Tribunal upholds Department for Education's dismissal
The South Australian Employment Tribunal (SAET) has upheld the Department for Education's decision to sack a public school teacher whose registration was cancelled following findings that he engaged in "improper and disgraceful" conduct.
Judge Rossi dismissed an application by the teacher to review the termination of his employment and rejected his separate bid to restrict publication of the tribunal's reasons.
The teacher had worked in the South Australian system for several years before disciplinary concerns came to the attention of the Teachers Registration Board of South Australia (TRB).
The dismissal followed a 2024 TRB decision which found that the teacher had engaged in a series of inappropriate behaviours towards a former partner and several other women, and earlier boundary‑crossing conduct with students while a student teacher.
The TRB ordered that he be "disqualified from being a registered teacher until further order" and found he was not, at the time, a "fit and proper person to be a registered teacher."
That disqualification led the Department to terminate his employment on the ground that he was "not a registered teacher within the meaning of the Teachers Registration and Standards Act 2004".
'Correct or preferred' decision
Under SAET's review jurisdiction, the tribunal was required to reach the "correct or preferable decision" while having regard to the original decision‑maker’s view.
Judge Rossi found that the conduct accepted or proven before the TRB amounted to misconduct and noted that the teacher did not challenge the characterisation of his conduct as both improper and disgraceful.
The tribunal emphasised that the TRB had viewed his actions as part of a "continuum of behaviour" rather than isolated lapses. That continuum included:
- Abusive and persistent stalking‑type behaviour towards a former partner over several years, including an obscene text message and repeated unwanted contact despite a clear police warning
- Repeated, unwanted approaches to four other women in workplaces and public settings, which the tribunal said involved ignoring social boundaries and ignoring the wellbeing and safety of women
- Earlier inappropriate email communications with multiple female students during a teaching placement, which had already led to a three‑year suspension from his initial teacher education programme
"There is some consistency in relation to the misconduct," Rossi wrote in the decision.
"All of the conduct involves transgressions of social norms recognised for acceptable behaviour. The conduct was associated with a lack of understanding at the time by [the teacher] as to what constitutes appropriate conduct and how his conduct may adversely affect others."
No obligation to find alternative duties
In his argument, the teacher accused the Department of acting unreasonably by failing to place him in non‑teaching duties or continuing his suspension (with or without pay) while he undertook treatment and sought to re‑establish his fitness for registration.
He argued that the Department had misdirected itself by not giving proper regard to the TRB's "additional comments," which contemplated possible future re‑registration once he had undergone further psychological assessment and treatment with an expert.
The tribunal rejected that argument, holding that while the loss of registration triggered a discretion to terminate, there was no statutory duty to search for alternative duties in these circumstances.
"The text makes clear that there is no statutory obligation to do so in the circumstances of [the teacher]," Rossi said, noting that the obligation to take reasonable steps to find other suitable duties applies only in cases of redundancy or incapacity.
Whether or not the Department might have allowed more time, the tribunal concluded that "in all the circumstances, the correct or preferred decision to have been made by the Department was to terminate [his] contract of employment."
But Rossi stressed that the termination does not bring an end to the teacher's career.
"If at the conclusion of his treatment ... he is able to provide evidence to the TRB which shows that he has established himself as a different man and is a fit and proper person to be a registered teacher then the TRB may grant registration," Rossi said.
