Eight or more registered non-government schools may register to form a  system of schools.

The approved authority for a system of schools must be able to incur costs on behalf of those schools and give directions to the governing bodies and principals of those schools for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the Act.

The role of an approved authority for a system is to ensure that all registered system schools are complying with the requirements for re-registration of a registered school.  The approved authority must enter into an agreement with the Registrar (who must consult with the Board) as to how the approved authority will ensure the compliance of all system schools.

In order to join a system, a school must have been registered as an individual registered school for at least a year.

Schedule 2 of the Education Regulations 2017 provides the standards for systems of schools to comply with for registration purposes.  The standards for systems of non-government schools require an applicant to address:

Approved authority

The approved authority must be a fit and proper person and must provide systems schools with the processes necessary to allow the schools to plan for and achieve improvement in student learning.

financial resources

The approved authority must demonstrate that it has sufficient financial resources and auditing process to satisfy the Board that it can manage the regulation of system schools. It must also have a funding model which allows system schools to ensure compliance with the standards.

policies and procedures

The approved authority must have sufficient procedures and policies and enforce those policies to ensure that the system schools comply with the registration standards for renewing non-government schools.

record keeping

The approved authority must have record keeping processes sufficient for the Board to satisfied that it knows which of its schools are compliant with the standards.

compliance with the law

The approved authority must have a written plan detailing the steps which need to be taken by schools to ensure compliance with all relevant laws.