There’s no denying the fact that Australian teachers are some of the best in the world. To help maintain these high standards and ensure students right around the country continue to have the best learning outcomes possible, all states and territories require educators to undertake some level of teacher professional development to maintain their teaching registration. So, whether you are a full-time classroom teacher, casual relief teacher, or sit somewhere in between, teacher professional development in Australia is a must.
Because these requirements change from time to time, and differ between states, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the requirements where you are, particularly if you have recently moved or haven’t checked in for a while.
To help you out, we’ve put together a list of the teacher professional development requirements for every Australian state and territory. We’ve also included an update to ClassCover Learn—our online teacher professional development platform featuring over 95 hours of online, self-paced teacher PD including NESA-accredited courses.
Happy learning!
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- NSW – Teacher professional development
- Victoria – Teacher professional development
- QLD – Teacher professional development
- WA – Professional Development for Teachers
- SA – Professional development for teachers
- Tasmania – Teacher professional development
- Northern Territory – Teacher professional development
- ACT – Teacher professional development
- ClassCover Learn – The leader in Online Teacher Professional Development in Australia
Teacher professional development NSW
In NSW, teacher professional development involves educators completing 100 hours of PD over a five-year cycle to maintain their accreditation. Of these 100 hours, 50 hours must be NESA-accredited PD in any of the Department of Education’s priority areas. The remaining 50 hours can be of the teacher’s choosing, ranging from further NESA-accredited PD, elective PD, conferences or other professional learning activities.
ClassCover Learn is a flexible and cost-effective way for teachers in NSW to complete their NESA-accredited and elective PD. The online, on-demand platform offers over 100 hours of online PD—including 20 hours of NESA-accredited PD—for $99. Learn more here.
Explore our NESA-accredited PD
Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Join Tammy McMillan from Share, Shape and Shine in her course designed to give insights for Relief Teachers on how best to support and identify students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Fostering Critical and Creative Thinking in the Classroom
Alice Vigors hosts this popular course, showing you how to identify and explain ways to assess depth of understanding and critical and creative thinking skills through the three phases of learning and SOLO model.
Teacher professional development Victoria
Teacher professional development in Victoria requires all teachers in the state to complete 20 hours of professional development every year to maintain their registration. These 20 hours can be from topics of the teacher’s choice, provided the PD references the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST).
Teacher professional development QLD
Teachers in Queensland must complete 20 hours of professional development for every year that they teach more than 20 days. The requirements for teacher professional development in QLD require all PD to be in line with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Aside from that, teachers are encouraged to undertake a range of different PD, including teacher identified and school directed professional development.
WA – Professional Development for Teachers
Teachers in WA must complete 100 hours of professional development in the period since their registration was last renewed — this is typically 5 years. Professional development for teachers in WA requires teachers to complete some mixture of formal PD activities, like online or in-person courses through a recognised provider, or informal activities such as readings, meetings with colleagues or development of educational policy.
SA – Professional Development for Teachers
Professional development for teachers in SA involves undertaking 100 hours of study for every 5-year registration period. South Australia defines professional development as any planned or unplanned activity that improves a teacher’s potential to encourage student growth, supports the learning outcomes of children, or helps align to school or system priorities.
Tasmania – Teacher Professional Development
Unlike most other states and territories, there is no set number of hours of teacher professional development that educators in Tasmania must complete to maintain their registration. Instead, all practicing teachers must engage in some form of professional development activity each year. In Tassie, this is defined as anything that contributes to professional compitance, directly or indirectly enhancing teaching and learning.
Northern Territory – Teacher Professional Development
All teachers in the Northern Territory must complete 100 hours of relevant professional development over the 5-year registration period. Additionally, teachers are encouraged to incorporate a wide range of different activities into their learning. In the NT, the definition of what is relevant PD is relatively broad, including:
- School-based PD including professional development days and guest speakers
- Online learning including self-paced learning, web conferences and webinars
- Structured networking with teachers or other professionals
ACT – Teacher Professional Development
Teachers in the ACT must complete 20 hours of professional development each year to maintain their registration. Like many other states and territories, the types of acceptable PD are quite broad, but must reflect the Australian Professional Standard for Teachers. Aside from that, teachers in ACT can choose whichever type of professional development they like, including online PD, school-based PD and more.
ClassCover Learn – The leader in Online Teacher Professional Development in Australia
ClassCover Learn (formerly known as the Relief Teacher Association) is the leading provider of online teacher professional development in Australia. Since launching in 2015, we have had more than 329,500 individual course enrollments from thousands of teachers across the county.
If you have never explored ClassCover Learn or haven’t stopped by to check it out in a while, there has been a lot of change. Here’s a snapshot of what’s new:
- This year we launched a brand-new learning management system (LMS) that makes courses more immersive and accessible for participants while boosting social interaction with fellow educators.
- Over 95 hours of on-demand, online teacher professional development.
- 20+ hours of NESA-accredited PD for those in NSW, with more on the way.
- All ClassCover Learn members have access to the new RTCON TV, featuring replays of presentations from popular presenters like Bec West, Aaron Johnson, and Alice Vigors.
Explore RTCON TV Courses
Building a Culture of Thinking in a Casual Classroom
Join Alice Vigors as she explores Building a Culture of Thinking in a Casual Classroom.
Alice will take you through why it’s important to build a thinking culture, explore thinking routines and will walk you through how you can apply different routines in a casual classroom.
Visible Learning and Student Feedback
Join Aaron Johnston for this excellent session as he explores three key topics when it comes to looking at visible learning and student feedback in your classrooms. Topics include; learning dispositions, learning intentions and success criteria and student feedback.
Future Focused Learning
This workshop aims to help you feel more confident when stepping into a future focused learning space. From flexible furniture to the latest technology we’ll go into detail about how this can look on a daily basis or how you can plan ahead when booked on long-term engagements.
