Proprietor
The proprietor of a registered non-government school must be a corporation or other form of legal entity approved by the Minister to be the proprietor of a non-government school.
The types of legal entities approved by the Minister to be the proprietor of a registered individual non-government school are:
- corporations
- registered companies
- trusts including religious bodies.
The proprietor is the legal entity that owns the school.
The role of the proprietor is primarily concerned with the governance of the school, including:
- long-term financial planning
- administrative policies and
- accountability.
The proprietor determines the role of the principal.
The principal (or equivalent) is usually responsible for the management, day-to-day functioning and routine operations of the school. Where a school has no designated principal, the Education Act 1990 provides that:
- any notice required or permitted to be given by or under the Act that is given to any of the teachers at the school, is assumed to have been given to every teacher at the school, and
- an obligation imposed by or under the Act is an obligation imposed on every teacher at the school. Any one teacher may act on behalf of all teachers at the school to discharge this obligation.
Evidence of capacity to comply
The approved authority for a registration system must provide evidence that:
- either the approved authority is one of the types of legal entity approved by the Minister or the proposed individual member school of the system is one of the types of legal entity approved by the Minister
and - a legally binding relationship exists between the system authority and the proposed member school that allows the approved authority to comply with its obligations under the Act.