Australia has made several attempts to implement schemes that provide more recognition and new career paths for accomplished teachers. The first wave of reforms took place in the early 1990s with the concept of the Advanced Skills Teacher, led by teacher unions. The reforms largely failed, for reasons elaborated on in this paper, but the need for policies directed at promoting quality teachers and teaching has intensified. Merit pay schemes have been considered and rejected. There is now an alignment between policies of Australian state and federal governments, teacher unions and the Business Council of Australia to develop a national standards-based system for recognising levels of accomplishment in teaching, based on assessment of performance and linked to salary rewards and career progression. This paper outlines a set of principles and implementation issues that need to be addressed in establishing such a system.