Trust the Profession with the Responsibilities of a Profession

Australia has had a succession of national bodies for the teaching profession, such as the Australian Teaching Council in the mid 1990s and Teaching Australia from 2003-2009.  Each in turn was perceived as failing to embrace one or more of the main stakeholders.  Although representatives from the jurisdictions and Catholic and Independent education sectors dominate the AITSL membership, the new body may avoid the fate of previous bodies.  In its favour, AITSL is the first of these national bodies to have been established with clear support from all governments and employing authorities to play their part in rewarding nationally certified highly accomplished teachers.  The challenge ahead is to gain the trust and commitment of teachers and their associations to make it work.