All teachers pay an annual fee to maintain their registration, whether they hold provisional or full registration. You might hear people call this “renewal”, but that terminology is incorrect.

Teachers with full registration hold registration for a period of five-years. At the end of each five-year period, they need to update the QCT about recency of practice, professional learning and conduct. This is called renewal.

The end of your five-year period of registration is when you need to renew. This date, as well as the date of your next annual fee, appears:

• In your myQCT account
• On the Queensland Register of Teachers
• On each certificate after you were granted full registration

Keep your contact details up to date in your myQCT account. We will place the renewal form in your myQCT account a couple of months before your five-year period of registration ends, and we will let you know in an email.

Principal/Deputy/HOD positions in Australian schools are undertaking the duties of a teacher, and days in these positions can count toward recency of practice.

Also see “What is counted as “teaching”?

For the purpose of renewal, a ‘teacher’ is a person who

• delivers an educational program
• assesses student participation in an educational program and/or
• administers or provides consistent and substantial leadership to an educational program.

The teaching must be in an Australian school or in another setting delivering an educational program based on a syllabus or kindergarten guideline approved or accredited by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA).

Other types of teaching experience may also be considered. If you are not sure whether your position falls into the definition, either:

• contact the QCT to talk through your duties before submitting the renewal form,
  or
• declare “No” to recency of practice and submit your form so that your renewal can be processed. A Returning to Teaching (RTT) condition will be applied to your registration. You can apply later for a review of the condition if you believe your duties were “equivalent”.

You do not need to provide evidence or a full record in your renewal form. If you have not met CPD requirements in a particular year where you taught more than 20 days, you would need to state how many hours of CPD you undertook (if any) and explain why you did not meet your CPD requirements.

Of course, as a teacher with full registration it is a still mandatory requirement to record your CPD in an appropriate way, for example, the CPD tool in your myQCT account. You may need to make evidence available if audited by the QCT.

You can apply for renewal. The form requires that you either:

• declare you have met CPD requirements
  or
• declare why you have not met CPD requirements, and how many teaching days and CPD hours you have undertaken in each year

After you submit your form and pay your fee, we will consider the implications of you not meeting all CPD requirements. We may contact you with further questions.

Yes, neither a blue card nor an exemption card is required for your renewal. Most registered teachers do not have either. The QCT will conduct its screening through the Queensland Police Service.

You can apply for renewal. When we process your application, we will need to consider whether you have complied with, or are complying with, your condition. If you are not complying with your condition we will contact you to ensure you have complied before finalising your renewal application.

You were granted registration five years ago. The “five years” between renewals includes any time you spent with provisional registration.

Yes. Teachers are required to disclose every charge and every conviction for any offence. Minor traffic offences are unlikely to affect your suitability to teach.

Your renewal requires not just the fee, but also submission of an online form in your myQCT account. If you have submitted your form and paid your fee, and have not heard from us:

• You may have been charged an additional fee because you didn’t submit your form and pay your fee by the due date; or
• We may still be awaiting the results of a new criminal history screening through the Queensland Police Service; or
• We are still processing your application and will contact you shortly if further information is required. If your end date passes, you still have approval to teach until we finalise your renewal.

The fees have not doubled from last year. If you did not submit your renewal form and pay your annual fee by the due date, the amount owing might include the additional restoration fee you have incurred, not just the annual fee.

You do not need to maintain your registration if you are not teaching in a Queensland school. However maintaining your registration is simpler, and often costs less, than allowing your registration to end and reapplying later. For example, if you need to reapply within three years, you may find the total of the annual fees to be less than the fees for reapplying. There are other reasons to maintain your registration while away from teaching.

Many retiring teachers choose to maintain their registration for personal reasons, or “just in case”. The annual fees from your continued registration pay for the registration system, which ensures that only appropriately qualified and suitable people are employed as teachers in Queensland. This contributes to protecting educational standards and student safety, and upholds the reputation of the profession. There are other reasons to maintain your registration while away from teaching.

The QCT will advise you that your registration has ended, and you will not be able to teach in a Queensland school. If you subsequently need registration again, you would need to go through the application process and pay the application fees.