The start of the new financial year represents a major milestone for teacher registration in South Australia as we welcome a raft of changes under amendments to the Teachers Registration and Standards Act 2004.

While these changes are the culmination of years of hard work, they are also part of an ongoing effort to continually improve teacher registration in SA for teachers, students, parents and the community.

Along with an amended Act and new Regulations, we will welcome a newly appointed board on 1 July.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the current board and their deputies for their hard work during the past term, which was extended to align with implimentation of the amended Act. Many have served for a long period of time and I am personally very grateful for their professionalism and expertise.

Under the new Regulations the new board will decrease in size from 16 members to between 10 and 14 members and will now include a minimum of six practising teachers, including at least one pre-school teacher. Please check our website for more information about our new board appointees next week.

The new Act also creates the opportunity to establish a Code of Conduct, which will be developed in consultation with teachers and other stakeholders. The code will help to provide teachers with a clear and consistent framework to understand the professional and personal behaviours and professional competence levels expected within the profession. The consultation process will begin later this year. Your input to this process will be key to its success.