The purpose of this Part is to provide for a range of interventions that may be used to address risks to the operation of individual schools or to the welfare or educational performance of their students.

The interventions in schools that are available are as follows:

The Minister or Secretary (as the case may be) may apply any of the interventions described in subsection (1)(b) to (e) to a school if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that there is a risk to the operation of the school, or to the welfare or educational performance of its students.

The Minister or Secretary (as the case may be) may apply any of the interventions described in subsection (1) to a school if either of the following requests an intervention:

When applying an intervention, the Minister or Secretary (as the case may be) must apply whichever intervention he or she considers is reasonable to deal with the risk without intervening more than necessary in the affairs of the school.

The application of any 1 intervention does not preclude the application of any other intervention, either simultaneously or at any other time.

The Secretary may, by written notice to the Board of a school, require the Board to provide specified information—

The Secretary may give a notice under subsection (1) only if he or she has reasonable grounds for concern about the operation of the school, or the welfare or educational performance of its students.

A Board that receives a notice under subsection (1) must provide the Secretary with the information required—

The Secretary may at any time amend or revoke a notice under subsection (1), and the amendment or revocation takes effect on the date specified in the notice.

The Secretary may, by written notice to the Board of a school, require the Board to engage specified specialist help.

A notice given under subsection (1) must identify particular persons or organisations, or types of persons or organisations, whom the Board must engage.

A Board that receives a notice under subsection (1) must comply with the notice as soon as practicable, and must pay the fees and reasonable expenses of any person or organisations engaged to provide specialist help.

The Secretary may at any time amend or revoke a notice under subsection (1), and the amendment or revocation takes effect on the date specified in the notice.

The Secretary may, by written notice to the Board of a school, require the Board to prepare and carry out an action plan, and every such notice must specify—

A Board that receives a notice under subsection (1) must comply with it by preparing a draft action plan within the time specified in the notice and presenting it to the Secretary for approval.

The Secretary may negotiate with the Board over the draft action plan in order to reach an agreed plan but, if after a reasonable period the Board and Secretary have not reached agreement over the content of the action plan, the Secretary may give notice to the Board that he or she will approve a particular version of the plan.

When the Secretary has approved an action plan, the Board—

The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, direct the Secretary to appoint a limited statutory manager for the Board of a school.

A notice under subsection (1) must specify—

Upon publication of the Gazette notice, the Secretary must, by notice to the Board,—

On and from the date on which his or her appointment takes effect,—

The Board must pay the fees and expenses of a limited statutory manager appointed for it.

The Minister may at any time, by notice in the Gazette, amend a notice under subsection (1), and the amendment takes effect on and from the date given in the notice.

When the Minister is satisfied that the appointment of the limited statutory manager is no longer required, he or she must revoke the notice under subsection (1), in which case the appointment terminates from the date of the revocation.

The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, dissolve the Board of a school and direct the Secretary to appoint a commissioner to replace that Board.

On publication of a notice under subsection (1), the Secretary must, by notice in the Gazette, appoint a commissioner for the school, and state the date on which the appointment takes effect.

The Secretary may, by notice in the Gazette, dissolve the Board of a school and appoint a commissioner it its place, as from a specified date, if any of the following applies:

A commissioner appointed under section 78N has all the functions, powers, and duties of the Board that he or she is appointed to replace.

Anything that, if done by or on behalf of the Board, must be done by affixing the Board’s seal, or by the signature of 2 or more trustees, or both, may be done by the signature of the commissioner.

The remuneration of the commissioner must be determined by the Secretary and paid for out of funds of the Board.

In the case of a commissioner appointed under section 78N(2), when the Secretary is satisfied that a commissioner is no longer required for the school, the commissioner must appoint a date for the election of trustees.

In the case of a commissioner appointed under section 78N(3), when the Secretary is satisfied that an election of trustees will produce a functioning Board, the commissioner must appoint a date for the election of trustees.

A commissioner’s appointment ends 7 days after the date that he or she has set for the election of trustees.

No limited statutory manager, and no commissioner, is personally liable for any act done or omitted by him or her, or for any loss arising out of any act done or omitted by him or her, if the act or omission was in good faith and occurred in the course of carrying out his or her functions.

Within 1 year of the date of a notice under any of sections 78J(1), 78K(1), 78L(1), 78M(1), or 78N(1) or (3), the Secretary must review the operation of the intervention commenced by each notice, and after that must review the operation of the intervention annually.

The Secretary must, if practicable, consult with the proprietors of an integrated school before appointing a limited statutory manager or commissioner for the school, and must have regard to any recommendations made by the proprietors.

