Roles and responsibilities of a school council member
As a member of the school council, you have certain roles and responsibilities to carry out.
School councils are also called school representative bodies or school boards.
You and the principal work together to contribute to decisions that ensure the best outcomes for your government school.
This includes providing advice and making decisions on:
- the physical needs of the school and how it will be used after hours
- how school grounds are maintained
- how to improve links between your school, parent organisations and your community
- how to spend the school budget
- staffing requirements to deliver non-teaching services to the school
- raising money to spend on the school
- for simple and compliant fundraising tips, go to the NTCOGSO website.
You will provide advice to your principal on the:
- educational needs of the students
- strategic direction of the school.
The role of a school council is defined in part 6 section 107 of the NT Education Act 2015 and part 5 of the NT Education Regulations.
Watch the video
In the video below, you will learn about:
- why school council are important
- roles of a school council and its members
- who can be a member
- when members need to meet
- school council committees.
Or you can read below for more information.
Types of members
The school council is made up of:
- your school principal
- at least one teacher
- parents - who must make up at least half of the membership
- students - if your school is a secondary school
- invited members.
Everyone brings something important to the school council. Find out more about each members’ role below.
Principal
The principal's role includes:
- working in partnership with the school council to make sure you have all the right information to make the best decisions for your school
- sharing at meetings what's happening in the school and in the Department of Education
- letting the school community know when there are meetings so community members can attend if they want to
- ensuring relevant department policy and guidelines are implemented, such as holding an annual general meeting by 15 March each year
- working with the chair to ensure members comply with department policy and guidelines
- supporting members in their roles.
Teachers
The teacher's role includes:
- sharing at meetings what's happening in the school and in the department
- representing the staff’s point of view at meetings.
Parents
The parent's role includes:
- representing other parents’ and the school community’s point of view at meetings
- sharing at meetings what's happening in the community so the school council can make good and informed decisions.
Students
The student's role includes:
- sharing at meetings what's happening in the school
- representing the students’ point of view at meetings.
Invited members
An invited member's role is to use their special qualifications, knowledge or experience by giving information or advice.
Who can join
Find out how and who can join.
Office bearer roles
The chair, secretary and treasurer are called office bearer roles.
These roles have duties that are additional to the parent member roles.
Chair
The chair's role includes:
- leading and overseeing the meetings
- making sure everyone sticks to items on the agenda
- working with the principal to ensure members and office bearers comply with the department policy and guidelines
- keeping the school community informed of school council business
- signing and endorsing documents once approved by the school council
- sitting on a recruitment panel for the principal position
- ensuring conflicts of interest are declared and recorded, including how they're managed.
A parent member must hold this role. It can't be held by a teacher or principal of a government school.
Secretary
The secretary’s role includes:
- letting the school community know when the school council meetings will be, so community members can attend if they want to
- preparing and sending out an agenda to members before meetings so that everyone knows what is going to be discussed
- recording the actions and decisions of the school council at the meeting
- sending meeting papers, including the previous meeting minutes, to each member before the next meeting.
Treasurer
The treasurer’s role includes:
- helping the school council to oversee proper use of school money
- if one is in place, attending the school council’s finance committee or meeting with business manager and principal, before the main school council meeting, to discuss the finance reports
- presenting required monthly financial reports
- presenting the draft budget for approval by the school council, with support from the principal and business manager
- ensuring records of transactions and decisions related to money spent and received are kept.
It's best practice to have these roles filled by parent members.
If no parent can fill the secretary or treasurer role:
- the principal can appoint the school's business manager
- if the business manager takes on these roles, they can't vote on school council matters.
To access a guide book on the role of the chair, secretary and treasurer, log in or create a free account on the NT COGSO website.
Vacancies
Find out below what happens during vacancies.
When an office bearer leaves
Elections are held for office bearer roles:
- when they're vacant or
- at the time of the annual general meeting (AGM).
If a chair resigns from the school council, the principal must let the department know and email the contact details of the new chair to schoolgovernance@education.nt.gov.au.
Sometimes, people who have more experience on their school council nominate to become an officer bearer.
Your school might like to set up a plan to mentor members for these roles to help with the transitions.
When a member leaves
There's a casual vacancy if a member leaves before their term ends.
The body decides how to fill the vacancy.
A person elected or appointed to fill a casual vacancy must be all of the below:
- eligible
- from the same membership type
- this means only a student can fill a student vacancy, only a teacher can fill a teacher vacancy and only a parent can fill a parent vacancy.
A member filling in a casual vacancy holds the membership until the original membership term ends.
Membership term
The below table shows the membership terms and total years allowed to be a member of the school council.
| Member | Length of each term | Total years allowed to be a member |
|---|---|---|
| Parent member | 2 years | 6 consecutive years (3 terms) |
| Teacher member | 2 years | 6 consecutive years (3 terms) |
| Principal | Ongoing | Ongoing |
| Student member | 2 years | 6 consecutive years (3 terms) |
| Invited member | Up to 2 years - can be appointed for a shorter term | 6 consecutive years (3 terms) |
| Invited member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) | Ongoing | Ongoing |
Contact
If you have any questions:
- talk to your principal
- email enquiries@ntcogso.org.au or go to the NT COGSO website
- contact the Department of Education.
Share this page:
URL copied!