School Community Safety Orders

Policy

This policy supports Victorian government schools to use the school community safety order scheme (Scheme) to manage the risks to the safety of school staff, students and the broader school community from a small minority of parents, carers and other adults who engage in harmful, threatening or abusive behaviour.

Summary

• The Scheme enables authorised persons to issue school community safety orders (orders) to prohibit or restrain certain behaviours from occurring on school premises and school-related places, or in relation to school staff. Orders can be immediate or ongoing.
• Orders can only be issued to adults (18 years old or over) who are not staff members or students at the school. This may include parents or carers of students at the school, former students, friends or partners of students, former staff members or staff members from other schools and third-party contractors engaged by the school.
• Orders can only be made if the school has considered other ways to address the behaviour and an order is the least restrictive means available.
• If an order is given to a person who has a child at the school, the school must make sure that the child can continue to attend school and enable the parent to be involved with their education.
• The Guidance tab contains important information about the Scheme that principals and authorised persons are required to understand before issuing orders.

Details

Schools are positive places of learning and work where everyone has a right to a safe and healthy environment. Everyone in a school community plays a shared role in being respectful. When parents and carers behave aggressively towards staff or members of the school community, it can have a significant impact on the physical and mental health, safety and wellbeing of the staff, students and other members of the school community who experience it.

The Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic) (Act) was amended by the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Protection of School Communities) Act 2021 to establish the Scheme. The Scheme is just one part of the department’s suite of initiatives to address work-related violence in schools.

Following this policy, and the procedures outlined in the Guidance tab, will assist principals and authorised persons to issue orders consistently with legislation, the binding Ministerial Guidelines, and department policy.

Types of orders

There are 2 types of orders that principals and other authorised persons can issue to prohibit or limit different types of behaviours – ongoing school community safety orders (ongoing orders) and immediate school community safety orders (immediate orders).

Ongoing orders may be made for any period up to a maximum of 12 months and can prohibit or limit a person from:

• entering or remaining on any school-related place of the relevant school
• approaching, or causing another person to approach, within 25 metres of any staff member or class of staff members within or outside of any school-related place of the relevant school
• contacting any staff member or class of staff members
• using or communicating on a communication platform owned, controlled by, or established in relation to the relevant school.

Ongoing orders can be issued where an authorised person reasonably believes that one or more of the grounds exist with respect to the person who is proposed to be subject to the order. The Grounds for issuing an order guidance chapter contains a detailed description of the grounds for issuing ongoing orders.

Immediate orders prohibit a person from entering or remaining on any school-related place of the relevant school specified in the order and remain in effect for a maximum of 14 days.

Immediate orders may be made orally or in writing where the person who is subject to the order poses an unacceptable and imminent risk of:

• harm to another person on school premises or to a member of the school community at a school-related place
• causing significant disruption to school activities
• interfering with the wellbeing, safety or educational opportunities of students.

Breaches to orders

If a person breaches an order, schools should seek advice from Legal Division if they want to initiate enforcement proceedings in the Magistrates' Court for one of the following orders:

• a fine of up to 60 penalty units (access the Department of Justice and Community Safety website to find out how much this amounts to)
• an order requiring the person to comply with the order
• an order requiring the person to take specified action to comply with the order
• an order requiring the person to do anything else that the Court thinks is appropriate.

A person who breaches an order will not receive a criminal penalty.

Internal and external review of orders

A person to whom an ongoing order applies may apply in writing to the relevant school for an internal review of the authorised person’s decision to:

• make the order
• vary the order on the authorised person's own motion
• refuse an application by the subject for a variation to the order
• refuse to revoke the order.

An application must be referred to a reviewer as soon as is practicable, who may affirm, vary or revoke the relevant decision.

A person who is not satisfied with the outcome of an internal review of the order may apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for an external review of that decision.

Other actions and responsibilities

Other school actions and responsibilities associated with the scheme are detailed in the Guidance tab, including mandatory considerations for issuing orders, relevant procedures and reporting.

Definitions

Authorised persons
Authorised persons are empowered to make, vary or revoke school community safety orders. Principals and the Secretary of the Department of Education and Training are automatically authorised persons under the Act by virtue of the position they hold. The Secretary and the Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services have the power to authorise additional persons or classes of persons to be authorised persons.

Member of the school community
A student enrolled at the school, a parent of a student at the school, a staff member of the school or a person who is present at a school-related place of the school for a reason connected with the school.

School-related place
School-related place refers to:

• any premises of the school, which may include an area that is within 25 metres of the boundary of those premises
• in addition to the school premises, any other place or premises on which there is an activity conducted by or in connection with the school, which may include an area that is within 25 metres of the boundary of that place or those premises.

