Seeking an internal review of NESA decisions
You may be entitled to ask the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) to review a decision made about your teacher accreditation or inclusion in the NSW Public Register of Teachers. Find out about the internal review process.
Reviewing teacher accreditation decisions
You may apply for an internal review of certain teacher accreditation decisions under section 53 of the Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 (the ADR Act).
You may request an internal review of a NESA:
- decision to refuse to grant accreditation
- failure to grant accreditation
- decision to suspend accreditation
- decision to revoke accreditation.
You are not entitled to a review of any decision NESA has previously reviewed.
Requesting an internal review
Applications for an internal review must be:
- made in writing to NESA using the
File
Teacher Accreditation Internal Review Application Form (PDF 139.98KB) - lodged within 28 days of being notified of the decision, with this period excluding school holidays and employer shutdown periods
- sent by email to TAinternalreview@nesa.nsw.edu.au.
You may provide additional documentation and information relevant to the decision with your application.
Conducting internal reviews
NESA will appoint a person to be the internal reviewer who:
- was not substantially involved in the process of making the decision under review
- is an employee of NESA, and
- is otherwise suitably qualified to deal with the issues raised in the application.
The internal reviewer will consider all previous and new documentation and information available that is relevant to the decision.
Typically, internal reviews are completed within 21 days of NESA receiving the application. If the internal reviewer requires more time to complete the review, NESA will advise you and seek agreement on a longer period.
Outcome of the internal review
At the end of the internal review process, the internal reviewer may:
- affirm the decision
- vary the decision
- set aside the decision and make a new decision.
NESA will write to notify you of the internal review decision.
We will notify you of:
- the outcome of the internal review
- the reasons for the internal review decision
- your right to have the internal review decision reviewed by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
Appealing the internal review decision
The Teacher Accreditation Act 2004 (the TA Act) allows for a final avenue of appeal to NCAT.
Where you have applied to NESA for an internal review and the review is finalised (or is considered to be finalised), you may apply to NCAT for an administrative review of the NESA decision.
Applications for an NCAT administrative review of a NESA decision must be filed at NCAT within 28 days of either:
- NESA notifying you of the internal review decision, or
- the date on which the internal review is deemed to be finalised.
Teacher accreditation status during appeals
NESA’s accreditation decision remains in place until the outcome of all avenues of appeal are known.
Reviewing Public Register decisions
You may apply for an internal review of a NESA decision to refuse your request to remove your name from the Public Register of teachers under section 53 of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (the PPIP Act).
Requesting an internal review
Applications for an internal review must be:
- made in writing to NESA using the
File
Teacher Accreditation Internal Review Application Form (PDF 139.98KB) - lodged within 6 months of being notified of the decision
- sent by email to TAinternalreview@nesa.nsw.edu.au.
You may provide additional documentation and information relevant to the decision with your application.
Conducting internal reviews
NESA will appoint a person to be the internal reviewer who:
- was not substantially involved in the process of making the decision under review
- is an employee of NESA, and
- is otherwise suitably qualified to deal with the issues raised in the application.
The internal reviewer will:
- notify the Privacy Commissioner of the application as soon as possible after receiving it
- keep the Privacy Commissioner informed of the progress of the internal review
- inform the Privacy Commissioner of the findings of the review and of the action proposed to be taken by NESA in relation to the matter.
The Privacy Commissioner is entitled to make submissions to NESA in relation to the subject matter of the application.
The internal reviewer will consider all previous and new documentation and information available that is relevant to the decision, including any relevant material submitted by the Privacy Commissioner.
Internal reviews are completed as soon as practicable, typically within 60 days of NESA receiving the application.
Outcome of the internal review
At the end of the internal review, NESA may do any one or more of the following:
- take no further action on the matter
- make a formal apology to you
- take such remedial action as it considers appropriate
- provide undertakings that the conduct will not occur again
- implement administrative measures to ensure that the conduct will not occur again.
NESA will write to the applicant within 14 days of completing the internal review to notify of the internal review decision.
We will notify you of:
- the findings of the review
- the reasons for those findings
- the action(s) we propose to take
- your right to have the findings and NESA’s proposed actions reviewed by NCAT.
Appealing the internal review decision
The PPIP Act allows for a final avenue of appeal to NCAT.
Where you have applied to NESA for an internal review and the review has been finalised (or is considered to be finalised), you may apply to NCAT for an administrative review of the NESA decision.
Applications for an NCAT administrative review of a NESA decision must be filed at NCAT within 28 days of either:
- NESA notifying you of the internal review decision or
- the date on which an internal review is deemed to have been finalised.
Public Register identification of teacher during appeals
NESA’s original decision remains in place until the outcome of all avenues of appeal are known.
Reviewing initial teacher education program or professional development course decisions
You may apply for an internal review of certain program or course decisions under Section 53 of the Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 (the ADR Act).
For initial teacher education program decisions, you may request an internal review of a NESA:
- decision to refuse accreditation
- decision to suspend accreditation
- decision to revoke accreditation
- failure to accredit.
For professional development course decisions, you may request an internal review of a NESA decision to:
- not approve the accreditation of a course
- not renew the accreditation of a course
- cancel the accreditation of a course.
You are not entitled to a review of any decision NESA has previously reviewed.
Requesting an internal review
Applications for an internal review must be:
- made in writing to NESA using the ITE/PD provider internal review application form (PDF 75.17KB)
- lodged within 28 days of being notified of the NESA decision, with this period excluding school holidays and employer shutdown periods
- sent by email to TAinternalreview@nesa.nsw.edu.au.
You may provide additional documentation and information relevant to the decision with your application.
Conducting internal reviews
NESA will appoint a person to be the internal reviewer who:
- was not substantially involved in the process of making the decision under review
- is an employee of NESA
- is otherwise suitably qualified to deal with the issues raised in the application.
The internal reviewer will consider all previous and new documentation and information available that is relevant to the decision.
Typically, internal reviews are completed within 21 days of NESA receiving the application. If the internal reviewer requires more time to complete the review, NESA will advise you and seek agreement on a longer period.
Outcome of the internal review
At the end of the internal review process, the internal reviewer may:
- affirm the decision
- vary the decision
- set aside the decision and make a new decision.
NESA will write to notify you of the internal review decision.
We will notify you of:
- the outcome of the internal review
- the reasons for the internal review decision
- your right to have the internal review decision reviewed by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
Appealing the internal review decision
The Teacher Accreditation Act 2004 (the TA Act) allows for a final avenue of appeal to NCAT.
Where you have applied to NESA for an internal review and the review is finalised, or is considered to be finalised, you may apply to NCAT for an administrative review of the NESA decision.
Applications for an NCAT administrative review of a NESA decision must be filed at NCAT within 28 days of either:
- NESA notifying you of the internal review decision, or
- the date on which the internal review is deemed to be finalised.
Program or course status during appeals
NESA’s accreditation decision remains in place until the outcome of all avenues of appeal is known.