Employer obligations

If you employ, or have employed, a registered teacher or an authorised person, you are required to notify the Board:

Notifications must be made within 28 days after the occurrence of the event and specify full details of the event and the circumstances involved. Use the Employer Notification Form to notify the Board of any of the above events.

Serious Misconduct

Misconduct is the conduct of a teacher occurring in connection with the practice of teaching that is of a lesser standard than a member of the public, or members of the teaching profession are entitled to expect from a teacher.

Serious misconduct generally involves a substantial departure from the accepted standards of the profession.

Fitness and propriety

Fitness to teach is defined as whether the character, reputation and conduct of a person are such that a person should be allowed to teach children. A teacher’s behaviour, whether in the practice of teaching or in their private lives, may demonstrate qualities of a kind that indicate that person is not fit to practice as a teacher.

Matters that may call into question a teacher’s fitness to teach may include:

Criminal history.

• Behaviour that does not meet the standard of behaviour reasonably expected of a teacher.
• Behaviour not in accordance with the Code of Ethics for Northern Territory Teachers or other guidelines published by the Board.
• Behaviour that shows the teacher is not of good character.
• Other relevant matters such as an impairment, condition or disorder including substance abuse or dependence.

Competence

Teachers must be able to teach in accordance with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and must be proficient in the English language.

Monitoring compliance - Annual Return

By the end of the first term of each school year, employers must give the Board its Annual Return specifying the name of each person who taught at the employer's schools at any time during the period 1 January to 1 March of that year. The Board contacts employers mid-term 1 of each year in relation to the annual return.

In order to determine compliance with the requirement that only registered teachers or persons employed under an authorisation can be employed in schools the Board undertakes an audit of the persons employed to determine whether they are registered teachers or authorised to teach under the Act. 

Further information regarding employer obligations

Section 76A of the Act provides protection from civil or criminal liability for persons giving information to the Board in good faith. Please refer to the Employer Obligations Fact Sheet for further information.