The Teacher Registration Board of WA has cautioned four independent schools for hiring unregistered teachers. The schools had employed seven unregistered teachers who were not taking classes, and one teacher who had never been registered but was working as a relief teacher.

The schools were warned to “take immediate action to ensure that unregistered teachers were not teaching”, and later were informed of the legislative requirements “for teachers not to be employed if they were not registered”.

Transitional problems were blamed for the confusion as the Teacher Registration Board of WA replaced the WA College of Teaching in December 2012, although teachers were required to be registered under the old system as well.

Opposition Education spokeswoman Sue Ellery said: “The purpose of registration is to check some really important things, including that the person is safe to work with children” ensuring “that everyone in a school is safe to be there”.