New Review Exposes Teaching Council Failures in Protecting Children

A new independent review led by Katherine Anderson KC has revealed that New Zealand’s Teaching Council repeatedly failed to act on a teacher, Timothy Fisher, who had a history of indecent offences. Over a decade the Council had at least ten opportunities to intervene, including in 2015 when it was aware of Fisher’s convictions, yet it did not investigate or remove him. Fisher later pleaded guilty to indecent assault of nine girls and possession of thousands of objectionable images, and is now imprisoned. In response, the government has tightened oversight, appointed a new board with child‑protection expertise, amended Clean Slate legislation to improve background checks, and set a ministerial action‑plan to rebuild confidence.