The Clean Slate Act should be overhauled to ensure sexual predators applying to become teachers cannot conceal past convictions, a law expert says.
Bill Hodge, a retired University of Auckland law professor, was responding to a Herald investigation that revealed an Auckland man with historical indecency convictions was able to pass multiple police vets, become registered as a teacher and abuse nine girls.
Education Minister Erica Stanford and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith are refusing to comment on the case specifically, but Goldsmith has requested a briefing from officials and Stanford is also understood to be making inquiries.
It comes as questions mount about how a system designed to protect children failed so badly.
Timothy Fisher was jailed last week for the 2024 abuse at a private after-school tutoring company. He also filmed himself masturbating while watching students at an unnamed school where he previously worked.
It’s emerged Fisher worked at at least five state secondary schools and underwent at least four police vets between 2011 and 2017.
Police marked a 2014 vet with a “red stamp” and warned the Teaching Council that Fisher should not be allowed unsupervised access to children.
Despite this warning, the council renewed his practising certificate after receiving an investigation report from its Complaints Assessment Committee and another clear police vet. The council has refused to release the 2015 CAC decision to the Herald.
Hodge said it was counter-intuitive that Fisher was able to hide three convictions for doing an indecent act from authorities when applying for teaching jobs.
He believed the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act should be reviewed to ensure the legislation was fit for purpose and not undermining child safety regimes.
Hodge said anyone applying to become a police or Corrections officer, or those seeking employment in some care and protection of children roles, were excluded from using the act.
However, that exclusion did not extend to most teaching positions, meaning applicants could conceal specified convictions from potential employers provided they had not reoffended in seven years.
Hodge said some indecency offences such as masturbating in public were not included on the specified offences list, so didn’t need to be disclosed in a police vet, despite being sexual in nature.
“There are some surprising gaps in the legislation.”
Hodge said 2014 changes to the Children’s Act made partial amendments to the Clean Slate Act “but did not go far enough” and it was time for relevant ministers to take action.
The Teaching Council had a legal obligation to determine whether an applicant was of good character and fit to be a teacher, he said.
“Future employers are entitled to rely on the Teaching Council’s registration of a teacher as a stamp of approval.”
However, employers also carried responsibility to do due diligence.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said it was inappropriate for him to comment on Fisher’s case “but I will be asking my officials for some advice on the act more generally”.
Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad is now looking into the circumstances of the case and what could have been done to prevent the harm Fisher caused to children.
Achmad said any situation where children experienced violence by adults in positions of power whom they should be able to trust was “significantly concerning”.
Safety checks were crucial in all learning environments and should be repeated on a regular basis, she said.
“Schools and kura are required to carry out comprehensive risk assessments, including but not limited to police checks, for anyone who will have unsupervised access to children.”
Meanwhile, the Herald has confirmed that Fisher trained as a teacher at the University of Auckland.
A university spokesperson said it required all applicants for its teacher education programmes to undergo police vetting and to declare any past convictions.
“This was the case when Mr Fisher would likely have applied, for 2011, as it is today.”
The spokesperson said the information was then assessed carefully to determine whether the applicant posed a risk to children and whether they would be eligible for registration with the Teaching Council upon graduation.
“We do not have records available that confirm whether Mr Fisher declared his convictions at the time, or what information may have been disclosed through the police vetting process.
“The university has robust processes in place to ensure the safety and well-being of children and to ensure that our teacher education programmes uphold the highest standards of integrity and responsibility.”
Lane Nichols is Auckland desk editor for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues such as sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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