Teachers Registration and Standards Regulations 2021

The Regulations elaborate several legal concepts that determine who qualifies as a teacher, what documentation and fees are required, which offences are disqualifying, and how the Board organises its work. The central concepts, as expressed in the Regulations, include the following.

Approved qualification and approved early childhood teaching qualification. Regulation 7 sets out what the Board treats as an approved qualification for registration. Approved degrees include those awarded by a higher education institution that is a member of Universities Australia, or qualifications that were nationally registered by the former Australian Council on Awards in Advanced Education or by the former Australian Council on Tertiary Awards (reg 7(3)(a)-(b)). The Board retains the capacity to determine that a particular degree, diploma or other qualification is not appropriate for registration (reg 7(3) final clause).

Practical student teaching component. For the main registration pathways the Regulations require that the qualifying award include a practical student teaching component undertaken at a school or prescribed service (reg 7(1)(a)(ii), (b)(ii)(B)). This makes practice experience an embedded element of the qualification threshold.

Multiple registration pathways. The Regulations set out three basic pathways: a four‑year pre‑service teacher education award (or part‑time equivalent) with practical teaching (reg 7(1)(a)); a three‑year non‑teacher degree plus an approved postgraduate teacher education award of at least one year including practical teaching (reg 7(1)(b)); and an approved early childhood teaching qualification (other than certain Graduate Diplomas and Certificates) for pre‑school teaching (reg 7(1)(c)-(e)). There is also a route by recognition of registration held under a corresponding law (reg 7(1)(e)).

Experience requirement. The Regulations specify the experience rule in quantitative terms: one year’s full‑time satisfactory service or part‑time equivalent of 200 days at a school or prescribed service in Australia or New Zealand, as determined in accordance with any policy of the Board (reg 7(2)).

Assessment of qualifications. The Board may on application assess whether a qualification is appropriate. The application must be in the Board’s approved manner and form, accompanied by the prescribed fee, and the Board may require supporting information verified by statutory declaration (reg 8(1)-(3)). This sets a formal assessment mechanism and evidentiary standard.

Committees and governance. Regulation 4 allows committees to include non‑Board members and rules appointment of presiding members and periodic review of membership. A failure to perform the membership review does not automatically invalidate committee acts (reg 4(1)-(2)).

Fees and indexation. Schedule 2 sets the fee amounts, indexation linked to the Adelaide CPI and rounding rules. The schedule includes an indexation formula for fees marked (indexed), a floor preventing CPI adjustments reducing fees below the prior year amount, and rules for proportional annual fees for part years (Schedule 2 cll 1-3 and itemised fees).

Exemptions and special authorities. Regulation 6 prescribes certain directors at prescribed education and care services and those who employ them as exempt from the registration requirement for the purposes of section 20(4)(b) of the Act. Regulation 12 creates a narrowly framed exemption from working with children check requirements where an applicant is the subject of an exemption under s 14 of the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016, but only for the shorter of the period of that exemption or 90 days, and it also excludes certain sections from applying to those applications (reg 12(1)-(2)).

Prescribed offences. Schedule 1 lists offences that are relevant to s 34A(1) of the Act. The list broadly comprises violent and sexual offences, child exploitation, kidnapping, certain property and drug offences, and specified Commonwealth Criminal Code offences, together with corresponding offences from previous State laws, other States and Territories, and foreign jurisdictions. It also expressly includes conspiracy, attempt and accessory offences (Schedule 1).

Information sharing. Regulation 16 expands the list of bodies with whom the Board can share information under s 49B(1)(h) to include the Association of Independent Schools of South Australia and Catholic Education South Australia. This changes the set of authorised recipients for information the Board may disclose (reg 16).

Employer obligations. Regulation 15 requires employers to notify the Board if they become aware of a practising teacher’s incompetence, however described. This is a statutory employer reporting duty tied to employer awareness rather than specific disciplinary outcomes in the Regulations themselves (reg 15).

Discretion to waive fees. Regulation 17(2) permits the Board to waive fees, in whole or part, if satisfied reasonable cause exists. The Board thus retains a case‑by‑case capacity to reduce financial burdens imposed by the fee schedule.

These concepts combine technical thresholds (years, CPI, specified fees, statutory declaration requirements) with discretionary administrative mechanisms (Board assessments, waivers, committee composition). The Regulations therefore function both as hard thresholds for entry and as levers of administrative discretion for the Board.

