Principals play key roles in creating the conditions in which teachers can teach effectively and students can learn. Principals are increasingly being held accountable both for teacher quality and for student learning and development so that young people can become 'successful learners, confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens'. The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) was established by the Australian Government in 2010 to provide national leadership for the Commonwealth, state and territory governments in promoting excellence in the profession of teaching and school leadership. Reporting to all state and territory ministers responsible for education, AITSL is charged with driving transformational change and creating new levels of teacher professionalism. In its first year the Institute developed a new National Professional Standard for Principals.1 This article outlines the origins and development of this standard. Development was a collaborative process including key stakeholders from across Australia with international expert input. Following national piloting of the standard, refinements to the standard were made and mechanisms to support the use of the standard have been put in place. (Contains 1 table, 1 figure, and 5 notes.)