Related policies

• Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes
• Child Safety and Wellbeing
• Complaints – Parents
• Emergency and Critical Incident Management Planning
• Intervention Orders
• Mental Health and Wellbeing – Employees
• Mental Health in Schools
• OHS Risk Management
• Principal Health and Wellbeing
• Records Management — School Records
• Respectful Behaviours within the School Community
• Trespass
• Schools’ privacy policy
• Student Engagement
• Student Support Services
• Work-Related Violence in Schools

Relevant legislation

• Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (Vic)
• Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities 2006 (Vic)
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
• Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic)
• Education and Training Reform Amendment (Protection of School Communities) Act 2021
• Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic)
• Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic)
• Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic)

Guidance

This guidance contains the following chapters:

• People authorised to issue, vary or revoke orders
• Grounds for issuing an order
• Mandatory considerations before issuing an order
• Procedures for issuing orders
• Varying and revoking orders
• Interaction with other statutory schemes
• Minimising impacts on students
• Psychological safety and wellbeing support for school staff
• Monitoring compliance with and enforcing school community safety orders
• Rebuilding relationships with persons subject to an order
• Internal and external review of an ongoing order
• Reporting an order

People authorised to issue, vary or revoke orders

Authorised persons are people who can issue, vary or revoke school community safety orders (orders). This includes:

• principals and acting principals
• the Secretary
• Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services (SRS)
• regional directors, in respect of schools in their own region.

Required training

Authorised persons are required to first complete the School Community Safety Order Scheme eLearn training module (staff login required) before issuing an ongoing order. Authorised persons are also strongly encouraged to have completed the training before issuing an immediate order to reduce the risk that the requirements are not fully understood and complied with when issuing these types of orders. They must retain evidence of completion and produce it upon request by the department.

Acting arrangements

It is recommended that any acting arrangements are recorded in writing before those arrangements commence to avoid any disputes as to whether the person was acting in the position.

If the authorised person has planned leave, they must update eduPay to reflect the acting responsibilities. This will enable the person acting in the position to have the same powers as the authorised person for the period they are acting in the position.

If the authorised person has unplanned leave, and another person is not appointed to act in the authorised person’s position, the school may request that another authorised person (for example, a regional director) issue an order by submitting a report on eduSafe Plus.

When an authorised person other than a principal should issue an order

There are some instances where it is more appropriate for someone other than a principal to issue an order, such as if a principal wishes to maintain an effective working relationship with the parent or if they are unable to make an objective and impartial decision because they themselves are subject to the behaviour that gives rise to an order.

Principals should contact their senior education improvement leader (SEIL) to discuss whether there is an alternative authorised person who may issue an order, such as a regional director. The alternative authorised person should contact Legal Division for advice and assistance with issuing an order.

Disagreements between authorised persons on whether to issue an order

As a range of persons are authorised to issue orders, there may be circumstances where 2 or more authorised persons have different views about whether an order should be issued.

Where a principal disagrees with an authorised person in the department as to whether an order should be issued, the matter should be escalated to another authorised person who is senior to both positions. For example, if a principal disagrees with a regional director, then the decision on whether to issue an order should be escalated to the Deputy Secretary, SRS.

Although an authorised person may consider the views of others when deciding whether to issue, vary or revoke an order, they must independently exercise their discretion to do so. For example, a SEIL (who is not an authorised person) can speak to the principal about such a decision but they cannot direct the principal to act in a particular manner.

For further advice, contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au

Authorising additional persons

School or department staff can apply to the Deputy Secretary, SRS to have other department employees or classes of department employees authorised as authorised persons. To be authorised, the person does not necessarily need to have a direct relationship with, or be working at or for, the particular school.

Examples of persons who the Deputy Secretary, SRS may consider appropriate to be authorised persons include:

• principals’ direct line managers in regional offices
• other senior positions within the department who are involved with government school administration.

The Deputy Secretary, SRS will consider a range of factors in deciding whether to authorise an individual person or class of persons. To make an application to the Deputy Secretary, SRS to authorise additional persons or classes of person or for further information, submit the Application form to request authorisation (DOCX) to employeehealth@education.vic.gov.au

Revocation of an authorised person’s power

While a principal’s power to issue, vary or revoke orders cannot be removed by the Secretary, the Secretary may revoke other persons or classes of persons authorised through the process set out above under ‘Authorising additional persons’. This can be made on request by a school, department staff or if the Secretary considers that an authorisation is no longer required or appropriate.

