Teachers Registration and Standards (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 18 October 2018.)

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (16:28): I rise on behalf of the Greens to support the Teachers Registration and Standards (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill 2018. This bill amends the Teachers Registration and Standards Act 2004 to address issues with the ability of the Teachers Registration Board to suspend the registration of a teacher charged with serious offences and to improve administrative arrangements for the appointment of an acting registrar for the board.

This bill also aims to improve the ability of the board to deal with the unprofessional conduct of teachers. It will provide the registrar of the board with the ability to immediately suspend the registration of a teacher or impose or vary conditions of the teacher's registration where the teacher is charged with a prescribed offence.

Current provisions for the suspension of a teacher's registration limit the board's ability to address any immediate concerns in regard to teachers' conduct. We recognise, with those provisions, that the government has acted on concerns raised with the current workings and is seeking to ameliorate them.

However, I ask the government one very simple question with regard to its treatment of teachers and a possible conundrum that may come before a body such as the Teachers Registration Board. Indeed, during the state election, the then Marshall opposition, now government, announced that sniffer dogs would be able to be used on campus at the request of a school leadership or at the direction of SAPOL. Of course, that was part of the Winning the War on Drugs, A Strong Plan for Real Change policy of the Marshall team (now government).

I draw to the attention of members of the government that, in June 2006, the New South Wales Ombudsman, Bruce Barbour, released his eagerly awaited Police Powers (Drug Detection Dogs) Act 2001 review. That document examined 470 drug dog operations over two years, the majority occurring in greater Sydney. Its findings were highly critical of the use of drug detection dogs.

The review found that prohibited drugs were located in only 26 per cent of the recorded positive indications by drug dogs. That is, the drug dogs are likely to get it wrong four out of five times. Of the 10,211 positive indications made, there were only 19 successful prosecutions for drug supply. That is 10,211 positive indications and 19 successful prosecutions, which represents 0.19 per cent of those searched. The New South Wales Ombudsman concluded that:

…the use of drug detection dogs has proven to be an ineffective tool for detecting drug dealers.

The drug dogs do not work, so my question to the minister is: what happens when one of these drug dogs sits down in a school next to a teacher? What will be the process for that teacher to have justice? With those few words, I commend the bill to the council.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (16:32): I rise today to indicate that Labor is supporting this bill. I am pretty sure that the incredible amount of work our teachers do every day will not be news to the honourable members. After all, as I know from my own experience, wrangling three kids is pretty difficult, let alone a whole class of young, willing and eager children. It is a point worth making because what we go through in our school days will stay with us for the rest of our lives, and it is our teachers whom we entrust with shaping those experiences. It is a powerful responsibility, and we in turn have a duty to do everything we can to support them.

That is where the Teachers Registration Board comes in. It serves a vital role in promoting the teaching profession, representing teachers to universities and the government and making sure, overall, that the teachers who are taking care of our students are the best they can possibly be. That is what this bill is about: helping the Teachers Registration Board to carry out those roles to its fullest potential.

Firstly, that means clearing things up and making it as easy as possible for the board to do its job. An obvious obstacle seems to be the lack of provision for when the registrar is unavailable. That means the board would not be able to function at all in that time, which seems a rather large issue, not just for the board but also for the registrar, who then has to be very careful about timing any leave. The first part of this bill will fix that up, allowing for an acting registrar to be appointed when the usual one is unavailable for whatever reason.

The bill also clarifies the process for registering a teacher and the rules regarding who can be given teaching work. That is no big change but is something that should make things a bit clearer for everyone. The second part of the bill is more serious. The great responsibility teachers hold means that they must be held to the highest possible standards. While the vast majority of teachers go out of their way to meet that standard on a daily basis, sadly, there will always be a small minority who do not.

In these cases the bill recognises that it is not enough to wait for a formal charge to be handed down or to rely on a single school to spread the word about the potential dangers because it is always possible for the teacher to travel somewhere else where people might not know who they are. That is why this bill allows for the board to cancel or alter a teacher's registration preventing them from working at all until it is restored, and serving as a vital warning system for any other potential employers. It is important to note that this is temporary. Any changes can be appealed and registration can be restored over time.

The point is not to go after teachers, if you like, but simply to act as a precaution in the case that a serious accusation is made until things can be cleared up or sorted out. It is sad that we need to be discussing these things. Almost every teacher currently working out there will never have to worry about their registration but we have a duty to protect some of the most vulnerable members of our community by all means necessary. With this bill we can do just that, and make things a bit easier for all the honest and good teachers working so hard in our community. With those words, I commend the bill and indicate that the Labor opposition will be supporting it.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. T.J. Stephens.