‘What are they gonna do?’: Sydney teacher rants about mandatory teaching fee

“There’s a teacher shortage …enjoy having children in the classroom without a casual teacher,” Daphne says in the clip. 

The Sydney model and teacher ruffled some feathers online. Source: daphneberry_/TikTok

A teacher has caused a fierce debate after admitting she is refusing to pay the annual accreditation status fee. 

Daphne is a 32-year-old model and teacher from Sydney and was preparing for the big return to school. 

While she gets everything sorted for the start of the new year, she is refusing to pay for one particular thing - her accreditation status. 

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“Enjoy having children in the classroom without a casual teacher”

“Did you guys know teachers in NSW have to pay $200 a year to get their accreditation status renewed?” she asked her TikTok audience. 

“I have to pay $200 every year just to go and do my job.” 

This year, however, Daphne has decided to switch things up and completely forgo that annual payment. 

“I’m just going to see what happens,” she smirked. “Because this is just money to the government.” 

She then asked the camera what the government was “going to do” about her not having the accreditation. “Tell me I can’t teach?” she asked. 

“There’s a teacher shortage. Like, enjoy having children in the classroom without a casual teacher.” 

She doubled down on her argument, telling her audience she’s “not doing it this year.” 

“Like, I’m not f**king giving into the government again,” she said before staging a mock phone call from the Department of Education. 

“Hi, we noticed you haven’t paid your accreditation, you can’t come to work today,” she joked. “Oh, s**t, f**k, that sucks!”

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Daphne refuses to pay for the accreditation status fee. Source: daphneberry_/TikTok

“I was literally walked off the school grounds…”

The video has amassed over 200,000 views since its upload, sparking a fierce debate about the required fee to work. 

“Preach,” someone wrote. “Plumbers have heaps of fees too!” said another. 

“I think I went six months before I caved,” a third added. “During this shortage, these fees should be waived,” someone suggested.

Others were unimpressed with her stance. 

“You have a choice: pay it and teach or don't pay it and don't teach,” a woman argued.  “Most professions have to pay a yearly renewal.”

“Don’t most, if not all, professional jobs have some kind of registration fee?” asked another. 

“Wait till you hear about drivers that have to get a license and rego.” 

Followers gave Daphne a stark warning if she decided to not pay the fee. “My colleague forgot to renew and was immediately walked out of classes that morning it expired,” a woman wrote. 

“We had teachers at our school refuse, and they will walk you off the job,” another cautioned. “I’m a casual, and I forgot to pay it last year, and I was literally walked off the school grounds,” another added.

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The NSW government introduced a scheme to encourage ex-teachers to return to the classroom. Source: iStock

NSW’s radical move to lure ex-teachers back to the classroom

Despite Daphne claiming the accreditation fee was $200, she was corrected by many people in the comments, explaining the annual fee was actually $100. 

According to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), the fee is required to teach “consistent with other teacher registration fees across the country and lower than comparable occupations.” 

“The license fee has remained unchanged since 2011 and is tax refundable,” a spokesperson told news.com.au. 

While Daphne was wrong about the fee cost, she was correct about the teacher shortage throughout NSW. 

An October report found that 10,000 lessons are running without a teacher nearly every day, with roughly 87 per cent of public schools facing a shortage of casual teachers every day. 

In an effort to reduce the ongoing strain on the education system, the NSW government is taking drastic measures to bring ex-teachers back, including cold-calling those who said goodbye to their academic careers years ago. 

As part of the program, the Department has begun cold-calling ex-teachers to gauge their interest in returning to the classroom. To sweeten the deal, the government has offered to cover the $100 NESA accreditation fee.

“Teachers do one of the most important jobs in the world, and we need more of them,” said Jason Clare, Minister for Education. 

Originally published as ‘What are they gonna do?’: Sydney teacher rants about mandatory teaching fee