For example, an authorised person’s power may be revoked if:

• they are exercising powers under the school community safety order scheme (the Scheme) improperly or inconsistently with the Act and Guidelines and the Secretary believes they may continue to use their power in such a way
• there are allegations of misconduct
• the person no longer meets the requirements for authorisation, for example, because they have left the school.

Schools must request that the Secretary revoke a person’s authorisation as soon as practicable after becoming aware that the person is no longer required to be authorised or is no longer suitable to be an authorised person.

To request that the Secretary revoke a person’s authorisation, email employeehealth@education.vic.gov.au

The Secretary may suspend an authorisation where it may be necessary to allow the department to undertake enquiries as to whether the authorisation continues to be appropriate.

Allegations of alleged misconduct, such as the misuse of these powers, should be raised in accordance with the department’s Guidelines for Managing Complaints, Misconduct and Unsatisfactory Performance in the Teaching Service or the VPS. More information about making a complaint can be found in the department’s Complaints – Information for Employees policy.

Grounds for issuing an order

Authorised persons may issue ongoing school community safety orders (ongoing orders) and immediate school community safety orders (immediate orders). There are different grounds for each type of order.

Authorised persons may only issue a school community safety order (order) where:

• they reasonably believe that at least one or more grounds exists
• the order is reasonably necessary to address these grounds (this means that the terms and effect of orders must be proportionate to the behaviour and the risk of harm seeking to be addressed).

Even when an authorised person is satisfied that the above requirements are met, they must also consider the considerations in Mandatory considerations before issuing an order before making a final decision to issue an order.

For further advice on grounds for issuing an order, contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au

Definitions for orders

The following definitions apply for ongoing and immediate orders:

Reasonably believe
In deciding whether to make an ongoing or immediate order, an authorised person must reasonably believe that one or more grounds for making the order exist.

A reasonable belief is an objective test which requires the existence of facts which are sufficient to induce the belief in a reasonable person standing in the shoes of the decision maker. If an authorised person believes that the grounds for making an order have been met, and this belief is one a reasonable person would hold based on available or ascertainable facts (rather than on suspicion or assumption), they are likely to hold the necessary reasonable belief that the grounds for an order exist.

Reasonably necessary
To make an order, it must be reasonably necessary to address the grounds on which it is proposed to be made.

Whether making the order is reasonably necessary is an objective test which involves considering whether a properly informed, reasonable person would agree that the order is necessary. This means that orders must be proportionate to the behaviour and the risk of harm seeking to be addressed.

Harm
Harm of any kind, including physical or mental harm. This may be caused by physical conduct, verbal abuse, threats of harm or vexatious communications that causes unreasonable stress or anxiety to a person.

Unacceptable risk
The term ‘unacceptable risk’ requires consideration of both the likelihood of the relevant risk eventuating and the seriousness of the consequences if the risk eventuates. In considering whether a risk is unacceptable, authorised persons should apply the following 2-limb test:

• consider the likelihood of the risk eventuating
• consider the gravity or seriousness of the consequences if the risk eventuates.

Imminent and unacceptable risk
While ‘imminent’ is not defined in the Act, its ordinary meaning is something that is likely to occur, is impending or may eventuate at any moment.

To make an immediate order, an authorised person will need to assess whether a situation poses both an imminent and an unacceptable risk by considering the following 3-limb test:

• the likelihood of the risk of harm, significant disruption or interference eventuating
• the consequences and seriousness of the risk if it eventuates
• whether the risk is likely to occur at any moment.

Grounds for ongoing orders

Ground 1: Harm to others

An authorised person may issue an ongoing order if they reasonably believe that a person poses an unacceptable risk of harm to:

• any person (regardless of whether they are a member of the school community) on or within 25 metres of the premises of the school
• a member of the school community at any other place or premises where there is an activity conducted by or in connection with the school (including an area that is within 25 metres of this area, if the member of the school community is there for a reason that is connected with the school).

Harm to others can include:

• physical conduct towards a student, staff member, or parent, such as hitting, kicking, shoving, physical restraint of, and using weapons or objects to injure, a person
• verbal abuse towards a student, staff member, parent or carer, for instance, using obscene or derogatory language to communicate where that abuse causes mental harm
• threats of harm, where they have the potential to cause fear or distress
• vexatious communications that causes unreasonable stress or anxiety in the workplace and the other person’s personal life.

Ground 2: Significant disruption to the school or its activities

An authorised person may issue an ongoing order if they reasonably believe that a person poses an unacceptable risk of causing significant disruption to the relevant school or activities carried on by the relevant school.

For example, this includes where a person refuses to leave a classroom or place where a school activity is taking place or otherwise interferes with a teacher’s ability to instruct a class.