The Regulations affect a set of identifiable groups and institutional actors through obligations, eligibility rules, reporting duties, and fee liabilities.

Prospective and practising teachers. The Regulations primarily regulate persons seeking registration as teachers and those already registered. They set qualification and experience thresholds (reg 7), require payment of application, renewal and annual fees (Schedule 2 items 1-5), prescribe the annual fee period and the due date (reg 9), and govern replacement certificates (reg 10). Teachers who hold registration in corresponding jurisdictions can rely on a recognition route (reg 7(1)(e)).

Higher education providers. Providers who run initial teacher education courses are affected by the prescription of accreditation standards. Regulation 5 prescribes the national Accreditation of initial teacher education programs in Australia,Standards and Procedures (Education Services Australia) as the standards for the purposes of s 19A(4) of the Act. Providers seeking program accreditation will therefore be assessed against that instrument.

Employers of teachers and preschools/education and care services. Reg 6 prescribes exemptions from registration for certain directors and employers at prescribed education and care services, and reg 15 imposes an employer obligation to notify the Board if the employer becomes aware of a practising teacher’s incompetence. Employers in the early childhood sector who run out‑of‑school hours care that includes pre‑school education or centre‑based long day care that includes pre‑school education are specifically caught by the definition of prescribed education and care service in reg 6(2) (reg 6(2) definitions).

Teachers Registration Board and its committees. The Board is the decision maker for qualification assessments (reg 8), fee waivers (reg 17(2)), setting amounts for criminal record checks in special authority applications (reg 11), and for appointing presiding members to committees and reviewing committee membership (reg 4). The Board will be responsible for implementing the indexation of fees and maintaining the administrative processes referenced throughout the Regulations.

Independent school systems and Catholic education authorities. Regulation 16 specifically expands the statutory information sharing power (s 49B(1)(h) of the Act) to include two sector bodies: The Association of Independent Schools of South Australia and Catholic Education South Australia. These bodies therefore gain access to information the Act permits the Board to share.

Applicants for special authority to teach. The Regulations affect unregistered persons who seek special authority under Part 6 of the Act. Regulation 11 requires such an application to be accompanied by the amount specified by the Board to cover the cost the Board will incur for a criminal record check under s 30(3a) of the Act. Regulation 12 modifies working with children check requirements for applicants who are the subject of a Child Safety Act exemption, limiting the exemption period and removing certain procedural sections for those applications.

Persons with relevant convictions. Schedule 1 prescribes offences which are relevant to s 34A(1) of the Act. Persons who have been convicted of those offences, or corresponding offences in other jurisdictions, are within the statutory net the Board will consider under the Act’s registration, disciplinary or special authority provisions.

Legal and compliance advisors, HR professionals and accountants. These actors will be affected in advising employers and providers about the obligations to notify the Board, the required documentation for registration and assessment, fee liabilities and indexation, and in implementing recordkeeping and disclosure processes.

In aggregate, the Regulations touch multiple layers of the education ecosystem, from individual applicants to sector bodies and the Board. Who pays is made explicit for many functions: applicants and teachers pay fees (Schedule 2), employers must notify the Board when they become aware of incompetence (reg 15), and the Board can require applicants for special authority to provide an amount to cover criminal record checks (reg 11). Who decides is the Board, which holds assessment, waiver and specification powers (regs 8, 11, 17). Behaviour change incentives are concentrated around compliance with qualification, experience and fee rules and employer reporting duties.

The Regulations create specific duties on applicants, employers and the Teachers Registration Board and confer operational rights to the Board and certain sector bodies.

Key duties

• Qualification and experience proof. An applicant for registration must satisfy the qualification and experience requirements spelled out in regulation 7. Those requirements include a qualifying award with a practical student teaching component and one year’s full‑time or 200 days equivalent experience (reg 7(1)-(2)). The Regulations make those elements compulsory prerequisites for registration under s 21(1)(a) of the Act.

• Application form and supporting material. For Board assessments of qualifications, applicants must apply in the manner and form approved by the Board, pay the prescribed assessment fee and provide any information required by the Board, which the Board may require to be verified by statutory declaration (reg 8(2)-(3)). The Board therefore has a right to require formal evidence and statutory declaration verification.