If the Secretary considers that it is not practicable to consult with the proprietors before making an appointment, the Secretary must consult with the proprietors after making the appointment and must consider whether, in light of any recommendations made by the proprietors, a different person should be appointed in place of the original appointee.

Before applying any of the interventions in this Part to a Kura Kaupapa Maori, the Secretary must consult with te kaitiaki o Te Aho Matua (as defined in section 155B).

Subsection (1) applies only to Kura Kaupapa Maori that are required by their charters to operate in accordance with Te Aho Matua.

The purpose of this Part is to provide professional leadership in teaching, enhance the professional status of teachers in schools and early childhood education, and contribute to a safe and high quality teaching and learning environment for children and other learners.

In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,—

Terms in this Part that are defined in section 120 have the meanings given to them by that section.

The New Zealand Teachers Council (Teachers Council) is established as a body corporate owned by the Crown.

The Teachers Council is a Crown entity for the purposes of the Public Finance Act 1989.

The Seventh Schedule applies to the Teachers Council and its members.

The Teachers Council comprises 11 members, as follows:

The elected members of the Teachers Council must be elected in accordance with rules made under section 139AJ(1)(a) by registered teachers who each hold a current practising certificate.

The first elections for the elected members must be held as soon as practicable after the commencement of this section but, until the date on which the elected members take office following those elections, the positions of the elected members must be filled by persons appointed by the Minister.

In order to provide for the staggered turnover of members, the Minister may specify, when appointing members to hold office when this section comes into force, which members are to hold office for 3 years (which is the standard term of office), and which are to hold office for 18 months.

The functions of the Teachers Council are as follows:

The Teachers Council has—

The Teachers Council may exercise its powers only for the purpose of carrying out its functions.

The Teachers Council may provide goods and services that are consistent with its functions and may, with the approval of the Minister, charge a commercial rate for any goods and services provided.

The Teachers Council may, by notice in the Gazette, fix fees for all or any of the following:

The Minister may, after consultation with the Teachers Council, give directions to the Council about the Government’s expectations regarding the performance of its functions, other than its functions under section 139AE(a) and (b) (which relate to professional leadership and best teaching practice).

The Minister may not give a direction under this section that requires the Teachers Council to do, or refrain from doing, any act that is intended to bring about a particular result in respect of 1 or more particular individuals.

Every direction from the Minister must be in writing and be signed and dated.

The Minister must, as soon as practicable after giving the direction,—

The Teachers Council must give effect to every direction given by the Minister.

The Teachers Council must establish—

The Council may establish any other advisory groups, whether on an ongoing basis or for a fixed term.

The Council must determine the membership of advisory groups, and their terms of reference, budget, and other matters necessary to ensure their efficient and effective operation.

The Council must have regard to advice given by an advisory group about any matter within its area of expertise.

The code of ethics prepared under this section is binding on all teachers who hold a practising certificate and on all authorised persons.

The Teachers Council must, as soon as practicable after the first elected members of the Council take office, prepare a code of ethics for teachers.

When preparing the code of ethics (and any amendments to it), the Teachers Council must take all reasonable steps to consult with those who will be bound by it.

The code of ethics must be signed by the chairperson of the Teachers Council and—

The Council may amend the code of ethics, and every amendment—

The Teachers Council must, as soon as practicable after the commencement of this section, make rules providing for—

The Teachers Council may make rules for any other purpose relating to the performance of its functions.

When preparing rules (and any amendments to them), the Teachers Council must take all reasonable steps to consult with those affected by the rules.

When rules are made under this section,—

Rules made under this section are regulations for the purposes of the Regulations (Disallowance) Act 1989.

When an employer dismisses a teacher for any reason, the employer must immediately report the dismissal to the Teachers Council.

An employer must immediately report to the Teachers Council when a teacher resigns from a teaching position if, within the 12 months preceding the resignation, the employer had advised the teacher that it was dissatisfied with, or intended to investigate, any aspect of the conduct of the teacher, or the teacher’s competence.

Every report under this section must be in writing, and must include,—

The former employer of a teacher must immediately report to the Teachers Council if, within 12 months after a teacher ceases to be employed by the employer, the employer receives a complaint about the teacher’s conduct or competence while he or she was an employee.

Every report under this section—

A former employer must not report a complaint under this section if—

The employer of a teacher must immediately report to the Teachers Council if it has reason to believe that the teacher has engaged in serious misconduct.

Every report under this section must—

The employer of a teacher must immediately report to the Teachers Council if it is satisfied that, despite undertaking competency procedures with the teacher, the teacher has not reached the required level of competence.