Ground 3: Interference with the wellbeing, safety or educational opportunities of students

An authorised person may issue an ongoing order if they reasonably believe that a person poses an unacceptable risk of interfering with the wellbeing, safety or educational opportunities of students enrolled at the relevant school.

For example, this includes where physical violence or abuse occurs in the presence of students.

Ground 4: Disorderly, offensive, intimidating or threatening behaviour

An authorised person may issue an ongoing order if they reasonably believe that a person has behaved and is likely to continue behaving in a disorderly, offensive, intimidating or threatening manner to a member of the school community of the relevant school, either:

• at, or within 25 metres of, any premises of the school
• at, or within 25 metres of, any other place or premises on which there is an activity conducted by or in connection with the school.

To satisfy this ground, such behaviour must be:

• disorderly, which may include disrupting a class, staff meeting or other event
• offensive, which may include behaviour that may be perceived as insulting or derogatory
• intimidating, which may include making someone feel fearful, nervous or timid or
• threatening, may include making a person fear for their safety.

Ground 5: Vexatious communications

An authorised person may issue an ongoing order where a person has engaged in and is likely to engage in vexatious communications with, or regarding, a staff member at the relevant school.

Vexatious communications in relation to a staff member of a school means a communication that a reasonable person would consider unreasonable in the circumstances in one of the following types of communication:

• approaching, calling, sending messages to or otherwise contacting the staff member
• publishing material about the staff member
• causing someone else to engage in the above behaviour on the person's behalf.

The person who has engaged in vexatious communications must also be likely to engage in vexatious communication in the future for this ground to be satisfied.

This can include communications that:

• are of an unreasonably high frequency
• repeatedly and deliberately ignore reasonable requests to use a specified complaints, dispute resolution or other related process
• unreasonably divert resources away from other reasonable complaints and school operations
• are a source of stress for staff members and affect their physical or mental health and wellbeing and work performance
• intend to cause or have the effect of causing distress or harassment to staff.

Grounds for immediate orders

The grounds for immediate orders are the same as grounds 1 to 3 for ongoing orders, except the unacceptable risk must also be imminent.

Imminent and unacceptable risk can be assessed by considering:

• the likelihood of the risk of harm, significant disruption or interference eventuating
• the consequences and seriousness of the risk if it eventuates
• whether the risk is likely to occur at any moment.

For further advice the imminent and unacceptable risk threshold, contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au

Police involvement

Police and relevant emergency services should always be contacted in the case of an emergency, immediate threat, or suspected criminal behaviour.

For example, if a parent refuses to leave school grounds after being abusive and threating towards staff, police should be called regardless of whether an order is in place. Refer to Managing and Reporting School Incidents (including emergencies).

Case studies

For more detailed case studies and guidance, access the School Community Safety Order Scheme eLearn training module (staff login required).

Mandatory considerations before issuing an order

After determining that there are grounds for issuing a school community safety order (order) and the order is reasonably necessary to address these grounds, authorised persons must account for mandatory considerations before making a final decision about whether to issue an order. These mandatory considerations include:

• whether the order is the least restrictive means available to address the grounds on which the order is proposed to be made
• any vulnerability of the person of which they are aware
• where relevant, any impact of the order on the safety, wellbeing and educational opportunities of a child or children, including the children of a person against who the order is proposed to be made.

The authorised person must consider whether any of these matters are relevant to the decision and, if they are, weigh them up at their discretion after taking into account all relevant information and the particular circumstances of the matter. For example, an authorised person may be aware of a vulnerability but determine that it is not relevant to their decision to make an order, or should be given little weight, because it did not contribute to or cause the behaviour that satisfied the relevant ground.

There are further obligations under other legislation that authorised persons must consider, which includes:

• occupational health and safety considerations
• the Human Rights Charter obligations for public authorities.

For guidance and advice on these mandatory considerations, contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au

Mandatory consideration 1 – Least restrictive means

Authorised persons need to consider alternative actions to address the behaviour before issuing an order. ‘Least restrictive’ means the option that leaves the person with the most autonomy while addressing its intended aim.

This must be determined on a case-by-case basis having regard to the nature of the risk that the order is seeking to mitigate and whether any reasonable and less restrictive alternatives to an order are available to address that risk. An order can still be issued even if it is not the least restrictive option, so long as alternative actions have been considered, and the order is still reasonably necessary.

Authorised persons can refer to the Work-Related Violence in Schools Policy for suggestions about less restrictive options available to deal with parent/carer aggression. This includes sending a letter to the parent or carer (DOCX) (staff login required) in response to an incident or correspondence where they have not met expectations to behave respectfully towards staff as reflected in the Respectful Behaviours within the School Community Policy.

