The Teachers Registration Board of South Australia (the Board) is committed to ensuring that the teaching profession is comprised of competent educators and fit and proper persons to have the care of children.

Anyone who is employed as a teacher, principal, or director at a school or prescribed service must be a registered teacher, under the Teachers Registration and Standards Act 2004 (the Act).

In some exceptional cases, schools and prescribed services are unable to secure the services of a registered teacher. In these circumstances under the Act the Board may grant applicants a Special Authority for an Unregistered Person to teach (Special Authority). This restricts the applicant to teaching specific subjects and year levels at a specific school or prescribed service for a defined period of time. The Board will not grant Special Authorities for leadership positions or temporary relief teaching in schools or prescribed services.

If granted, a Special Authority will restrict the holder to teaching as per the subjects and fraction of time advertised. The Special Authority will generally restrict the holder to teaching at a single site, however the Board may consider granting a Special Authority holder permission to teach at multiple sites, but only at those sites nominated by the employer and only after each site had externally advertised the position.

Special Authorities are an emergency measure and pre-schools and schools should not rely on Special Authorities being granted. All applications are considered by the Board on an individual basis.

Read the Special Authority to Teach Policy here

Duration of Special Authorities

Special Authorities are generally granted for a period of time not exceeding 12 months. However, once an applicant has been granted a Special Authority, if, within the period of their Special Authority, they provide evidence to the Board of their enrolment into a recognised teacher education qualification that will, upon completion, meet the prescribed qualification requirements for teacher registration, the Board will consider extending the period of the Special Authority for a further two-year period (for a maximum total of three years).

An applicant who has their Special Authority extended in this way is required to provide to the Board evidence of their satisfactory progress towards completing their recognised teacher education qualification (ie. unofficial academic transcript). This evidence needs to be provided to the Board each semester.

The Board would consider satisfactory progress to be the successful completion of at least one subject/course per semester. If a Special Authority holder is unable to demonstrate their continued satisfactory progress towards completing their recognised teacher education qualification, the Board has the power to review or revoke the Special Authority.

Applying for a Special Authority

To apply for a Special Authority, your employer must complete and lodge the relevant special authority application  form with the Board. All applications are considered by the Board on case-by-case basis.

Subsequent Special Authority Applications

To be eligible to be granted a subsequent Special Authority, an applicant must provide evidence to the Board of their enrolment into and progress towards completing a recognised teacher education qualification that will meet the Board's minimum prescribed qualifications requirements for teacher registration in South Australia.

With each subsequent Special Authority application, an applicant must provide current academic transcripts to the Board as evidence of their continued progress towards completing a recognised teacher education qualification. Successful applicants will be required to provide their transcripts to the Board each semester to demonstrate their progress towards completing the qualification.

Professional learning

All holders of a Special Authority granted for a period of more than 12 months must undertake professional learning. Your professional learning must be recorded and mapped against the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST). A sample of Special Authorities will be selected at random and audited by the Board on an annual basis. For more information, please see the Special Authority to Teach Policy.

You can search the Special Authority Register