Published 20 Nov 2025
Regulatory impact statement – Q3 2025
Throughout Quarter 3 (1 July 2025 –30 September 2025), the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) performed its regulatory functions with a focus on monitoring the suitability of registered teachers through the annual registration process. The following data reflects VIT’s ongoing commitment to responsive, risk-based regulation and transparent reporting.
Registered teachers
At the end of the quarter, there were 160,710 registered teachers in Victoria, an increase of 1.1% compared to Q2.
Despite the busy annual registration period, we continued to maintain a 94% call answer rate for both the teacher and principal hotlines. The average call wait time remained at 143 seconds for the teacher hotline and 74 seconds for the principal hotline.
Our new pre-assessment service to support overseas applicants provides an opportunity for applicants to confirm they meet VIT’s qualification requirements in order to be eligible for teacher registration before applying and relocating to Victoria. Pre-assessing overseas qualifications also better supports employers by eliminating the risk of recruiting ineligible teachers.
The introduction of this service saw an increase of over 5% of applications with an overseas qualification. Out of 339 applicants with qualifications assessed as eligible for teacher registration, during the quarter 119 went on to apply and were approved for teacher registration.
Digital registration cards
In 2025, VIT transitioned from physical registration cards to a digital solution for a safer and more convenient way to verify teacher registration in Victoria.
A digital registration card provides convenient access to real-time proof of registration status to improve the registration experience and provide for the safety and wellbeing of children and young people across Victorian communities.
The annual registration period kicked off the final phase of the digital registration card launch, with 39,441 teachers accessing their new digital card via Service Victoria by the end of Q3. Government primary school teachers recorded the highest uptake of digital cards, followed closely by Catholic secondary school teachers.
Professional Conduct
Our professional conduct work focuses on the safety and wellbeing of children and young people by ensuring only suitable persons are registered to teach in Victoria. In Q3, we received 841 incoming conduct cases compared to 778 in Q2. With this increase, our total open conduct cases jumped up by 18% compared to the last quarter.
Only around 1% of registered teachers are subject to a complaint or notification from a co-regulator, employer or member of the public meaning the vast majority of teachers continue to comply with their regulatory and child safety obligations.
The VIT can suspend a teacher’s registration on a temporary basis to protect children, while allegations are investigated. In Q3, there were no new interim suspensions, and no interim suspensions resolved for a total of 17 ongoing interim suspensions.
More incoming matters this quarter meant fewer were closed. We’re implementing recommendations from the independent review of professional conduct to reduce preventable delays and focus resources on higher-risk cases.
Quotes attributable to Martin Fletcher, Chief Executive Officer of VIT
"Victoria’s teaching workforce continues to grow, with more than 160,000 registered teachers now supporting the education of children and young people across the state.”
“Our new pre-assessment service for overseas applicants is a proactive step to ensure teachers have confidence that they will meet Victorian standards before relocating.”
“Publishing our impact statements quarterly demonstrates VIT’s commitment to transparency and continuous improvement. We want the community to have confidence that teacher registration processes are rigorous, fair, and responsive.”
“While we continue to work towards reducing the number of open professional conduct cases, it is important to note that they represent only a very small fraction of Victoria’s 160,000 registered teachers.”
“The overwhelming majority of teachers uphold the highest standards of professionalism every day.”
“Digital registration cards pull live data from VIT’s registration system so employers can instantly verify a teachers’ registration status, helping ensure that only those registered to teach are in our schools and early childhood centres. “