• Fees and timely payment. Applicants and registered teachers must pay prescribed fees set out in Schedule 2 for application, registration, annual fees and replacement documents. The annual fee is due on or before 31 January and covers the 12 months from 1 February to 31 January (reg 9). Late payment attracts an administrative or default penalty (Schedule 2 items 4 and 6). The Schedule also specifies the quantum of each fee (for example, application for registration $175 indexed at item 2; annual fee $110 indexed at item 5).

• Employer notification. Employers of practising teachers have a duty to notify the Board if they become aware of the incompetence, however described, of the teacher (reg 15). This is a statutory reporting obligation bound to employer knowledge.

• Evidence for replacement certificate. A person seeking a duplicate certificate must satisfy the Board by statutory declaration that the certificate was lost or destroyed and pay the prescribed fee (reg 10 and Schedule 2 item 8).

• Special authority application cost coverage. An application for a special authority under Part 6 must be accompanied by the amount specified by the Board to cover the Board’s criminal record check costs (reg 11).

• Working with children check exemptions limited. If an applicant for a special authority is the subject of an exemption under s 14 of the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016, the special authority is exempt from the working with children check requirement only for the shorter of the exemption period or 90 days, and particular procedural sections are excluded for such applications (reg 12(1)-(2)).

Key rights and Board discretions

• Board assessment power. The Board has the right to assess qualifications for appropriateness and to require information and declarations (reg 8(1)-(3)). This grants the Board gatekeeping authority over non‑standard or overseas qualifications.

• Fee waiver discretion. The Board may waive any prescribed fee in whole or in part if satisfied that reasonable cause exists (reg 17(2)). The waiver power is discretionary and fact‑sensitive.

• Committee composition and appointment. The Board determines committee presiding members and may include non‑Board members as committee members, subject to the Act. The presiding member must be a Board member except for committees established for Part 3A (reg 4(1)(a)-(b)).

• Information sharing authorisations. The Board may share information under s 49B(1)(h) with the two named bodies in regulation 16. Those bodies are therefore authorised recipients under the Act’s information sharing framework as expanded by the Regulations.

• Right to set criminal check cost amount for special authorities. The Board specifies the amount that applicants must accompany their application with to cover a criminal record check the Board will conduct under s 30(3a) (reg 11). While the Board must specify the amount, that amount becomes a pass‑through cost for the applicant.

Operational constraints and procedural safeguards embedded in the Regulations include statutory declaration requirements where the Board requests verification (reg 8(3) and reg 10), and indexing and rounding rules for fees (Schedule 2 cll 1-3). The Regulations also prevent year‑to‑year fee volatility downward by providing a floor if CPI adjustments would otherwise reduce the fee below the prior year amount (Schedule 2 cl 1(3)). The Board’s exercise of discretion, for example in waiving fees or assessing qualification appropriateness, is not accompanied in the Regulations by a detailed merits review or internal review framework; those processes are governed by the Act and any Board policy rather than by these Regulations. The Regulations therefore combine prescriptive administrative duties with reserved Board discretions that will shape implementation.

The Regulations do not create new criminal penalties separate from the Act but implement enforcement and sanctioning mechanisms by reference to the Act and by specifying procedures, duties and prescribed offences that feed into the Act’s disciplinary and registration consequences. Enforcement points and financial penalties are set out as follows.

Fee penalties and payment enforcement

• Annual fee payment rules and penalty. The Regulations prescribe the annual fee timing and period (regulation 9). Schedule 2 item 6 prescribes a $75 penalty for default in payment of the annual fee. Administrative late fees for renewal applications are also specified: $25 where the application is made less than 1 month before expiry (item 4(a)) and $100 (indexed) where made within 1 month following expiry (item 4(b)). Those fees are in addition to the regular renewal fee (Schedule 2 items 3 and 4 note).

Board administrative enforcement powers

• Replacement certificate issuance. Regulation 10 requires a statutory declaration and payment for a duplicate certificate. The requirement of a statutory declaration is an evidentiary control that reduces the risk of fraudulent duplicate issuance and creates a potential basis for administrative action if the declaration is false.

• Special authority criminal check fee. Regulation 11 requires applicants for special authority to accompany their application with the amount specified by the Board for the Board’s criminal record check payment. If applicants fail to provide that amount, the Board may treat the application as incomplete, which effectively enforces the cost recovery mechanism for criminal checks.