Mandatory consideration 2 – Vulnerability of the person subject to an order

An authorised person must take into account the vulnerability of the person who may be subject to an order where it is relevant to the decision to issue an order.

An authorised person may become aware of a vulnerability through:

• a disclosure by the person to whom an order may apply or by another person, or official record;
• any prior relationships and interactions with the person; and
• forming a reasonable perception that the person has difficulty communicating in English.

Authorised persons should take positive steps to provide a person who may be subject to an order with the opportunity to raise vulnerabilities that are relevant to the proposed decision to issue an order, while ensuring that the person is not treated unfavourably because of those vulnerabilities. This can be done by providing a person to whom an order may apply with the opportunity to raise any vulnerabilities for consideration through the Written submission form (DOCX) when notice of a proposal to give an ongoing order is given and when an immediate order has been issued.

Examples of vulnerabilities that an authorised person may be required to consider include:

• whether a person is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and, because of that, has suffered racism, discrimination and systemic disadvantage
• whether a person is culturally and/or linguistically diverse, from a migrant or refugee background or seeking asylum, or who have experienced racism
• whether a person has limited English language ability
• whether a person is living with disability, including:
  • sensory impairment, for example, vision or hearing loss which prevents interaction with others and difficulties in accessing information
  • mental illness or emotional disorder, for example, episodes of mental ill health which seriously affect mood, grief and loss reactions, depression, thought disorder and difficulties with complex reasoning
  • intellectual, developmental and learning disabilities
  • communication or language disability or disorder
  • physical disability, for example, problems with mobility and muscle movement
  • neurological disorders including those caused by trauma to the head or brain
• whether a person identifies as an LGBTIQ+ person, who may be vulnerable due to discrimination and barriers to their participation, systemic disadvantage, risks to their safety or the status of their mental or physical health and wellbeing
• whether a person has suffered a trauma in the past, including victims of physical or psychological abuse and trauma, torture, rape, slavery, slavery-like practices such as forced labour and forced marriage, human trafficking or other serious forms of psychological, physical or sexual violence
• whether a person is facing serious financial hardship, including people without a home or who are living in crisis or emergency accommodation or who are supported by a housing agency or family services
• whether a person is experiencing family violence or dysfunction
• whether a person suffers from a serious drug or alcohol dependence
• whether a person is elderly or frail, for example, where their age and condition causes or contributes to memory loss, inability to cope with complex decision-making and sensory and mobility problems which prevent the ability to access and learn new information.

An authorised person may form the view that a known vulnerability could be relevant when:

• identifying whether there are grounds to make an order
• assessing whether the order is the least restrictive means available to respond to the behaviour
• giving notice and allowing submissions, including alternative arrangements for submissions and
• determining the content and form of an order.

Mandatory consideration 3 – Impact on child safety, wellbeing and education

Where relevant, an authorised person must consider the impact of the order on the safety, wellbeing and educational opportunities of an individual child or children, including the children of a person against whom an order is being considered.

Such risks may include impacts on the child’s:

• continued attendance and engagement at school
• mental health and wellbeing due either to the knowledge that their parent is subject to an order, or, as a flow on effect of any detrimental impacts on parent health, wellbeing or behaviour that may affect the child
• physical safety and wellbeing of the child, particularly if there is a risk of family violence. Making an order may have the potential to exacerbate existing safety risks that a person poses to their family in some circumstances. For example, children might suffer retaliatory or retributive action from the parent who is subject of the order.

These risks must be appropriately considered and managed by the authorised person when making an order, for example, reporting concerns to relevant police and child protection and otherwise taking steps to fulfil duty of care obligations to the student.

The authorised persons should consider using available tools, such as the Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management, to obtain information which may be relevant to determining whether issuing an order may present a heightened risk to a child or another person.

Other requirements under other legislation

Occupational Health and Safety obligations

The department and principals have certain obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the workplace is safe and without risks to health.

Authorised persons must consider the health and safety impacts of the behaviour of the person on staff and/or other members of the school community, should an order not be issued, when considering whether to issue an order. Refer to OHS Management System (OHSMS) Overview.

Human Rights Charter obligations

The Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 requires authorised persons in government schools and the department to act in a way that is compatible with and to consider the human rights in the Charter when issuing an order.

Procedures for issuing orders

It is important that authorised persons follow the procedure set out in this chapter when they make or review a school community safety order (order). There are different procedures for making immediate orders and ongoing orders. In exercising their powers, authorised persons must act reasonably, impartially, in good faith and must not act outside of their powers.