Every report under this section must—

An employer or former employer commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 if it fails without reasonable justification to report to the Teachers Council as required under any of sections 139AK, 139AL, 139AM, or 139N.

It is a defence to a charge under subsection (1) against the former employer of a teacher if the former employer proves that it believed on reasonable grounds that, by virtue of section 139AL(3), it was not required to report to the Teachers Council.

Every teacher who is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment for 3 months or more must, within 7 days of conviction, report the conviction to the Teachers Council.

Failure to report a conviction to the Teachers Council in accordance with subsection (1) is misconduct that may give rise to disciplinary proceedings.

The Registrar of every court must, unless the court expressly orders otherwise in a particular case, report to the Teachers Council when a person whom the Registrar believes to be, or to have been, a teacher is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment for 3 months or more.

If the Registrar has reported a conviction to the Teachers Council under subsection (3), then, if that conviction is subsequently quashed, the Registrar must notify the Teachers Council of that fact.

The constitution of the disciplinary bodies must be set out in the rules, and those rules must be consistent with this section.

Disciplinary bodies may have members who are not members of the Teachers Council, but the majority of members on each body must be members of the Teachers Council.

The Disciplinary Tribunal must include at least 1 person who is not a member of the Teachers Council and who is not a teacher, employer, or a member of an employing body.

No member of the Complaints Assessment Committee may be a member of the Disciplinary Tribunal.

Rules must provide for the replacement of any member of a disciplinary body who, in relation to a particular complaint,—

When performing their functions and exercising their powers, the disciplinary bodies must act in accordance with the rules of natural justice.

A person who wishes to make a complaint about the conduct of a teacher must first make the complaint to the teacher’s employer, unless 1 of the circumstances in subsection (2)(a) to (d) applies.

Any person (including a parent, employer, or member of the Teachers Council) may, at any time, make a written complaint to the Teachers Council about the conduct of a teacher—

A complaint under this section by an employer or former employer must include a report of any action that the employer or former employer has taken in relation to it.

The Teachers Council must refer to the Complaints Assessment Committee—

In relation to a complaint received under section 139AR from a person other than the current employer of the teacher concerned,—

An employer to whom a complaint is referred under subsection (2), or who is required to provide information in the course of an investigation by the Complaints Assessment Committee, must report to the Committee as required by it.

The Complaints Assessment Committee may investigate any complaint or report referred to it under section 139AS.

Following an investigation, the Complaints Assessment Committee may, in respect of a complaint or report referred to it under section 139AS,—

The Complaints Assessment Committee may, at any time, refer a matter to the Disciplinary Tribunal for a hearing.

If the Complaints Assessment Committee is satisfied on reasonable grounds that a teacher has engaged in serious misconduct, the Committee must—

For the purpose of investigating a complaint of serious misconduct about a teacher, the Complaints Assessment Committee may at any time apply to the Disciplinary Tribunal for an interim suspension of the teacher’s practising certificate or authority.

On an application for an interim suspension, the Disciplinary Tribunal may, either with or without a hearing, suspend the teacher’s practising certificate or authority for a specified period, or until specified conditions have been met, but in any case for not more than 3 months.

Every report of the conviction of a teacher for an offence punishable by 3 months’ or more imprisonment that is received by, or comes to the attention of, the Teachers Council must be investigated by the Complaints Assessment Committee.

Following investigation of a report of such a conviction, the Complaints Assessment Committee may, by agreement with the teacher, annotate the register or the list of authorised persons.

If the Complaints Assessment Committee considers that the conviction may warrant action by the Disciplinary Tribunal, it must refer the report to the Disciplinary Tribunal for a hearing.

Following a hearing of a charge of serious misconduct, or a hearing into the conduct of a teacher, the Disciplinary Tribunal may do any 1 or more of the following:

Despite subsection (1), following a hearing that arises out of a report under section 139AP of the conviction of a teacher, the Disciplinary Tribunal may not do any of the things specified in paragraphs (d), (f), (h), or (i) of subsection (1).

A fine imposed on a teacher, and a sum ordered to be paid to the Teachers Council under subsection (1)(i), are recoverable as debts due to the Teachers Council.

The Disciplinary Tribunal may—

A hearing before the Disciplinary Tribunal is a judicial proceeding for the purposes of section 109 of the Crimes Act 1961 (which relates to punishment for perjury).

The Disciplinary Tribunal may require a person to do either or both of the following:

A requirement under subsection (1) must be in writing signed by the chairperson of the Disciplinary Tribunal.