Reporting obligations and downstream disciplinary processes

• Employer notification of incompetence. Regulation 15 makes employer notification mandatory upon awareness of a practising teacher’s incompetence. That notification duty feeds the Board’s investigatory and disciplinary functions under the Act. The Regulations do not prescribe sanctions for failure to notify, but failure to comply may engage separate employer obligations under the Act or other instruments; the Board’s response to a late or absent report would be governed by the Act and Board policies.

Prescribed offences and consequential registration effects

• Schedule 1’s role. Regulation 14 prescribes a broad list of offences for the purposes of s 34A(1) of the Act. The effect of a conviction for a prescribed offence will be determined under the Act, which may include refusal, suspension or cancellation of registration or affecting special authority eligibility. Schedule 1 includes a wide range of serious offences against the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (divisions specified at Schedule 1(a)(i)-(xviii) and other enumerated provisions), a set of Commonwealth Criminal Code offences (Schedule 1(g) enumerating numerous sections) and corresponding offences in other jurisdictions as well as attempts, conspiracies and accessory offences. The Schedule therefore establishes the catalogue of convictions that the Board will treat as especially relevant to registration and fitness to teach inquiries.

Information sharing and enforcement cooperation

• Expanded disclosure recipients. Regulation 16 includes the Association of Independent Schools of South Australia and Catholic Education South Australia within the ambit of s 49B(1)(h) disclosure powers. This creates an enforcement and information sharing channel between the Board and large employer bodies, enabling coordinated administrative action and sector alerts, subject to the Act’s information sharing limitations and privacy obligations which remain applicable.

Discretionary waivers and procedural limits

• Fee waiver power. Regulation 17(2) permits waiver of fees for reasonable cause, which is an administrative enforcement flexibility rather than a penalty. The Board’s exercise of fee waivers may affect the practical enforcement of fee obligations.

Procedural handling of committee failures

• Committee review non‑fatality. Regulation 4(2) expressly provides that a failure by the Board to conduct the prescribed three‑year membership review does not, by itself, invalidate committee acts. This limits a procedural attack on Board committee decisions based solely on missed review cycles.

In summary, the Regulations create financial enforcement mechanisms (fees, default penalties, late fees), reporting duties (employer notification), administrative verification requirements (statutory declarations), and a definitive list of offences that trigger registration consequences under the Act. The Regulations also expand information sharing with sector bodies to facilitate enforcement. The Regulations leave the substantive disciplinary penalties to the Act but build out the inputs and administrative levers the Board will use to enforce registration standards.

The Regulations are explicitly framed as subordinate to the Teachers Registration and Standards Act 2004 and are designed to operate in conjunction with several instruments and bodies across State and Commonwealth law. The Regulations reference other instruments and confer mutual operation in several ways.

Cross‑reference to the Act. The Regulations implement provisions of the Act: they prescribe matters required by sections of the Act, such as accreditation standards for s 19A(4) (reg 5), qualification and experience requirements for s 21(1)(a) (reg 7), procedures for assessment under s 21 and other provisions (reg 8) and fee prescriptions for s 26A(2) (reg 9) and other fee‑related Act provisions (reg 17 and Schedule 2). The Regulations therefore operate as the Act’s detailed delegated instrument.

Interplay with the Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations. Regulation 6 refers to concepts defined in the Education and Care Services National Law (South Australia) and the Education and Care Services National Regulations. For example, the term approved education and care service is given the same meaning as in the national law, and prescribed education and care service is defined to capture out‑of‑school hours care that includes pre‑school education and centre‑based long day care that includes pre‑school education (reg 6(2)). Regulation 7 refers to the national regulations for the definition of an approved early childhood teaching qualification and to the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (reg 7(4)). The Regulations therefore sit alongside and rely upon the national law and regulations for definitions and for the recognition of certain early childhood qualifications.

Interaction with the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016. Regulation 12 creates an exemption for the working with children check requirement under section 30(1a) of the Act where a special authority applicant is the subject of an exemption under s 14 of the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016. The exemption is limited to the period of the Child Safety Act exemption or 90 days, whichever is shorter (reg 12(1)), and regulation 12(2) excludes certain procedural sections from applying to such applications. This creates a temporal and procedural cross‑link between the Teachers Registration regime and the Child Safety Act’s prohibited persons framework.

