Page 6074 - Week 14 - Thursday, 9 December 2010
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The bill creates three classes of registration. The Greens agree that these are appropriate and recognise the nature of the teaching workforce and allow for the efficient administration of the profession.
Ancillary to this is the creation of the teachers register. This is a positive move and promotes accountability and transparency in the profession. It facilitates teachers moving between schools and between states and I think it can improve community confidence in that it provides an assurance that all teachers have the mandatory qualifications and are fit and proper people to be teaching our children. That said, we do note the privacy concerns that this raises; I have circulated amendments to amend this provision slightly so that we can guarantee that privacy.
The other substantive change is giving the institute the capacity to create codes of practice. We think it is appropriate that there are comprehensive standards for teachers. We also agree with entrusting the institute with the responsibility for enforcing compliance and adjudicating on non-adherence. I note that appropriate review measures are created to allow individuals to challenge decisions in the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
We agree with the proposed institute board members, although I must say that I have some reservations about appointing a member to represent the community and the practical difficulty that this poses. Nevertheless, I am happy to see how it goes into the future and will keep an eye on that.
Whilst there has been a long process leading up to this bill and there has been considerable public consultation and consultation with stakeholders, it is unfortunate that we had such a short period of time to consider the provisions of the bill. I will pick up on Mr Doszpot’s point on this, although I would thoroughly reject some sort of weird conspiracy theory about me being on the scrutiny of bills committee.
I must also note the poor standard of the explanatory statement. It is disappointing that it does not explain the intended operation of many of the clauses within the bill; nor does it even attempt to engage with the human rights issues that may arise.
That noted, I must thank the departmental officials for responding to my questions that were sent through—they responded very quickly—and for providing a briefing and satisfying me of the appropriateness of a number of clauses that I had particular concerns about.
I will be moving some minor amendments to clarify the disclosure and privacy provisions and provide a reasonable excuse exemption for those unable to obtain a criminal history from overseas. These amendments address some of the issues that were raised by the Scrutiny of Bills and Subordinate Legislation Committee in its most recent report.
As I said, the Greens will support the creation of the teacher quality institute.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Planning, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation and Minister for Gaming and
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