Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2) now law

The Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2) passed into law on 31 July. It is now the Education and Training Amendment Act 2022 (No 38).

For schools, the Act’s requirements took effect from Monday 1 August.

Its main provisions:  

  • require that a police vet must be obtained for non-teaching and unregistered employees at schools before they commence employment
  • strengthen and streamline Teaching Council disciplinary processes by raising the threshold for mandatory referral of complaints from the Complaints Assessment Committee (CAC) to the Disciplinary Tribunal, whilst retaining an existing requirement for the CAC to reach agreement with a teacher on sanction
  • allow the Education Review Office to review professional learning and development services accessed by schools
  • remove requirement for the Secretary of Education to review strategic plans under the new planning and reporting regulations. The regulations are under development and expected to come into force on 1 January 2024
  • allow the assigning of national student numbers (NSNs) to students studying for NCEA overseas where New Zealand has arrangements for teaching and assessing NCEA standards, and for schools in those jurisdictions to be specified users of NSNs. 

To read the detail on the act’s provisions visit: Education and Training Amendment Act 2022 – NZ Legislation(external link)

Further information

Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2) - New Zealand Parliament(external link)

More information on the new proposed early learning network and regulatory changes [PDF, 1.5 MB]

The Regulatory Impact Statements for the Bill

Regulatory Impact Statement: Police vetting -removing the application period for specified employees [PDF, 269 KB]

Regulatory Impact Statement: Disciplinary processes for teachers [PDF, 328 KB]

Regulatory Impact Assessment: Increasing flexibility for government to set requirements on compulsory student services fees [PDF, 330 KB]

Regulatory Impact Statement: Extending the scope of national student numbers [PDF, 257 KB] 

Regulatory Impact Statement: Changes to Private Training Establishment registration cancellation due to immigration breaches [PDF, 228 KB]

Regulatory Impact Statement: Simplifying qualifications and credentials [PDF, 477 KB]

Regulatory Impact Statement: Extending ERO's mandate to include the review of professional learning and development (PLD) accessed by schools, kura and early learning services [PDF, 1 MB]

Regulatory Impact Statement: Legislative changes to support learner wellbeing and safety [PDF, 424 KB]

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