Use of Commonwealth Criminal Code and inter‑jurisdictional offences. Schedule 1 prescribes Commonwealth Criminal Code offences by their sections (Schedule 1(g) lists many Criminal Code sections) as well as offences in the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 and corresponding offences previously in force in the State or in other States, Territories or foreign jurisdictions (Schedule 1(e)-(f), (h), (k)). The inclusion of corresponding offences means that the Board may treat convictions under other jurisdictions’ laws as effectively equivalent for the purposes of s 34A(1) of the Act, ensuring cross‑jurisdictional applicability of the prescribed offence list.

Sector bodies under information sharing frameworks. Regulation 16 declares certain entities, The Association of Independent Schools of South Australia and Catholic Education South Australia, within the ambit of s 49B(1)(h) of the Act for information sharing purposes. That is an operational intersection between the Act’s disclosure powers and sector organisations, allowing the Board to share information lawfully with these bodies. Those bodies themselves operate under other statutory or constitutional frameworks relevant to school operation.

Statutory documents and indexation by ABS CPI. Schedule 2 relies on the Consumer Price Index (All Groups) for the City of Adelaide published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to index fees (Schedule 2 cl 1). Using an independent statistical index binds the fee adjustments to a public data series and aligns fee movements with general price movements in Adelaide.

Preservation of previous determinations and transitional instruments. Regulation 7(1)(e) contemplates recognition of teacher registration held under a corresponding law; this preserves mutual recognition pathways between jurisdictions. The Legislative history section shows that these Regulations replaced earlier Teachers Registration and Standards Regulations 2016 and that later amendments occurred in 2024. Those amendments interact with prior regulatory arrangements and transitional provisions that may be relevant to legacy registrations or previously approved qualifications.

In effect, the Regulations are an integrative instrument rather than a self‑standing code. They depend on and interact with: the Act for statutory authority; the Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations for early childhood definitions and qualification equivalence; the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act for temporary working with children check exemptions; Commonwealth criminal law for prescribed serious offences; and ABS CPI data for fee indexation. Practitioners should therefore consider the Regulations in the context of these related instruments when advising on eligibility, cross‑jurisdictional recognition, employer duties, and disclosure or information sharing.

The Regulations contain their own legislative history block which records their commencement and subsequent variations. A concise, source‑grounded summary of the amendment history follows, with the dates and provisions as recorded.

Commencement and revocation of prior instruments

• The Teachers Registration and Standards Regulations 2021 are the principal Regulations, cited as the Teachers Registration and Standards Regulations 2021 (reg 1). The 2021 Regulations revoked the Teachers Registration and Standards Regulations 2016, as recorded under "Legislation revoked by principal regulations".

Notable variations and dates

• The Regulations include entries showing variations made in 2024. Two separate Gazette notices are recorded:
  • No 16, Gazette 21 March 2024 (commencement 21 March 2024: r 2).
  • No 44, Gazette 6 June 2024 (commencement 6 June 2024: r 2).

Textual amendments recorded in the Legislative history table

• Regulation 2 was omitted under the Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002, effective 21 March 2024. The table entry indicates "r 2 omitted" with commencement 21.3.2024.
• Regulation 3 had an element described as "mandatory notification course" that was deleted by variation 16/2024 r 3, effective 21 March 2024.
• Regulation 7 was the subject of amendments by variation 44/2024 r 3(1) and (2) (6 June 2024). Specific subregulations 7(3) and 7(4) were deleted by 16/2024 r 4 (21 March 2024). Additional material was inserted by 44/2024 r 3(3) (6 June 2024). Regulation 7(5) was deleted by 44/2024 r 3(3) (6 June 2024). The Legislative history therefore shows a sequence in which parts of r 7 were deleted on 21 March 2024 and further amendments and insertions were made on 6 June 2024.
• Regulation 13 was deleted by variation 16/2024 r 5 (21 March 2024).
• Schedule 3 was omitted under the Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002, effective 21 March 2024.

Historical versions

• The legislative history notes that historical versions are available, with a specific entry for 21 March 2024. This indicates the Regulations have been materially revised since their initial 2021 enactment.

Interpretation of the amendment trail

• The amendments in early and mid 2024 involved deletions and insertions to regulation 7 (the core qualification provisions), deletions to regulation 3 and 13, and the omission of Schedule 3. Those changes, taken from the Legislative history, suggest the 2024 variations modified qualification details and removed other specific provisions. The source text as provided reflects the Regulations after the listed amendments (the primary text in the prompt includes r 7 and the current Schedule 2 etc).

