Teacher disciplinary hearings to be open to public
Disciplinary hearings for teachers charged with serious misconduct, previously held in closed sessions, will be open to
the public and news media from 1 July this year, the New Zealand Teachers Council director, Dr Peter Lind announced
today.
Dr Lind said the Council had changed the rules for its Disciplinary Tribunal so that as well as the hearings being open
to the public there would be a presumption that the names of teachers would be included in decisions published by the
Tribunal.
“Open proceedings will help assure the public and the teaching profession that our disciplinary processes are rigorous
and the decisions well-reasoned and robust,” he said.
“We do make offending teachers accountable for their actions and the Tribunal’s work helps make schools and early
childhood learning centres safer for everyone’s children. Making the disciplinary proceedings more transparent will mean
people can see that happening more easily.
Dr Lind said that protecting young victims in the context of Tribunal hearings might mean that sometimes the Tribunal
chair might use the discretion available to close parts of the proceedings and/or order names suppression. Also, the new
rules stipulate that children under the age of 16 will not be able to be named.
The first hearings to be conducted under the new regime will be in July.
Ends