Suitability to teach: safeguarding children and young people

The VIT plays a critical role in protecting the safety and wellbeing of children and young people across Victoria. Central to this responsibility is the assessment of suitability to teach—both for individuals applying for registration and those currently registered.

Our work on professional conduct assesses and investigates complaints and notifications about teachers and early childhood teachers. These may be received from members of the public, employers, government agencies, or Victoria Police. In 2024–25, VIT received 1,674 professional conduct enquiries which led to matters being established in relation to 993 currently registered teachers.

Notifications and complaints help us to identify

• teachers whose behaviour creates a risk of harm which may require regulatory action to keep learners safe
• teachers whose behaviour and performance may mean they need support or regulatory action to be able to teach safely and professionally; and
• barriers to safe teaching practice that can be addressed more widely through standards, codes, education and guidelines.

Notifications and complaints range in seriousness and we have developed different strategies to deal with them. We work with schools, employers and other regulators. Through all of this work, VIT aims to ensure that only individuals who meet the highest standards of professional conduct are authorised to teach, reinforcing public trust and safeguarding learners across the state.

Due to the evolving nature of notifications and the complexity of professional conduct matters, some operational data may vary from year to year. In response, and building on the independent review led by Andrew Brown into our professional conduct functions, we have initiated a program of work aimed at improving how we capture, monitor, and consistently report operational data.

Information sources 

The VIT receives information, notifications and complaints about registered teachers from various sources – these include Victoria Police, Working with Children Check Victoria (WWCCV), the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP), employers and members of the public. The majority of notifications come through the CCYP and continue to rise, with an increase of 22% from CCYP in the 2024- 2025 financial year.

The VIT also receives self-declarations from individuals about any health or conduct matter that may affect their suitability to teach in their initial application for registration. Once registered, teachers are required to make declarations about their continued suitability to teach as part of their annual registration applications. Over the past year, we have worked with partners to clarify the questions we ask, to ensure that teachers are clear on what they need to declare as well as what they don’t need to declare.

How we deal with complaints and notifications

Where VIT has concerns about a teacher we may: 

• conduct a preliminary assessment of information and make enquiries about a teacher with relevant agencies including police, other regulators and employers
• determine whether to grant an application for initial registration or renewal of registration
• conduct a formal investigation into the conduct of a teacher
• take action to suspend or cancel registration
• conduct a hearing panel into allegations of misconduct or health concerns.