Practical implications for advisers

• Where a person relies on a prior version of these Regulations or on an approval, recognition or fee arrangement determined under an earlier version, the Legislative history signals the need to verify which version applied at the time of decision or registration application. The Regulations themselves include notes cautioning that cross‑references to other legislation may be obsolete and that historical versions are listed at the end of the legislative history, which practitioners should consult (Legislative history notes).

The Regulations’ Legislative history therefore documents revocation of the 2016 rules, the 2021 enactment, and two sets of 2024 variations that altered the content of certain provisions. For any compliance or transitional question, the precise commencement dates in that history (21 March 2024 and 6 June 2024) must be checked against the relevant fact pattern to determine which regulatory text was in force at a given time.

The Regulations themselves contain no litigation history entry and do not list judicial decisions. The text under "Litigation history" in the provided material is blank; the Legislative history lists prior versions and variations but does not record any court or tribunal decisions concerning the Regulations.

What the absence of litigation history in the instrument means in practice:

• The Regulations do not themselves record or summarise any challenges to their validity, their interpretation, or Board decisions made under them. Practitioners should not infer from this absence that the Regulations have never been litigated; the absence simply reflects the instrument’s internal record. Where litigation or tribunal decisions are relevant, they must be located in court databases, tribunal records or published decisions; none are provided in the source text.
• Because the Regulations confer discretions on the Board (for qualification assessments, fee waivers, committee appointments and specification of amounts for criminal checks), those actions under the Regulations are potential subjects of administrative review or judicial review in principle. However, such litigation is not recorded in the Regulations themselves.
• The Regulations’ express provision that committee acts are not invalid solely because the Board failed to perform the three‑year membership review (reg 4(2)) signals a legislative intent to limit procedural challenges on that ground. That provision may reduce the availability of procedural grounds for litigating committee decisions but does not address other grounds for judicial review such as jurisdictional error or procedural unfairness.

For practitioners seeking to identify any case law that interprets or challenges these Regulations, the appropriate course is to search case law databases and tribunal records for decisions referencing the Teachers Registration and Standards Regulations 2021, the Teachers Registration and Standards Act 2004, and decisions of the Teachers Registration Board. The statutory text here does not supply litigation history or judicial gloss.

The Regulations contain several provisions that are easy to overlook but have concrete operational consequences. The following are practical "gotchas" that arise from the text, each grounded precisely in the Regulations.

Approved qualification is not any degree. Regulation 7(3) narrows what counts as an "approved" degree: either a degree from a higher education institution that is a member of Universities Australia or a degree that was nationally registered by specified former councils. The regulation then adds that the Board may determine that a degree is not appropriate for registration. Practitioners should note that having a university award does not automatically secure eligibility; the Board’s determination can exclude awards (reg 7(3) final clause).

Practical student teaching requirement. Both main degree pathways require a practical student teaching component undertaken at a school or prescribed service (reg 7(1)(a)(ii) and reg 7(1)(b)(ii)(B)). Overseas or non‑standard coursework that lacks a supervised practicum may not meet the threshold even if the academic length is sufficient.

Experience quantified as 200 days. Regulation 7(2) requires one year’s full‑time satisfactory service defined as a part‑time equivalent of 200 days. That fixed days metric is concrete and may be less generous than other workplace definitions of a year. Employers and applicants should track days and retain records to demonstrate the 200‑day equivalent.

Board has gatekeeping and exclusion power. Regulation 8 gives the Board power to assess qualifications on application and to require statutory declaration evidence (reg 8(1)-(3)). The Board also retains a residual power to find a qualification inappropriate (reg 7(3)). Applicants with overseas or non‑standard qualifications should expect both documentary scrutiny and possible rejection.

Indexation floor prevents fee decreases. Schedule 2 clause 1(3) provides that if CPI adjustments would make a prescribed fee lower than the preceding year’s fee, the amount payable remains the prior year’s amount. This is a floor mechanism ensuring fees do not drop and may surprise organisations expecting CPI reductions to lower fees.

