Overview and more information

Overview

The Teaching Council seeks your feedback on proposed changes to the rules that set out the procedures for the professional disciplinary and competence evaluation processes applying to the teaching profession. These processes are about the profession holding their peers to account for meeting the ethical behaviour and effective teaching practice expected of all teachers, as set by the profession itself in Ngā Tikanga Matatika | The Code of Professional Responsibility and Ngā Paerewa | the Standards for the Teaching Profession. The Education and Training Act 2020 gives the Teaching Council responsibility for these functions and establishes independent decision-making bodies to consider conduct and competence matters. The Teaching Council Rules 2016 describe how these bodies operate.

Why the rule changes?

The Education and Training Amendment Act 2022 passed last year is changing parts of the disciplinary processes with effect from 23 July 2023. We are taking the opportunity to not only reflect the legal changes but also to address several issues that have emerged through kōrero with key stakeholders and reviewing our policies and practices over the last few years.

What are professional disciplinary processes and competence evaluation processes for?

Professional disciplinary processes and competence evaluation processes are about the profession holding their peers to account for meeting the expected high level of conduct and competence that the public and the profession deserve from teachers. It acts as a deterrent against professional misconduct and incompetence.

It is the responsibility of the Council to consider whether a teacher may have breached  Ngā Tikanga Matatika | the Code of Professional Responsibility or is not meeting  Ngā Paerewa | Standards for the Teaching Profession. It may be necessary  to apply professional disciplinary processes and competence evaluation processes to determine whether a teacher is safe to continue as a member of the profession or whether any conditions should be attached to their registration or practising certificate or limited authority to teach.

Who are the decision-makers?

Teaching Council staff are involved in the administration, triaging and investigation of reports, complaints or matters related to conduct or competence - some of whom are registered teachers. Decisions that impact on a teacher’s registration, practising certificate or limited authority to teach are made by independent bodies established under the Education and Training Act 2020, which comprise mainly of members of the profession plus lay people who are appointed to represent the public.

  • The Complaints Assessment Committee who considers reports, complaints and other matters related to conduct, has 30 members of whom 26 are members of the profession.
  • The Disciplinary Tribunal considers more serious reports, complaints and other matters related to conduct that have been referred by the Complaints Assessment Committee. The Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body chaired by lawyers. Nineteen of the 30 members are members of the profession.
  • The Competence Authority who considers reports, complaints and other matters related to competence, has eight members of whom five are members of the profession.

How will the legal changes save time and costs?

The Teaching Council Rules 2016 are being updated to reflect changes made by the Education and Training Amendment Act 2022. The Council advocated for the change to the powers of the Complaints Assessment Committee to help ensure that only the most serious cases are being referred to and considered by the Disciplinary Tribunal. It is anticipated that over time a decrease in the number of referrals to the Disciplinary Tribunal will save costs, and will reduce the time taken to complete a matter for most teachers whilst still ensuring that professional matters are determined by the profession themselves. We know that timeliness and cost is of prime interest to the profession as well as cultural appropriateness, transparency, and protecting confidentiality and privacy.

What number of reports and complaints are received each year?

Over the last five years the number of registered teachers with a practising certificate or holding a limited authority to teach has increased from nearly 103,000 to nearly 109,500. The number of mandatory reports, complaints self-reports and other matters received by the Council has averaged just under 600 per year. For the four-year period 2017/18 to 2020/21 the number of teachers who had conditions applied was an average of 122 per year or 0.1% of the profession – in 2021/22 this dropped to 59 or 0.05%. For the four-year period 2017/18 to 2020/21 the number of teachers who had registration cancelled was an average of 24 per year of 0.02%. In 2021/22 this dropped to 10 or 0.01%.

More information

The broad areas of rule changes are described below. The rule number is provided if you wish to know more.  Please see the consultation document for further details.

