The secret Christmas present rule teachers have to abide by.

With school about to wrap up for the year, the time for teacher’s gifts is upon us.

Most will opt for the classics – chocolate, a new notebook, another ‘world’s best teacher mug’, maybe a bottle of wine if you’re a bit fancy, but there is one rule that you must not break.

Depending on the state, there are actually rules for the monetary values of gifts that teachers are allowed to accept. Although that number generally sit’s at $50, in Tasmania it’s $100, $150 for QLD teachers, and schools in the ACT set their nominal value limit at $30.

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Exact figures can be found in the state or territory’s Teacher’s Code of Professional Practice, but the issues stems from whether the excessive gifting could be seen as bribery, or whether the “public perception of [the] acceptance” of the gift would be considered inappropriate, as stated in the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

Although for most, standard gifting options prevail over… say those listed in this mumset forum (a bottle of Veuve, a rolex, or a trip to Switzerland anybody?) when we spoke to an ex-teacher she told us that she “never received anything worth over $50,” and that the most she got was maybe “a box of chocolates.”

And what happens when over enthusiastic parents get a bit too spend happy and generous with their gifts? Well for one the teacher in question isn’t allowed to accept the present, and then they’re under obligation to declare the gift to the school or Department of Education.

… and we all know how much teachers love end of year paper work.

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