. For his service, I give him thanks.

I give him particular thanks for the work he did along with Jane Lomax-Smith in their public consultation in relation to this bill, the advice given to government in its development, and his extensive work to ensure that the interests of teachers, children and schools in South Australia were served well by the Teachers Registration Board over the period of his tenure. We wish well Leonie Paulson, who has taken on the role as Registrar of the Teachers Registration Board, effective on Monday just passed. With that, I seek leave to insert the explanation of clauses into Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

3—Amendment provisions

These clauses are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Teachers Registration and Standards Act 2004

4—Amendment of section 3—Interpretation

This clause consequentially amends terms defined in section 3 of the principal act.

5—Amendment of section 6—Functions of Teachers Registration Board

This clause adds the specified functions to those of the TRB set out in section 6 of the principal act.

6—Substitution of section 7

This clause inserts a new section 7 into the principal Act, expressly providing that the welfare and best interests of children is the paramount consideration in relation to the operation, administration and enforcement of the principal Act.

7—Substitution of section 9

This clause substitutes the following new provisions for current section 9 of the principal act:

9—Membership of Teachers Registration Board

This clause provides for the membership of the TRB, including a requirement that the minister call for expressions of interest before nominating members for appointment.

9A—Presiding member

This clause allows the governor to appoint a presiding and deputy presiding member of the TRB.

8—Amendment of section 10—Terms and conditions of membership

This clause amends section 10 of the principal act, placing a cap on the maximum period a member of the TRB can hold office and limiting the number of deputies that can be appointed in respect of members.

9—Amendment of section 14—Procedures of Teachers Registration Board

This clause amends the quorum and other procedures of the TRB consequent upon this measure.

10—Amendment of section 15—Registrar of Teachers Registration Board

This clause repeals section 15(3) of the principal act.

11—Amendment of section 15A—Appointment of acting Registrar

This clause repeals section 15A(2) of the principal act.

12—Insertion of section 15B

This clause inserts new section 15B into the principal act, providing for the employment of staff by the TRB.

13—Amendment of section 16—Committees

This clause amends section 16 of the principal act to allow the regulations to make provisions in respect of committees.

14—Amendment of section 17—Delegations

This clause amends section 17 of the principal act to make consequential changes to the power of delegation provision.

15—Insertion of Part 3A

This clause inserts new Part 3A into the principal act, which empowers the TRB to accredit courses of initial teacher education provided they comply with prescribed accreditation standards.

16—Amendment of section 22—Application for registration

This clause makes a consequential amendment to section 22 of the principal act.

17—Amendment of section 24—Conditions of registration

This clause inserts a new condition of registration into section 24(2)(a) of the principal Act, requiring a person who is dismissed from employment as a practising teacher in response to allegations of incompetence, or resigns from employment as a practising teacher following allegations of incompetence to give written notice to the TRB.

18—Amendment of section 24A—Automatic cancellation of registration of prohibited persons

This clause amends section 24A of the principal Act to clarify when a cancellation of a teacher's registration under that section has effect.

19—Amendment of section 26—Term of registration

This clause amends section 26 of the principal Act to extend the term of teachers' registration to 5 years (up from 3 years).

20—Insertion of section 26A

This clause inserts new section 26A into the principal Act, requiring registered teachers to pay an annual fee and providing regulation making powers in relation to such fee.

21—Amendment of section 27—Requirement for provision of information

This clause amends section 27 of the principal Act to extend the meaning of 'registered teacher' to include a person who was, but is no longer, a registered teacher.

22—Amendment of section 28—Register

This clause amends section 28 of the principal Act to require the Register to contain details of any highly accomplished or lead teacher certification held by a person.

23—Amendment of section 30—Special authority for unregistered person to teach

This clause amends section 30 of the principal Act to expressly require that persons granted a special authority to teach be fit and proper.

24—Substitution of section 31

This clause substitutes section 31 of the principal Act to set out the requirement that the TRB keep a register of persons granted a special authority to teach, and makes procedural provisions related to the register.

25—Insertion of section 31A

This clause inserts new section 31A into the principal Act, empowering the TRB or Registrar to require certain persons to provide information. It is an offence to fail to comply with a requirement.

26—Insertion of Part 6A

This clause inserts new Part 6A into the principal Act as follows:

Part 6A—Codes of conduct and professional standards

31B—Codes of conduct and professional standards

This clause allows the TRB to publish or adopt codes of conduct and professional standards for the purposes of the principal Act.

31C—Recognition of quality teaching and educational leadership

This clause allows the TRB to accredit, certify or recognise certain attainments by teachers and others.

27—Insertion of section 32A

This clause inserts new section 32A into the principal Act, setting out the constitution of the TRB for the purposes of Part 7 of the principal Act.

28—Amendment of section 33A—Suspension of teacher's registration if working with children check not current etc

This clause amends section 33A of the principal Act to enable the Registrar, rather than the TRB, to suspend the registration of a teacher where a working with children check has not been conducted in relation to the teacher within the preceding 5 years.

29—Amendment of section 34—Registrar may conduct investigation

This clause amends section 34 of the principal Act to allow the Registrar to require a teacher to submit to a medical examination, and provide reports, in specified circumstances. The clause also empowers the TRB to suspend the registration of a teacher who fails to comply with a requirement under the section.

30—Amendment of section 34A—Suspension of registration where teacher charged with certain offences or unacceptable risk to children

This clause amends section 34A of the principal Act to extend the circumstances in which registration can be suspended under the section to include where the Registrar reasonably suspects that the teacher poses an unacceptable risk to children.

31—Substitution of section 37

This clause substitutes a new section 37 into the principal Act, setting out requirements for employers of practising teachers to notify the TRB of certain matters. A number of the requirements have simply been relocated from sections repealed by this measure.

32—Repeal of section 39

This clause repeals section 39 of the principal Act, its content having been relocated to new section 37.

33—Amendment of section 40—Notification by Registrar of action or suspension etc under Part

This clause amends section 40 of the principal Act to extend the circumstances in which, and the persons or bodies to whom, the Registrar must give notice on certain action being taken under the Act.

34—Insertion of Part 9A

This clause inserts new Part 9A into the principal Act as follows:

Part 9A—Information sharing

49A—Disclosure of information to prevent harm

This section authorises the TRB to disclose information obtained in the course of the administration or operation of the Act to an appropriate person or body where the TRB is of the opinion that to do so is reasonably necessary to prevent harm being caused to a child.

49B—Sharing of information between Teachers Registration Board and certain persons and bodies

This section authorises the exchange of certain information between the TRB and other relevant persons or bodies.

35—Amendment of section 50—Provision of information by Commissioner of Police

This clause extends the operation of section 50 of the principal Act to include persons holding a special authority to teach.

36—Amendment of section 51—Arrangements between Teachers Registration Board, DPP, and Commissioner of Police for reporting of offences

This clause extends the operation of section 51 of the principal Act to include persons holding a special authority to teach.

37—Amendment of section 52—Notification of offences to employer etc

This clause amends section 52 of the principal Act to include in its operation notification of employers etc of persons holding a special authority to teach.

38—Amendment of section 61—Regulations

This clause modernises section 61 of the principal Act to reflect current drafting practice.

39—Insertion of Schedule 1

This clause inserts new Schedule 1 into the principal Act, setting out persons and bodies that are designated entities for the purposes of the principal Act.

Schedule 1—Transitional etc provisions

This Schedule makes transition and saving provisions for the purposes of the measure.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Picton.