Mutual Recognition

Mutual Recognition

If you hold current registration to teach in an Australian state or territory or New Zealand (with Practising Certificate), you can apply for registration at the same level under mutual recognition (MR) provisions.

You will be required to provide evidence of your current Australian state or territory registration card or certificate or NZ Practising Certificate.

Under the provisions of the MR Act or the Trans Tasman (TT) MR Act you can be deemed to be registered from the date that ACT Teacher Quality Institute (TQI):

From the date of deemed registration you can carry on your occupation pending a decision on your registration. Note that a teacher carrying on their occupation under deemed registration in the Australian Capital Territory,  must comply with any requirements of the ACT Teacher Quality Institute Act 2010.

Once your MR application is approved and finalised, you will be notified.

Automatic Mutual Recognition (AMR)

Teaching is exempt from the automatic deemed registration provisions of the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 of the Commonwealth. Teachers who are currently registered interstate coming to the ACT must apply for registration under the Mutual Recognition provisions outlined above.

The Automatic Mutual Recognition (AMR) scheme was expanded from 1 July 2022, to allow workers to use their occupational registration or licence from their home state (where they live or complete most of their work activities) to work in other Australian states or territories without needing to pay additional fees or apply for a separate registration.

However, the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 also allows for an occupation to be exempted from the scheme for up to five years where significant risks exist to consumer protection, environment protection, animal welfare or health and safety of workers or the public.

The Chief Minister of the ACT is satisfied that under the AMR scheme, such a risk exists to teaching. Accordingly, teaching will be exempted from the AMR scheme until 1 July 2027.

All states and territories are participating in the AMR scheme, except for Queensland.  If the ACT is your home state and you would like to teach interstate, you may be able to use your existing ACT registration to do so once the relevant significant risk exemptions expire in each state. This will be from July 2025 in some states and July 2027 in others. You must check that your registration is eligible for AMR in the other state or territory and comply with the rules and regulations in that state or territory. This may include notifying the local registration authority.

You won’t be eligible for AMR in a second state or territory if you are the subject of current disciplinary proceedings, have conditions applied to your registration due to criminal, civil or occupational proceedings, have been refused registration for the occupation previously, or your registration is suspended or cancelled.

For more information, go to the Access Canberra website or you can call Access Canberra on 13 22 81.