Bills

Teachers Registration and Standards (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill

Final Stages

Consideration in committee of message No. 68 from the House of Assembly.

Amendments Nos 4 to 10:

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: I move:

That the Legislative Council do not insist on its amendments.

Subsequently, if that is agreed, there are a number of other motions that I will need to move as well in relation to the other amendments. Speaking broadly, I have not been actively engaged in the discussions. I am advised by my colleague the Minister for Education that there has been considerable discussion over the last weeks in relation to a compromised position on the amendments moved by the Legislative Council and the position initially adopted by the government.

My advice is that there has been the Teachers Registration Board perhaps equivalent of peace in our time, but I remain to be informed by others who might contribute to the debate, that is, that there is broad agreement from, potentially, a majority in this chamber to what is a compromise position, which I will put on behalf of the government. To commence the debate, I therefore have moved that the council does not insist on its amendments Nos 4 to 10.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Regularly, the Treasurer comes in misinformed about what is the state of negotiations and the position between parties. Gladly, this is not one of these occasions. What he says is what I understand to be the case, that there has been a lot of discussion and a compromise reached and that, as I understand it and as outlined by the Treasurer, is what the opposition will be agreeing to.

This bill has been passed in the other place with amendments. Labor supports the bill as it was received by the House of Assembly, but also supports the compromise position the Treasurer has foreshadowed in terms of the amendments that will not be agreed to and those that will be agreed to.

Teachers and educators play a vital role in our community—that cannot be underestimated. We are pleased the government has moderated its position on this bill to ensure appropriate representation from the Australian Education Union and the Independent Education Union. I thank the courageous and brave honourable members of the crossbench for moving amendments in this place to support the voices of teachers.

I note that some of the council suggestions were passed in the other place: the seats for at least six practising teachers are required on the board, and the opposition is pleased that the Teachers Registration Board will remain a body that is for and by teachers. This will keep guaranteed seats at the table for Australian teachers in their own profession's registration board, and I commend the work everybody has done on this bill and the position that has been reached.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: By all accounts, a consensus has been reached on this bill and those contentious aspects of the bill. We are pleased that SA-Best's amendments were supported in the lower house by both the government and the opposition regarding the board representation of the AEU and IEU, and that has been agreed by all. We appreciate the discussions that have taken place between the government and the opposition in relation to some of the more contentious aspects of the other amendments that were proposed, and it is fair to say that we all accept that compromises have been made on all sides in relation to those.

I want to make one comment in particular in relation to the code of conduct and, although there has been agreement to withdraw that code of conduct, the discussion that was had yesterday with the minister's advisers at the briefing, which was raised by me, was in relation to the consultation process and submissions that are made regarding the design of the code of conduct.

I put it directly to the government's team that we would be seeking an undertaking that those submissions, where it is not opposed, are made publicly available, given that the code is now no longer going to be included in the auspices of the bill for reasons which we accept as well. Given that that was the original position, there is absolutely no reason why submissions that are made should not be made publicly available because they will go to the heart of the development of that code.

If somebody wishes for that submission not to be made public, if somebody wishes for their name to be redacted from that submission, if there is a submission that is completely inappropriate for whatever reasons, then the government will be equipped to deal with those issues by either redacting, by not publishing, or by not publishing at all submissions that people do not want published or groups do not want published.

I think there was general consensus at the briefing yesterday that there is no reason why those submissions should not be made publicly available, given that they will go to the heart of the code. I did indicate that I would be seeking from the Treasurer a commitment to that effect. I understand, from the responses I received yesterday, that there was no issue with that being the case.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: The advice I have is that I understand the honourable member sought some assurance about the openness and transparency of any consultation on the code of conduct conducted by the board and suggested that stakeholders' submissions should be publicly available unless the stakeholder has specifically requested their submission to be confidential.

Before I continue with the advice that I have, I am further advised that, whilst the member has talked about decisions of the government, these will be decisions for the Teachers Registration Board, not the government, and undertakings the Teachers Registration Board will give. I am happy to convey those undertakings from the board, but it will not be a decision for the government, as I understand it.

The advice I have is that this is a matter for the Teachers Registration Board at the time of consultation. The presiding member of the board and the registrar, in consultation with the board to date, indicate it would be their intention to make available, where appropriate, submissions from stakeholders as part of consultation on a proposed code of conduct.

As to the terms of the undertaking that the honourable member is seeking from the government, I would read that to be, from the presiding member of the board and the registrar, an agreement that, where they say 'where appropriate', there might be appropriate redactions, as the Hon. Ms Bonaros has indicated there might need to be in the circumstances that she outlined. So I am therefore pleased, on behalf of the presiding member of the board and the Registrar, to give that undertaking to the honourable member.

Motion carried.

Amendments Nos 1 and 3:

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: I move:

That the Legislative Council do not insist on amendments Nos 1 and 3 and agrees to accept the alternative amendments made by the House of Assembly in lieu thereof.

I will not add any further detail. They are part of a package we have just had a discussion about. I do not believe there is need for any further discussion, at least from the government's viewpoint.

Motion carried.