For further information and advice, contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au

Procedure for issuing an immediate order

An immediate order can ban a person from entering or remaining on any school-related place of the relevant school specified in the order. Immediate orders are for imminent and unacceptable risks. If an authorised person wishes to make an order banning other behaviour, where the risk is not imminent, they must consider whether there are any grounds to make an ongoing order.

Authorised persons should call the police if issuing an immediate order or giving notice of an intention to issue an immediate order results in escalated behaviour that warrants calling the police. The following steps must be followed in issuing an immediate order.

1. Ensure that all mandatory requirements (grounds) are satisfied with regard to all mandatory considerations

Refer to Grounds for issuing an order and Mandatory considerations before issuing an order.

2. Give verbal notice before making an immediate order (if possible)

Although there is no requirement to give notice of a proposal to make an immediate order, this is recommended where it is reasonable and safe to do so. In some cases, giving verbal notice before making an immediate order may have the effect of making a person re-think their actions and refrain from continuing to act in a manner that poses an imminent and unacceptable risk.

Examples of when it will not be reasonable or safe to provide advance notice include:

• where the potential harm is so imminent that there is no opportunity to provide notice
• where it may escalate the situation causing safety concerns.

Authorised persons should refer to the script for issuing a verbal immediate school community safety order (DOCX) when verbally issuing an immediate order.

3. Make an immediate order, either verbally or in writing

An immediate order may be made either orally or by written notice given to the person it applies to. Immediate orders may be made orally because they deal with situations where there is an imminent risk of harm and swift action is needed to de-escalate the situation by removing the person from the school grounds.

There may be circumstances where it is apparent that the person does not understand what they are being told, but it is not possible to provide support or assistance (such as an interpreter) at the time. In such circumstances, the authorised person should identify adjustments at a later time, for example, providing a translated or plain English version of an order. Refer to the Resources tab to download fact sheets in simple English or translated into 30 languages.

Verbally issuing an order

Authorised persons should refer to the script for issuing a verbal immediate school community safety order (DOCX) when verbally issuing an immediate order.

If an authorised person verbally issues an immediate order they must give written notice of the order to the person it applies to as soon as practicable after making the oral order. That written notice must include the information above.

Issuing an order in writing

Follow the process below in step 4.

4. Submit an incident report on eduSafe Plus

As well as creating an order on eduSafe Plus, authorised persons must also create a separate incident report on eduSafe Plus outlined in the Managing and Reporting School Incidents (including emergencies) policy. By creating an incident report, this will enable staff to receive adequate post-incident support and advice on managing hazards from the department.

Where time permits, an incident report should be prepared before creating an order. If the behaviour that the order has been issued in response to relates to an existing incident report, a new incident report does not need to be created.

Related incident reports can be cross-referenced in a school community safety order report. If you require assistance or support to submit an incident report, contact the OHS Advisory Service on 1300 074 715 or safety@education.vic.gov.au

5. Report the immediate order on eduSafe Plus

The authorised person must contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au for assistance with reporting an immediate order.

An authorised person must report an immediate order on eduSafe Plus in the following circumstances:

• after verbally issuing an order
• if they haven’t issued an order verbally, before they issue an order in writing.

For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.

When describing the situation on eduSafe Plus that has led to an order being issued, an authorised person should:

• record a complete description of the inappropriate behaviour using objective language, along with a description of its impact on the person affected by that behaviour (for example, when you raised your voice and spoke over staff member X, staff member X felt intimidated), rather than state subjective conclusions about the behaviour (for example, you were rude to staff member X). The latter description may aggravate the situation, as the person involved will likely dispute your conclusion. This approach may also allow relationship repair efforts to begin by focusing on changing behaviour, increasing the chance of success of such efforts
• avoid the use of names or identifying features of persons (other than the person the order applies to), unless it is critical to being able to explain the grounds.

6. Create a written copy of an immediate order

Once an immediate order is reported on eduSafe Plus, the authorised person must complete this Letter template to issue an immediate school community safety order in writing (DOCX) to provide to the person. This template includes an immediate order template, a written submission form that the subject of the order may choose to complete and a communication and access protocol (refer to below step).

7. Prepare a communication and access protocol (if the person has a child enrolled at the school)

The school community safety order scheme requires communication and access protocols to be established to minimise the impact of an order on parents’ involvement in their child’s education as well as on the child’s ability to access school. Refer to the Communication and access protocol template (DOCX), which is also included in the Letter template to issue an immediate school community safety order in writing.

Where possible, this should be provided to the person subject to an order along with the written immediate order and uploaded to eduSafe Plus. For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.