  • incorporating the changes introduced by the Education and Training Amendment Act 2022: which take effect from 29 July 2023 by:
    • changing the threshold of referrals from the Complaints Assessment Committee to the Disciplinary Tribunal – from potential serious misconduct to the likelihood of suspension or cancellation being an appropriate outcome (rule 20)
    • removing some Complaints Assessment Committee powers such as suspension of practising certificate or limited authority to teach (rule 17 refers to section 497 of the Act)
    • removing the current Complaints Assessment Committee requirement to seek agreement with an initiator on misconduct outcomes – the requirement to seek agreement with the teacher is retained (rule 17)
    • adding new provisions for a teacher or the person who made the report or complaint or referred the matter to the Complaints Assessment Committee to be able to request the Disciplinary Tribunal to review a Complaints Assessment Committee decision (rule 18 and new Part 5A and new rules 20A to 20D)
    • adding a rule to transition from old to amended rules (Schedule 1- Part 3).
  • amending the rules to give voice to teachers and protect their mana during these processes by:
  • requiring persons and bodies exercising a power, function or discretion under the rules to consider the personal circumstances of a teacher (rule 4A)
  • requiring the chief executive to consider the particular context of a teacher when exercising discretion about the composition of a Complaints Assessment Committee (rule 14)
  • clarifying that a teacher who the Complaints Assessment Committee or Competence Authority decides to hear in person may be accompanied by a support person or persons (rules 17 and 44)
  • requiring a professional practice evaluator (an experienced registered teacher leader working for the Council), who investigates a teacher's competence, to provide a teacher with an opportunity to comment on the report prepared about their competence (rule 41).
  • amending the rules to begin improving cultural appropriateness in these processes by:
  • requiring persons exercising a power or discretion under the rules to have regard to the Act's requirement to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori-Crown relationships (rule 4A)
  • including under the chief executive’s discretion about the composition of Complaints Assessment Committee panels to consider te reo Māori, tikanga Māori or expertise in Māori medium education (rule 14)
  • permitting the Disciplinary Tribunal to regulate its procedures in relation to hearings in a way that recognises tikanga Māori (rule 24)
  • requiring the Teaching Council, before it appoints a person to a disciplinary body, the Competence Authority or the Registration Panel to consider the person’s attributes including their knowledge of or experience with Te Tiriti o Waitangi, te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and Māori medium education (rule 61). 
  • amending the rules to give mana to other people involved in these processes by:
    • adding a new definition of ‘complainant’ to cover a person against whom alleged misconduct including serious misconduct is committed (rule 3)
    • including a reference to the Protected Disclosures (Whistleblowers Protection) Act 2002 (rules 3 and 11B)
    • requiring persons and bodies exercising a power, function or discretion under the rules to consider the personal circumstances of a complainant or witness (rule 4A)
    • requiring the chief executive to notify an initiator of a decision to take no further action or a referral to the Complaints Assessment Committee or a professional practice evaluator (rule 12)
    • requiring the chief executive to consider the particular context of an initiator when exercising discretion about the composition of the Complaints Assessment Committee (rule 14)
    • requiring an investigator who is investigating a conduct matter to consider if a further response or information is required from an initiator or complainant (rule 15)
    • clarifying that an initiator or another person who the Complaints Assessment Committee decides to hear in person may be accompanied by a support person or persons (rule 17). 
  • amending the rules to protect certain witnesses and vulnerable people involved in these processes by:
    • requiring persons and bodies exercising a power, function or discretion under the rules to consider the personal circumstances of a witness (rule 4A)
    • clarifying that a witness presenting evidence at the Disciplinary Tribunal about a conduct matter can have one or more support persons with them (rule 29)
    • applying the Evidence Act 2006 to the Disciplinary Tribunal, to promote fairness to parties and witnesses, especially with regard to the questioning of witnesses and alternative ways of giving evidence (rule 31)
    • allowing the Disciplinary Tribunal to have regard to the powers of suppression applying under the Criminal Proceedings Act 2022, to consider for example automatic suppression of the identity of child complainants and witnesses (rule 34). 
  • amending the rules to balance confidentiality and privacy with public interest by:
    • clarifying the situations in which the Council may provide notification of Complaints Assessment Committee and Competence Authority decisions (rule 64). 
  • amending the rules relating to the competence process by:
  • revoking rule 39
  • allowing the professional practice evaluator to refer a report, complaint or matter back to the Triage Committee (rule 40)
  • clarifying that a teacher’s competence is evaluated by having regard to any applicable standards – currently these standards are described in Ngā Paerewa | the Standards for the Teaching Profession (rule 40)
  • focusing the professional practice evaluator role on undertaking investigations and evaluations and making recommendations to the Competence Authority (revoking rule 42 and amending rule 43)
  • specifying who may attend a Competence Authority meeting (rule 45)
  • allowing the Competence Authority to involve a teacher’s employer in a meeting if the Authority considers the employer’s attendance is desirable – the teacher must be notified of such an intention (rule 45). 
  • proposing new rules and/or subclauses to aid transparency by:
  • describing the establishment and role of the Triage Committee in the rules (the Triage Committee makes an initial assessment of a report or complaint about a teacher’s conduct or competence to determine the most appropriate pathway to be undertaken, e.g. no further action, a conduct investigation or a competence investigation. The Committee is made up of experienced Council kaimahi.) (rule 11, 11A and 11B). 
  • proposing new rules and/or subclauses to address gaps and/or provide clarification by:
    • seeking information in a report or complaint submitted in response to a matter, if available, about the action taken including any restorative justice process undertaken (rule 8)
    • making some minor changes to the criteria of serious misconduct to provide clarity (rule 9)
    • seeking feedback about substituting the term ‘emotional abuse’ with ‘psychological abuse’ as a criteria of serious misconduct(rule 9)
    • clarifying that a decision to take no further action should be included in notification of outcomes to a teacher or employer (rule 12)
    • requiring the chief executive to monitor compliance with any conditions imposed by the Complaints Assessment Committee, the Disciplinary Tribunal or Competence Authority (rules 17A and 35A and 47)
    • setting out what is included in a Complaint Assessment Committee order (rule 18)
    • allowing the Disciplinary Tribunal to withdraw charges or proceedings (e.g., in the instance of a teacher’s death – this provision is not currently available) (rule 25A)
  • applying the rule about term of appointment to the Registration Panel (rule 61)
  • applying the rule about ceasing to hold a position to the Registration Panel (rule 62)
  • revoking separate conflict of interest provisions (rules 28, 46 and 48D) and including a new consolidated rule that applies to all bodies covered by the rules (rule 63)
  • revoking separate validity pf proceedings provisions (rules 52, 56 and 58C) and including a new consolidated rule that applies to all bodies covered by the rules (rule 63A).