Home > Conduct and Competence > Conduct and Competence > Process

The Council's process for considering complaints about a teacher

This is the usual process followed by the NZ Teachers Council in dealing with:

complaints and reports received before 1 September 2004, if the teacher does not consent to having them dealt with under the Rules
applications by teachers with criminal convictions
applications for re-registration by cancelled teachers

For information on how the NZ Teachers Council deals with complaints and reports about competence received after 1 September 2004, click here.
For information on how the Complaints Assessment Committee deals with complaints and reports about conduct received after 1 September 2004, click here.

The process

1. The Teachers Council receives:

a practising certificate renewal application from a teacher who has an historical complaint on his or her file, and who has not consented to have the complaint dealt with under the Rules;
a first-time application for registration from a teacher who has criminal convictions;
an application for re-registration from a teacher whose registration has previously been cancelled by the NZ Teachers Council or by the Teacher Registration Board.

2. When one of the above is received, the file is reviewed by the Professional Standards Team and further information is requested if necessary. It is up to the teacher to convince the NZ Teachers Council that the information on the file, or the criminal convictions, should not prevent his or her application being granted.

3. The case is considered by the NZ Teachers Council at one of its monthly meetings. The teacher does not need to attend this meeting in person. The Council members read through the information and determine whether there is a case to answer - in other words, whether the Council has concerns about the teacher's character, fitness to teach or competency that require a response from the teacher. The purpose of this preliminary consideration is to:

ensure that the concerns meet a sufficient threshold such that the teacher should be put on notice that there is a real question about whether or not to grant the application; and
if the threshold is met, in order for the Council to detail its concerns from the papers so that the teacher is notified of them and able to respond to them.

4. If the Council determines that there is no case to answer, the teacher is sent a copy of the Council's decision and the case is closed. The information remains on the teacher's file in case there are any similar incidents in the future, and to keep a record of the way in which the matter was dealt with, but is not considered again.

5. If the Council determines that there is a case to answer, the teacher receives a letter outlining the grounds for the Council's decision, and the specific concerns that the Council has about the teacher's eligibility for registration.

6. The teacher is given an opportunity to make submissions in writing. He or she will also be invited to attend a NZ Teachers Council meeting in Wellington to make oral submissions, or to instruct a lawyer or other advocate to make oral submissions on his or her behalf. The submissions should respond to the Council's concerns as outlined in the letter, and persuade the Council that the teacher should have his or her application approved.

7. The hearing is held. For more information on the procedure in Teachers Council hearings, click here.

8. The teacher or advocate receives a copy of the Council's decision, either personally or via his or her lawyer. The decision is published in an anonymised form on the Council's website. Click here to see previous NZ Teachers Council decisions.

9. If the teacher's application for registration or for practising certificate renewal was successful, he or she should receive a practising certificate as soon as possible after the hearing, providing the rest of the application is in order.

10. The teacher can appeal to the Wellington District Court within 28 days of receiving notice of the decision to decline his or her application for registration. At present there is no right of appeal when the NZ Teachers Council declines an application for practising certificate renewal. (See section 126 of the Education Act 1989)

11. If a teacher's application is declined, he or she may reapply at any time.

Limited authorities to teach

The process for dealing with an historical complaint about the holder of a limited authority to teach, or an application for a limited authority to teach from someone with criminal convictions, is identical to that outlined above.

Top

About Us || Registration || Conduct & Competence || Teacher Education || Non Teacher Police Vetting || Policy
Communication || Home || Accessibility