A person required to attend a hearing is entitled to be paid, by the party calling the person (or, if called on the volition of the Disciplinary Tribunal itself, by the Teachers Council), witnesses’ fees, allowances, and travelling expenses, according to the scales for the time being prescribed by regulations made under the Summary Proceedings Act 1957, and those regulations apply accordingly.

A person commits an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $500 who, without lawful justification, fails or refuses—

Every person who does any of the following has the same privileges as witnesses have in a court:

Every counsel appearing before a disciplinary body has the same privileges and immunities as counsel in a court.

If a person is represented at a hearing before the Disciplinary Tribunal by a person other than a barrister or solicitor,—

A person who is dissatisfied with all or any part of a decision by the Disciplinary Tribunal under section 139AU(2) or section 139AW, or by the Council under section 139AZC, may appeal to a District Court.

An appeal under this section must be made within 28 days of receipt of written notice of the decision, or any longer period that the court allows.

Subsections (3) to (7) of section 126 apply to every appeal under this section as if it were an appeal under subsection (1) of section 126.

A person who wishes to make a complaint about a teacher’s competence must first make the complaint to the teacher’s employer, unless 1 of the circumstances in subsection (2)(a) to (d) applies.

Any person (including a parent, employer, or member of the Teachers Council) may, at any time, make a written complaint to the Teachers Council about the competence of a teacher—

A complaint under this section by an employer or former employer must include a description of the competency issues leading to the complaint and the actions (if any) that the employer or former employer has undertaken in relation to them.

If the Teachers Council considers that a complaint under this section should have been sent first to the teacher’s employer, it must refer the matter to the employer; and in any other case, it must notify the employer (if the teacher is currently employed by an employer) that it has received a complaint about the teacher.

When the Teachers Council refers a complaint to an employer, the employer must report as required by the Teachers Council.

If the Teachers Council is satisfied that the employer has not responded, or has not been able to respond, to the complaint in a satisfactory way, the Teachers Council may investigate the complaint.

When a complaint about competence is made by a member of the Teachers Council, that member may not be involved in any investigation of the complaint.

If, after investigation, the Teachers Council is satisfied that the teacher has not attained the required level of competence, it may—

The Teachers Council must establish a system for co-ordinating police vetting that is requested by—

A copy of the result of the police vet of a person must be given to both the person or body that requested it and the person who is the subject of the vet.

The Teachers Council may charge fees to any Board or management that requests a police vet, to cover its administrative costs associated with providing vets and co-ordinating the system of police vetting.

The Teachers Council must establish internal procedures for dealing with police vets requested for its own purposes and for those requested by Boards and managements which must, in particular,—

The Teachers Council may not take adverse action in relation to a person who is the subject of a police vet until—

In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,—

A provider may enrol a person as an international student or continue to have an international student enrolled, so long as the provider is a signatory to the code.

A provider must not enrol a person as an international student or continue to have an international student enrolled, or provide educational instruction for such a person, if—

A provider that is suspended under section 238G may continue to have international students enrolled and may provide educational instruction to only those students to the extent permitted by the review panel under that section.

The Minister may publish a code of practice that provides a framework for the pastoral care of international students.

Without limiting subsection (1), the code may include provisions for all or any of the following purposes:

The code of practice may make different provisions in relation to international students aged under 18 and in relation to international students aged 18 or over.

The code is binding on all parties who are signatories to the code.

The Minister must notify the making of the code in the Gazette and make copies available for inspection free of charge, or for purchase at a reasonable cost, in such form and at such places as the Minister determines.

If it finds that a signatory to the code has committed a serious breach of the code of practice, the IEAA may recommend to the review panel that—

If it finds that a signatory to the code has committed a breach of the code other than a serious breach, the IEAA may impose an appropriate sanction (other than a sanction referred to in subsection (1)(a) or (b)) provided in the code.

If it considers that the sanction it has imposed on a provider under subsection (2) has not been complied with to its satisfaction, the IEAA can recommend to the review panel that—

The review panel may—

At any time pending a final determination by the review panel, it may refer a matter back to the IEAA with directions to reconsider the whole or any specified part of the matter.

The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, set an annual fee payable by providers that are signatories to the code.

The fee is for the purposes of the administration of the code.

The Minister must ensure that the annual fee is sufficient to meet the full costs of the IEAA, the review panel, and of administering and enforcing the code.

A provider is liable to pay an annual fee set under subsection (1).

The funds collected from an annual fee must be kept in a trust account administered by the administrator.

If the code is revoked and not replaced, the money held in the trust account must be paid into the Crown Bank Account in accordance with any directions of the Secretary to the Treasury.