About 

What we do  

The Complaints Assessment Committee (CAC) is an independent decision-making body which determines outcomes for disciplinary matters brought against teachers.  

When a matter regarding a registered teacher’s conduct has been referred, the CAC’s role is to hear and determine disciplinary outcomes under Part 5 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

The Teaching Council Rules 2016 are secondary legislation that focus primarily on the procedures relating to the teaching profession’s professional disciplinary processes or competence evaluation processes. These rules were amended from Saturday 29 July 2023. Any reports or complaints received by the Teaching Council or already within our processes up until that date will continue to be managed under the “old” rules. From Saturday 29 July 2023 all reports or complaints received by the Teaching Council will be managed under the new amended rules. These can be viewed on the government legislation website here.

CAC hui are not open to the public or media. 

CAC process  

When a complaint or mandatory report is received by the Teaching Council, the Triage Committee considers the information. If the Triage Committee decides to refer the matter to the Complaints Assessment Committee, an investigation will take place then the case is sent to the CAC Advisor. 

The CAC advisor will contact the teacher to offer them an available time and date to meet with the CAC panel based on the teacher’s location and whether they would like to meet the panel in person or not. Teachers can come to the hui to meet the panel face the face or they can meet online or not at all.  

Teachers are encouraged to meet and interview with the CAC panel in person or via video conference. A te reo Māori speaker is available if required. The CAC panel can also hear from other individuals. 

A CAC panel usually consists of three experienced, registered teachers from a range of sectors (ECE, primary and secondary) and a lay person. 

CAC hui generally take place on a Thursday and are held around the country, typically in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Bespoke hui in other regions are arranged on an as needed basis.  

Prior to the hui, the teacher and the CAC panel will be asked to confirm whether there are any conflicts of interest between them. If there are, alternative arrangements will be made so that the panel who considers the matter is impartial. 

At the start of the hui, the teacher and any support people or representative will be greeted and welcomed into the hui room where the CAC panel will be, along with the CAC Advisor and a Legal Advisor. The two advisors are not decision makers. They are there to take minutes from the hui and advise the panel of any procedural or legal requirements.  

The panel is provided a copy of the investigation report and any response made by the teacher in advance of the hui to consider. Once the hui has commenced, the panel will ask the teacher any questions they have regarding the alleged conduct. The teacher will also have the opportunity to speak with the panel and ask them questions about the process or next steps.  

The teacher will then be able to leave the hui and the panel will discuss and consider the information in order to make a decision. 

The CAC can decide on one or more of the following actions:  

• No further action  

• Further investigation: if the CAC needs more information, it can refer the issue back to the investigator 

• Agreements around misconduct: if the CAC finds there has been misconduct but not serious misconduct it can resolve the matter by an agreement with the teacher and the initiator of the report or complaint.
  The agreement can include:  

  • Censure

  • Conditions on practising certificate – for example, supervision or professional development

  • Suspension of the teacher’s practising certificate for a time or until they’ve met some specific conditions

  • Annotation on the online Teachers’ Register by recording a brief note against the teacher’s registration or authority to teach—this is usually done as an additional step to publicly note the censure, conditions or other disciplinary measures imposed

  • Direct the Teaching Council to put specific conditions on any future practising certificate the teacher is given

• Competence review: if the CAC thinks there are issues with the teacher’s competence it can refer the case to a Professional Practice Evaluator  

• Impairment: if the CAC thinks a health or other issue could be affecting the teacher’s work, if can refer the teacher to an impairment process.   

• Referral to Disciplinary Tribunal: if the CAC believes the case may possibly involve serious misconduct, it must refer the case to the Tribunal. More information about the Disciplinary Tribunal can be found here.

After the hui, the panel’s decision will be written and sent out to the teacher. A summary of the decision will be sent to the initiator of the complaint or report.  

If the panel has found that the conduct amounts to misconduct, the teacher and the initiator are required to agree to the outcome by signing the agreement which is sent out with the written decision. If either party does not agree to the outcome, the matter will be brought back to the same panel who considered the matter at the hui. The panel will discuss any developments and make a decision on the next steps. Possible outcomes from this could include taking no further action or to refer the matter to the Disciplinary Tribunal.