Throughout Quarter 4 (Q4) 2025 (October – December 2025), the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) continued to perform its regulatory functions with a focus on timely registration decisions, clear guidance for applicants and employers, and risk-based professional conduct processes. 

This statement summarises key activity and outcomes for the quarter and outlines the operational changes that contributed to improved performance and user experience.

Teacher registration

Registered teachers

• 164,208 registered teachers in total, up +2.18% from 160,710 at the end of Q3.
• Fully registered teachers rose to 127,359 (+2.79%). Provisional registrations were steady at 26,634 (+0.16%).
• Non-practising registrations increased to 6,719 (+3.08%), which is typical in the renewal period as some teachers opt to pause or cease active practice.
• Permission to Teach (PTT) positions on the register stood at 3,437 (-5.45%), reflecting a shift in workforce mix and the early application messaging to graduating cohorts (see initiatives below).

New registrants (Q4 inflow)

• 4,565 teachers became newly registered in Q4 (+39.4% vs Q3’s 3,274). Drivers included year end Initial Teacher Education (ITE) completions and improved data sharing with Victorian educational providers.
• Of these, Victorian qualification holders increased +55.6%, mutual recognition entrants +22.1%, and PTT entrants +20.6%; overseas qualification entrants decreased -5.7% this quarter. 

Service delivery and customer contact

Application timelines

• Total registration application assessment time: 26 days (up from 24; +8.3%). This includes the majority of applications from graduates applying in advance of them receiving their academic transcripts / evidence of course completion from their ITE providers, which is required before VIT can finalise an application.
• Teaching position assessment (PTT school eligibility): 8 days (down from 9; –11.1%).
• PTT assessment time: 14 days (down from 16; –12.5%). 

Contact centre performance (seasonal volumes during renewal period)

• Call answer rate increased slightly from Q3 across both hotlines (96.9% answer rate on teacher’s hotline and 95.3% answer rate on principal hotline).
• Average call wait times for VIT’s teacher hotline decreased from 143 seconds to 98 seconds, whereas the principal hotline call wait time rose to 88 seconds (19% increase from Q3) – this is consistent with peak demand time for teachers during renewal in Q3 and employment drives for schools in Q4.
• Enquiries decreased in line with the renewal period volumes, with 12,869 calls (37% decrease from Q3) and emails totaling 9,515 (15% decrease from Q3).

Professional conduct

The VIT’s conduct work continues to focus resources on higher risk cases and to reduce preventable delays, consistent with the Case Management approach highlighted in earlier quarterly updates. 

• Incoming matters: 747
• Finalised matters: 709
• Completion rate (finalised / incoming): 95%. Our overall closure rate for the year was 98% of matters relative to the number of incoming matters.  

The Professional Conduct Branch has begun implementing the improvements recommended by the independent review undertaken by Andrew Brown to ensure effective risk management and to minimise preventable delay. This includes 

• data audit of all files to review risk and identify matters for quick closure
• reorganising and resourcing teams to ensure efficient workflows with dedicated resources for preliminary assessments and backlog files, and
• condensed processes for low-risk matters to ensure efficiency and guide investigators in their critical thinking and analysis.

What drove the Q4 outcomes

In Q4, VIT introduced several practical changes to speed up registration and improve the experience for teachers, applicants and schools

• more flexible staffing: built a multi skilled team that can switch between tasks to meet demand
• backlog “blitz days”: short, focused efforts to quickly clear applications and emails
• easier identity checks: simplified verification for new applicants and for five year criminal history checks
• early engagement with ITE providers and students: encouraged earlier applications to reduce bottlenecks
• faster PTT approvals: prioritised end-of-year submissions so schools could finalise staffing
• better data from ITE providers: used graduation and course completion data to speed up assessments
• stronger contact centre support: improved staffing and training for faster, clearer responses
• clearer online guidance: updated application forms and web content to reduce errors
• overseas qualifications pre-assessment: gave applicants a way to confirm eligibility earlier
• more coaching for staff: supported teams to work more efficiently and consistently.

These improvements build on VIT’s wider push for better service and greater transparency, including digital registration cards and overseas pre assessment. By the end of Q4, 63,549 teachers had accessed their new digital registration card via Service Victoria. Since the overseas preassessment launched on 14 July 2025, 697 applicants have used the service, including 527 in Q4 alone, with 609 applicants approved during Q4 and 77 deemed ineligible.

Looking ahead to Q1 2026

In Q1 2026, VIT will build on these improvements by

• keeping flexible staffing in place to maintain strong application assessment times after the renewal peak
• expanding data sharing with ITE providers to support the next group of graduates and keep application inflows steady
• watching call demand closely and adjusting rosters to keep answer rates above target as volumes return to normal
• redesigning our PTT policy, in consultation with the sector, to streamline processes, improve clarity, reduce regulatory burden and strengthen a more co-regulatory approach
• taking into account changes to child safety legislation and new regulatory entities, updating our partnership arrangements with key co-regulatory partners including the new Early Childhood Regulatory Authority and the Social Services Regulator
• finalising and rolling out an enhanced risk‑assessment tool to enable faster identification of high‑risk matters requiring immediate action
• continuing the redesign of processes for low‑risk matters to reduce preventable delays and minimise unnecessary regulatory impact on teachers
• improving formal hearing processes to support more efficient and effective delivery of outcomes
• redesigning witness‑engagement protocols to strengthen trauma‑informed regulatory practices
• enhancing communication about regulatory matters and expanding accessible information for teachers.