This change is being progressed by the Government as part of the Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill, which had its second reading in Parliament on 14 May 2026.

Subject to the Bill passing, the Secretary for Education will take over responsibility for setting standards and criteria for the teaching workforce, including for the code of conduct and Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes, on 6 July 2026.

We are working with the Teaching Council to prepare for this change. We will share more updates as the work continues.