Readers of "English in Australia" are well aware of the genesis and development of Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australia (STELLA), since its evolution has been extensively documented in this journal, beginning in 1999 with Margaret Gill's call to arms to the profession, "If we don't do it someone else will" in "English in Australia No 124," and including the joint "English in Australia Nos 129-30/Literacy Learning: The Middle Years 9.1" STELLA edition in 2001. But, where is STELLA in this current state of productive ferment regarding professional standards for teachers? Is it still a relevant focus for productive work, or has it passed its use--by date? In answering this question the author confines his comments to two contexts with which he is familiar. One is the involvement of Teaching Australia in developing standards. The other context is the work of the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT), of which the author has been a Council member since its inception in 2002. He does not share the prevailing scepticism/indifference/hostility about the value or importance of standards bodies. He argues that the "fact" of their existence provides an opportunity to give professional standards such as STELLA greater currency and clout than they have at the moment, by providing professional teaching associations such as Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) and its state affiliates with frameworks in which to pursue their standards work.