Strengthening safeguards for learners: our shared responsibility

28 September 2026

As the kaitiaki of the teaching profession and its independent regulator, the Teaching Council has a responsibility to help ensure learners are taught in safe, high-quality environments, and that public trust in teaching remains strong.

Kaitiakitanga is about stewardship, care, and responsibility. In the context of teaching, it means working together to maintain the safeguards that help protect learners and uphold professional standards.

One of those safeguards is ensuring that teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand hold the authority required for the work they are undertaking. A current practising certificate or Limited Authority to Teach (LAT) helps provide assurance that teachers are appropriately authorised and subject to current regulatory oversight.

Protecting learners is a shared responsibility

Keeping learners safe is a shared responsibility across all parts of the education system.

Teachers have a responsibility to maintain the authority required for their work. Employers have a responsibility to check that teachers they appoint and continue to employ in teaching positions hold the required authority. The Teaching Council has a responsibility to provide clear information, maintain accurate records, and follow up potential concerns fairly.

Together, these responsibilities help maintain an important layer of assurance around who is authorised to teach.

We know that most teachers and employers already meet these responsibilities. Our focus is on supporting good practice across the profession and making it easier to identify and resolve issues early.

Shared responsibility also means shared accountability

Checking authority required to teach and keeping professional information up to date are ongoing regulatory responsibilities.

We check registration, practising certificate, and Limited Authority to Teach records against employer and payroll information to identify inconsistencies where a teacher may be teaching without the required authority. We work with teachers and employers to support them in obtaining or maintaining the authority required for their role.

This is about early identification and prevention. A request to check information does not mean the Teaching Council has identified a problem with an individual teacher or employer.

Information can become out of date or appear differently across systems for a range of reasons. If there is a discrepancy, the first step is to establish the facts and understand what has happened.

What teachers need to know

Registration is the professional status that confirms that someone meets the requirements to be a registered teacher in Aotearoa New Zealand. A current practising certificate is the authority a registered teacher needs to teach. There are also other forms of authority, including a LAT, depending on the circumstances.

Teachers should:

  • check that their practising certificate, LAT, or other lawful authority to teach is current and appropriate for their teaching work
  • check that their personal and employment information in My Rawa is accurate
  • keep track of expiry dates and allow enough time for renewal
  • contact the Teaching Council promptly if they are unsure about their authority or believe information is incorrect.

If a practising certificate expires while a renewal application is being processed, there are specific provisions that may allow teaching for a limited period. Where teaching needs to continue beyond that period, an appropriate authority may be required. If this is the case, please get in touch with us.

What employers need to know

Employers also play an important role in maintaining this safeguard.

Tumuaki, principals and early childhood education leaders should have reliable processes for checking that teachers have the authority required for their role, including checking that:

  • practising certificates are current where required
  • any LAT is current and appropriate for the role
  • expiry dates are monitored and followed up.

What happens if something needs to be checked?

If a teacher or employer identifies an issue, the Teaching Council will first establish the facts and work through what is needed to resolve it. This could include updating information, completing an application, or obtaining the appropriate authority to teach.

A difference between records, or a request from the Teaching Council to check information, does not automatically mean that someone has done anything wrong.

However, authority to teach is not only a professional responsibility, but also a legal requirement. Where the requirements are not met, the Teaching Council may take further regulatory action depending on the circumstances, including a formal warning or prosecution.

The Teaching Council does not issue fines directly. If a matter is prosecuted and a person is convicted, the court can impose a fine of up to $2,000 for an individual offence or $5,000 for an employer offence.

The focus is on making sure the facts are understood and any issues are addressed appropriately, while taking proportionate action where the circumstances require it.

Strengthening an important safeguard

Kaitiakitanga is about taking an active responsibility for what we are entrusted to protect.

For the Teaching Council, that means playing our part in upholding the integrity of the teaching profession and the safeguards that support learners to be safe and well taught.

The changes to the law strengthen our ability to do that in our assurance role as kaitiaki of the teaching profession.

Teachers, employers, and the Teaching Council each have a part to play. By checking that authority to teach is current, keeping information accurate and addressing issues early, we can help maintain a strong regulatory system that supports learners, the profession, and public trust.

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