Rights and Responsibilities of Registered Teachers
At the heart of teacher registration in Tasmania is a focus on the welfare and best interests of students. As a registered teacher, your rights and responsibilities are set out in the Teachers Registration Act 2000 (the Act).
Rights of registered teachers
As a registered teacher in Tasmania, it is your right to:
- have your name placed on the Register of Tasmanian Teachers
- declare that you are a registered teacher in Tasmania and 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.
For advice or information about the scope or category of your registration, or the implications of any conditions placed on your registration, please email enquiries@trb.tas.gov.au.
Responsibilities of registered teachers
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 you satisfy a standard of behaviour generally expected of a teacher at all times
- ensure you maintain your teaching competence to a standard that satisfies the Board that you are fit to be a teacher at all times. Teaching competence is assessed against the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (the Teacher Standards)
- notify the Board in writing, within 28 days, if you are charged with and/or found guilty of a prescribed offence* in Tasmania or anywhere else
- 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 Act and the relevant Board policies.
*A prescribed offence is any offence for which a term of imprisonment may apply, such as driving under the influence, common assault, stealing, and drug offences, whether or not a prison term is imposed.
Offences under the Act
- Teaching in a Tasmanian education setting covered by the Act without holding either Tasmanian teacher registration, an appropriate Limited Authority to Teach, or Permission to Teach (while under the direct supervision of a registered teacher, as required by the Board). If found guilty of this offence you may be fined up to 50 penalty units.
- Claiming to be a registered teacher or the holder of a Limited Authority to Teach when it is not the case. If found guilty of this offence you may be fined up to 50 penalty units.
- To knowingly make any false or misleading statements, or omit any matter from a statement knowing that doing so will make the information provided misleading. If found guilty of this offence you may be fined up to 10 penalty units.