8. Serve the person with a written copy of the immediate order

The written copy of the immediate order should be personally handed to the person or sent to them by post or email. Authorised persons can arrange for and rely on other people to send or hand the order to the person it applies to, without invalidating the order. Authorised persons should consider the risk to their health and safety when determining whether to issue in person or issue by post or email.

Where possible, an authorised person should give notice both electronically by email as well as by registered post. It may not be possible to send written notice to the person by post or email, for example, where the person may not have a postal address or access to a device to access emails. In these circumstances the authorised person should personally hand the notice to the person.

If the authorised person is not able to give the written order to the person, the authorised person must update the immediate order report on eduSafe Plus to attach a copy of the order and reflect:

• the reason a written notice was not able to be given to the person the order applies to
• a description of the person the order applies to, if the person is unknown to them and refused to provide their name or contact details.

9. Review the order, including any submissions from the person an order has been made to

An authorised person must, as soon as is practicable but no later than the last day an immediate order is in place, review the immediate order. This involves considering whether grounds for an ongoing order exist.

If the authorised person decides grounds for an ongoing order exists, they must follow the procedure for ongoing orders (set out in the next section, Procedure for issuing an ongoing order).

Where grounds do not exist, the immediate order must be revoked. A person who has been issued with an immediate order may make submissions to the authorised person at any time while the order is in place, which must be considered by the authorised person before deciding the outcome of the review. The Letter template to issue an immediate school community safety order in writing (DOCX) includes a copy of the written submission form, which should be provided to the subject of the order when given to them.

The result of the authorised person’s decision following the review and any submissions received from the person must be reported on eduSafe Plus. For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.

Inclusion and access measures

A request to make an oral submission instead of a written submission must be accommodated unless there is a good reason not to do so, such as if the person who has been issued with an order has been verbally abusive towards staff.

The person may also request to nominate another person to make a submission or submissions on their behalf. The authorised person may also consider allowing the person subject to an order more time to make a submission if their vulnerability impacts on timeliness.

Procedure for issuing an ongoing order

Ongoing orders can prohibit or limit a person from more behaviours than what is prohibited by immediate orders, for up to 12 months. The following steps must be followed in issuing an ongoing order.

1. Ensure that all mandatory requirements (grounds) are satisfied and have regarded all mandatory considerations

Refer to Grounds for issuing an order and Mandatory considerations before issuing an order.

2. Submit an incident report on eduSafe Plus

As well as creating and order on eduSafe Plus, authorised persons must also create a separate incident report on eduSafe Plus outlined in the Managing and Reporting School Incidents (including emergencies) policy. By creating an incident report, this will enable staff to receive adequate post-incident support and advice on managing hazards from the department.

Where time permits, an incident report should be prepared before creating an order. If the behaviour that the order has been issued in response to relates to an existing incident report, a new incident report does not need to be created.

Related incident reports can be cross-referenced in a school community safety order report. If you require assistance or support to submit an incident report, contact the OHS Advisory Service on 1300 074 715 or safety@education.vic.gov.au

3. Prepare a notice of the proposal to issue an ongoing order

Before making an ongoing order, an authorised person must provide notice that they intend to make the order to the person to who would be receiving it. This is to provide reasons for why an order is proposed to be issued and invite the individual to make submissions as to why the order should not be issued.

The authorised person must contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au for assistance before preparing a notice of the proposal to issue an ongoing order.

The authorised person must complete the Letter template – Notice of proposal to issue an ongoing school community safety order (DOCX) to provide to the person. This template includes an ongoing order template and a written submission form that the subject of the proposed order may choose to complete to provide a submission.

4. Serve the person with the notice of the proposal to issue an ongoing order

The proposal to issue an ongoing order should be personally handed to the person or sent to them by post or email. Authorised persons should consider the risk to their health and safety when determining whether to issue in person or issue by post or email. Authorised persons can also arrange for and rely on other people to send or hand the order to the person it applies to, without invalidating the order.

Where possible, an authorised person should give notice both electronically by email as well as by registered post. It may not be possible to send written notice to the person by post or email, for example, where the person may not have a postal address or access to a device to access emails. In these circumstances the authorised person should personally hand the notice to the person.

5. Consider any submissions from the subject to determine whether to proceed with issuing an ongoing order

The authorised person must provide the person at least 7 days (from the date the notice of the proposal to make an order is given) to make submissions on the proposed order. The authorised person must consider any submissions received from the person before deciding to make the order.

The Letter template – Notice of proposal to issue an ongoing school community safety order (DOCX) includes a copy of the written submission form, which should be provided to the subject of the order when given to them.

