The federal government has announced a national shake-up of teacher registration in Australia.
A new review will focus on the registration of early childhood teachers, vocational education and training teachers and also how new teachers transition into the profession.
"There's inconsistency in our teacher registration systems across the country," Education Minister Simon Birmingham said on Saturday.
"We need to understand what's working and what's not in key areas to set a bar everyone can work towards."
"Those different life experiences could shake up Australia's schools": Simon Birmingham. Source: AAP
Mr Birmingham said one of the review's key aims was to find how people with real-world skills could bring them into the classroom.
"Having a former tradie or nurse as a teacher can bring more perspective to a classroom and can be especially beneficial for the teaching of vocational and trade skills," Mr Birmingham said.
"Those different life experiences could shake up Australia's schools and add more depth to the talented teachers we have."
But the Australian Education Union claimed the review would undermine teacher quality, with broad ramifications for teaching and education in Australian schools.
"This is simply another example of Minister Birmingham disrespecting the teaching profession," AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said on Saturday.
"It is important to attract people with different skills and life experience into the teaching profession, but there should be no fast track to becoming a teacher."
The government claims the move has been endorsed by state and territory leaders at the Education Council.
A panel of eight education experts led by Mr Chris Wardlaw, deputy chair of the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership, will conduct the review.
