Law and Ethics for Australian Teachers

Disciplinary proceedings may be brought against a teacher in many forms and for many reasons. If a teacher in Australia is perceived to be doing the wrong thing or involved in some form of misconduct, proceedings against that teacher may be brought both in civil and criminal jurisdictions. Just recently in a major metropolitan weekend newspaper (Dibben, ), it was highlighted that 50 teachers in one year in that particular state had external proceedings brought against them for a variety of sexual and misconduct matters. This resulted in them being prohibited from teaching for a period of time or ever joining the teaching profession again. In this chapter we explore what disciplinary proceedings mean and how they may come about. A number of common and lesser known actions by teachers that may lead to such proceedings are examined. The process for dealing with allegations followed by the external agencies that regulate the behaviour and actions of registered teachers is also discussed. The chapter concludes with some general comments about how teachers can protect themselves, in terms of understanding their obligations in the first place and ensuring that natural justice has been followed in reaching a fair outcome in any action that they are the subject of.