QCT Annual Report 2024: Record number of teachers on the register

A record 119,646 teachers were on the Queensland register of teachers at the end of 2024, compared to just over 111,000 five years ago.

The Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) Annual Report 2024 shows a steady eight per cent increase in the number of approved teachers since 2020.

The report provides a comprehensive view of the QCT’s work as regulator of the teaching profession in Queensland. Highlights of the 2024 QCT calendar included:

• hosting the International Forum of Teacher Regulatory Authorities (IFTRA) conference for global regulators in Brisbane
• conducting an election of three new practising teachers to represent their colleagues as QCT Board members
• celebrating another 31 outstanding teachers across Queensland in the annual TEACHX Awards
• streamlining certification requirements for experienced teachers demonstrating the Highly Accomplished or Lead teacher career stages of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
• launching the Regulatory Enforcement Strategy.

The QCT's core business is teacher registration, which upholds that only approved teachers can teach in Queensland schools. More than 8,800 new applications for teacher registration or Permission to Teach (PTT) were received in 2024, with the vast majority approved. About a third of applications for teacher registration were from initial teacher education (ITE) graduates who had completed their qualification at a Queensland institution within the last two years.

As the only other form of approval to teach in Queensland, PTT allows schools and employers to make a declaration for an individual to apply for PTT and fill a position for a short period when an appropriate registered teacher can't be found. Last year, 1,294 PTT applications were approved – marking a 23 per cent increase since 2023. PTT holders represented about one per cent of all approved teachers. The majority (96 per cent) of PTT holders were preservice teachers undertaking ITE. The average age of approved PTT applicants was 31.

The average age of all approved teachers was 46, and the average age of all applicants was 36. Nearly 70 per cent of approved teachers were known to be working in permanent or long-term teaching positions, with most (65 per cent) employed in state schools.

The QCT also investigates and acts on teacher misconduct. In 2024, the QCT suspended the registration of 33 teachers: 10 were for posing an unacceptable risk of harm to children, while 23 were suspended after being charged with a serious offence. Three teachers' registrations were cancelled. This data is a reduction on the previous year.

Since 2023, there was a seven per cent increase in notifications to the QCT regarding allegations of harm to children – one of the mandatory reporting obligations by schools and employing authorities. There was also an increase in the number of complaints to the QCT against teachers. Proportionately, both the mandatory notification and complaint increases are in line with previous years' data as approved teacher numbers have grown (affecting well under one per cent of all approved teachers).

A spike of 54 disciplinary proceedings referred to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) in 2024 (21 in 2023) was the result of hiring more QCT staff to process disciplinary matters requiring QCAT decisions. From 2025, the QCT will publish on its website summaries of all referred QCAT practice and conduct decisions to help keep the public informed about disciplinary outcomes.

QCT Director Deanne Fishburn said the report illustrates the diligent work being undertaken to regulate the teaching profession on behalf of the public.

"With more teachers on the register than ever before, it is evident Queensland continues to be a state of choice for graduate, interstate, and overseas qualified educators to pursue their teaching careers.

"While attention is sometimes paid to the few teachers who have let the profession down through inappropriate conduct, I commend the vast majority for their continued hard work and dedication."

Read the tabled QCT Annual Report 2024 on the Queensland Parliament website.