Statutory declaration thresholds for duplicate certificates and qualification assessments. Both regulation 10 (replacement certificate) and regulation 8(3) (assessment) make statutory declaration a potential evidentiary requirement. False declarations expose declarants to penalties for false statutory declarations in separate legislation.

Working with children check exemptions are short and partial. Regulation 12 allows a temporary exemption from the working with children check requirement for a special authority applicant who is the subject of an exemption under s 14 of the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016, but only for the shorter of the exemption period or 90 days. In addition, regulation 12(2) excludes certain procedural sections from applying to such applications. Practically, an exemption under the Child Safety Act does not give indefinite relief for the Board’s working with children checks and may only buy a limited window to apply for a special authority (reg 12(1)-(2)).

Employer notification duty scope is broad and imprecise. Regulation 15 requires notification of the Board if an employer becomes aware of the incompetence, however described, of a practising teacher. The term "incompetence" is not defined in the Regulations and is qualified by the parenthetical "however described" (reg 15). Employers should therefore adopt internal definitions and reporting thresholds and document their decision processes to manage ambiguity and potential downstream disputes.

Prescribed offences reach across jurisdictions and include attempts and accessories. Schedule 1 expressly includes corresponding offences from previous State laws, other State or Territory laws and foreign jurisdictions, as well as attempts, conspiracy and accessory offences (Schedule 1(e)-(f), (k), (i)-(j)). Practically, a conviction abroad or for an accessory offence may be treated as relevant to fitness to teach.

Committee membership review requirement non‑fatal. Regulation 4(1)(c) requires the Board to review committee membership at least once every three years if the committee is ongoing, but regulation 4(2) states that committee acts are not invalid solely because the Board failed to do the review. So a missed review will not automatically invalidate committee decisions, reducing one procedural attack point on decisions (reg 4(1)(c), (2)).

Fee waiver is discretionary and undefined. Regulation 17(2) permits the Board to waive fees if satisfied reasonable cause exists but does not define "reasonable cause" or set procedural steps for applying for a waiver. Applicants should therefore prepare evidentiary material and early engagement with the Board when seeking a waiver (reg 17(2)).

Special authority applicants must provide the criminal check cost. Regulation 11 requires applications for special authority to be accompanied by the amount specified by the Board equal to the Board’s criminal record check cost. Absent that amount the application may be treated as incomplete; the amount is set by the Board rather than by a fixed schedule in the Regulations (reg 11).

Indexation rounding and part‑year proportional fees. Schedule 2 sets rounding rules and specifies proportional fees where registration is granted for part of a year, with the annual fee payable pro rata by number of complete months (Schedule 2 item 5 note). Small differences in calculation can produce unexpected fees and rounding must be applied to the nearest dollar, rounding up at 50 cents.

Collectively, these “gotchas” are concrete implementation risks: applicants should preserve documentary evidence on practicum and days worked; employers should formalise notification triggers and record reporting; and applicants and employers should budget for indexed fees and potential Board discretion on qualification appropriateness.

Below is a practical compliance checklist and recommended process steps rooted in the Regulations. Each step references the specific regulation or Schedule item where relevant to the obligation.

1. Verify qualification pathway and documentation (regulation 7)

   • Confirm which pathway the applicant is using: four‑year approved pre‑service degree (reg 7(1)(a)), three‑year non‑teacher degree plus an approved postgraduate teacher education qualification (reg 7(1)(b)), or an approved early childhood teaching qualification as defined in the national regulations (reg 7(1)(c)-(d)).
   • Ensure the qualifying award includes a practical student teaching component undertaken at a school or prescribed service (reg 7(1)(a)(ii) and reg 7(1)(b)(ii)(B)).
   • If using a qualification from a non‑Universities Australia provider or overseas, be aware the Board may require an assessment and may determine the qualification not appropriate (reg 7(3) and reg 8).

2. Demonstrate the experience requirement (regulation 7(2))

   • Collect and retain documentation proving one year’s full‑time satisfactory service or part‑time equivalent of 200 days as a teacher in Australia or New Zealand. Use pay records, employment contracts, roster records and school reports to evidence the 200‑day equivalent (reg 7(2)).
   • Clarify with the Board whether the service qualifies as "satisfactory" under the Board’s policy.

3. Apply for Board assessment when necessary (regulation 8)

   • Complete the Board’s approved application form and pay the prescribed assessment fee (reg 8(2)(a)-(b); Schedule 2 item 7).
   • Provide supporting documentation the Board requests. If the Board requires statutory declaration verification, have the statutory declaration prepared and witnessed per relevant statutory formality (reg 8(3)).

