Teacher Accreditation

From 1 January 2018, all teachers in NSW must be accredited to teach. Accreditation means that a teacher has met the professional teaching standards required by the Teacher Accreditation Act 2004 including the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (‘the Standards’) at one of the key stages of Graduate, Proficient Teacher, Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher.

As ‘Teacher Accreditation Authorities’ (TAAs), Catholic Dioceses and individual congregational schools have approval under the Teacher Accreditation Act to make decisions about teacher accreditation at Proficient level.

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) monitors compliance of TAAs in relation to NESA regulations and policies regarding teacher accreditation. NESA provides assurance that:

• the minimum teaching standards are being met;
• only teachers who are meeting the professional teaching standards are being accredited; and
• the accreditation process the accreditation process is being applied fairly and consistently within and across schools.