Teachers groups say a new push to make it easier to enter the profession would be similar to letting tradies into operating theatres to conduct surgeries, and will not be tolerated by parents.
A national review of teacher registration to make it easier for people with experience in specialist areas such as nurses and tradies to become teachers, which was announced by the Turnbull government on Saturday, has been strongly opposed by two of the biggest teachers groups in the country.
"The medical profession would not support lowering their registration for tradies to conduct surgery, and we don't support it for teachers," said Correna Haythorpe, president of the Australian Education Union, which represents 185,000 educators.
"Children deserve fully qualified and registered professionals as teachers and parents expect that."
President of the NSW Teachers Federation, which represents about 67,000 educators, Maurie Mulheron, said lowering requirements will "downgrade teacher qualifications and lower the status of the profession".
The review has been signed off by the Education Council, which includes all federal and state education ministers.
It will be led by the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership, which has been tasked with looking at whether existing registration requirements are creating excessive barriers to becoming a teacher.
"[We] want to make sure that if you're teaching a year 11 or year 12 student skills in terms of the caring industries, in aged care, or skills in terms of the building industries, that you have some personal experience and expertise there if at all possible," Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said.
Ms Haythorpe and Mr Mulheron said teachers groups have not been consulted about the review.
"It seems to be just another policy brain snap by a minister who refuses to consult the teaching profession," Mr Mulheron said.
"We will be going to [NSW Education Minister] Rob Stokes and putting forward a strong view to reject this in NSW. It runs counter to everything the NSW government has been saying about increasing teaching standards and qualifications."
Mr Mulheron said the requirements for becoming a teacher in Australia should be increased, in line with "other high-performing countries".
"It's the opposite of what we should be doing, which is moving from a four-year teaching degree to a five-year degree composed of a two-year postgraduate teaching qualification," he said.
Professor of teacher education and the arts at the University of Sydney Robyn Ewing said not enough information is available at this stage on how qualifications would be simplified, but similar initiatives have failed in the past.
"As well as having expertise in a particular area, it's also important to know how to teach," Professor Ewing said.
The review comes as Australian schools face a shortage of qualified teachers in areas including IT, physics and maths, according to the Australian Council for Educational Research.
However, Mr Mulheron said lowering standards is not the right way to address shortages.
"You don't fix an undersupply of teachers in some areas by lowering qualifications, you fix it by increasing the salary and status of teaching to make it more appealing," Mr Mulheron said.
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