4. Pay prescribed fees on time and budget for indexation (regulation 9 and Schedule 2)

   • Note the annual fee period is 1 February to 31 January; the fee is payable by 31 January (reg 9).
   • Use Schedule 2 to calculate the correct fee: application $175 indexed (item 2), renewal $100 indexed (item 3), annual fee $110 indexed per year (item 5), special authority $260 indexed (item 9) and other items as applicable.
   • Account for CPI indexation for fees labelled (indexed) and for the floor provision which prevents fees decreasing if the CPI would reduce them (Schedule 2 cll 1-3). Apply rounding rules to the nearest dollar (Schedule 2 cl 1).
   • If a renewal application is late, include administrative late fee (item 4) and the penalty for default in payment if applicable (item 6).

5. Duplicate certificate procedure (regulation 10 and Schedule 2 item 8)

   • If the certificate of registration is lost or destroyed, provide a statutory declaration affirming the loss and pay the replacement fee of $30 (reg 10; Schedule 2 item 8).

6. Special authority application requirements (regulation 11 and 12)

   • If applying for a special authority under Part 6, include the amount specified by the Board to cover the Board’s criminal record check cost (reg 11).
   • If the applicant is the subject of an exemption under s 14 of the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016, be aware the working with children exemption in the context of special authority is only for the shorter of the exemption period or 90 days, and that certain procedural provisions will not apply to those applications (reg 12(1)-(2)).

7. Employers should establish reporting procedures (regulation 15)

   • Create and document internal thresholds and processes for assessing "incompetence" and ensure notification to the Board if the employer becomes aware of the incompetence of a practising teacher (reg 15).
   • Keep records of reports, internal investigations and communications with the Board.

8. Prepare for information sharing (regulation 16)

   • Schools, associations and Catholic education authorities should be aware that the Board can share information with The Association of Independent Schools of South Australia and Catholic Education South Australia under s 49B(1)(h) as declared in regulation 16.
   • Ensure data handling and privacy procedures account for possible Board disclosures.

9. Seek fee waiver early if needed (regulation 17)

   • If financial hardship or another reasonable cause exists, apply to the Board for a waiver of fees, providing comprehensive documentary support, noting that the waiver is discretionary (reg 17(2)).

10. Maintain records for inter‑jurisdictional convictions and prescribed offences (Schedule 1)

    • For applicants with convictions (state, territory, Commonwealth or foreign equivalents), obtain certified records and legal advice on whether the offence corresponds to those listed in Schedule 1, since Schedule 1 includes corresponding offences and accessory or attempt offences (Schedule 1 clauses).
    • Anticipate that such convictions may affect eligibility or disciplinary outcomes under the Act.

11. Committee governance and review (regulation 4)

    • Boards that establish committees should conduct membership reviews at least once every three years where committees are ongoing (reg 4(1)(c)). Document the review even though a failure to review will not by itself invalidate committee acts (reg 4(2)).

12. Cross‑check with the Education and Care Services National Law for early childhood roles (regulation 6)

    • If an applicant is a director at a prescribed education and care service, confirm whether the exemption from registration applies under regulation 6(1) and use the same definitions as in the national law (reg 6(2)).

13. Recordkeeping for statutory declarations and criminal checks

    • Ensure statutory declarations used to support assessments or replacement certificates are retained with application files and that criminal record checks conducted are logged, with any consents and disclosures documented as required by privacy laws and the Board’s processes (reg 8(3), reg 10, reg 11).

14. Check transitional and historical versions if relying on older approvals

    • Where a registration, program accreditation or qualification approval was granted under an earlier version of the Regulations, consult the Legislative history to determine which text was in force for the relevant date (Legislative history).

15. When in doubt, engage with the Board early

    • Because the Board holds discretion over assessment outcomes, waiver decisions and the amount required to accompany special authority applications, early contact and pre‑submission queries can reduce the risk of refusal or unexpected costs (reg 8, reg 11, reg 17(2)).

Following these steps, each grounded in the Regulations, will reduce implementation risk. Document every decision, retain supporting evidence for days worked, practicums and statutory declarations, and maintain communication records with the Board to support any subsequent review or administrative query.