Any submissions received from the person, as well as the authorised person’s comments in consideration of the submission must be uploaded to eduSafe Plus. For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.

Inclusion and access measures

A request to make an oral submission instead of a written submission must be accommodated unless there is a good reason not to do so, such as if the person who has been issued with an order has been verbally abusive towards staff. Authorised persons should consider the risks to their health and safety when determining whether oral submissions can be made.

The person may also request to nominate another person to make a submission or submissions on their behalf. The authorised person may also consider allowing the person subject to an order more time to make a submission if their vulnerability impacts on timeliness.

Extensions

At any time before an order is made, the person to whom the order is proposed to apply may request an extension of time to make submissions. If an authorised person decides to approve an extension, they must give the person written notice of the extension, which sets out the new time within which submissions must be made.

If the proposed ongoing order is being considered as a result of an authorised person’s review of an immediate order (refer to step 8 under ‘Procedure for making an immediate order’), and an extension of time to provide submissions is granted, any time taken by the applicant within the extension of time to make submissions is not counted towards whichever is the earlier of the period specified in the immediate order or the 14 days after the day on which the order is made. The written notice of the extension must also set out the date on which the immediate order expires.

6. Decide whether to proceed with issuing an ongoing order

Where an authorised person has considered any written submissions and decided not to make an order, they must inform the person that an order will not be made.

Where an authorised person has considered any written submissions and decided to make an order, the Letter template to confirm the issuing of an ongoing school community safety order should be personally handed to the person or sent to them by post or email. Authorised persons should consider the risk to their health and safety when determining whether to issue in person or issue by post or email. Authorised persons can arrange for and rely on other people to send or hand the order to the person it applies to, without invalidating the order.

Where possible, an authorised person should give the Letter template to confirm the issuing of an ongoing school community safety order (DOCX) by both email as well as by registered post. It may not be possible to send written notice to the person by post or email, for example, where the person may not have a postal address or access to a device to access emails. In these circumstances the authorised person should personally hand the notice to the person.

7. Report the ongoing order on eduSafe Plus

The authorised person must contact the Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au for assistance before issuing an ongoing order.

eduSafe Plus must be used to issue an ongoing order. For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.

When describing the situation that has led to an order being proposed, an authorised person should:

• record a complete description of the inappropriate behaviour using objective language, along with a description of its impact on the person affected by that behaviour (for example, when you raised your voice and spoke over staff member X, staff member X felt intimidated), rather than state subjective conclusions about the behaviour (for example, you were rude to staff member X). The latter description may aggravate the situation, as the person involved will likely dispute your conclusion. This approach may also allow relationship repair efforts to begin by focusing on changing behaviour, increasing the chance of success of such efforts
• avoid the use of names or identifying features of persons (other than the person the order applies to), unless it is critical to being able to explain the grounds.

8. Prepare a communication and access protocol (if the person has a child enrolled at the school and an ongoing order is ultimately issued)

The school community safety order scheme requires communication and access protocols to be established to minimise the impact of an order on parents’ involvement in their child’s education as well as on the child’s ability to access school.

Refer to the Communication and access protocol template (DOCX), which is also included in the Letter template to confirm the issuing of an ongoing school community safety order (DOCX).

Where possible, the communication and access protocol should be provided to the person subject to an order along with the Letter template to confirm the issuing of an ongoing school community safety order. Once prepared, a copy must be uploaded to eduSafe Plus. For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.

Varying and revoking orders

While both ongoing and immediate school community safety orders (orders) can be revoked, only ongoing orders can be varied. This is because immediate orders have limited scope and operation – they can only prohibit a person from entering or remaining on any school-related place of the relevant school, and last for a maximum of 14 days.

Varying ongoing orders

Authorised persons can vary an ongoing order of their own motion or in response to a request from someone who an ongoing order applies to.

A variation to an ongoing order can:

• vary or revoke current conditions or exceptions
• impose new conditions
• create new exceptions
• make an ongoing order more practical, for example, to enable the parent to undertake school drop off and pick up
• make adjustments to better meet the needs of a student, parent or school without undermining safety, for example:
  • where a parent would like to attend a school performance
  • where the authorised person becomes aware of additional vulnerabilities of or impacts on the person the order applies to
• respond to positive actions or improvements to behaviours.

Variations that must not be made

It is not permitted to vary an order to:

• reflect change of enrolment – ongoing orders must not prospectively cover any school that a parent might enrol their child into
• add names of other people the order applies to – each ongoing order can only apply to one person
• extend to the duration of an ongoing order to beyond 12 months – if an ongoing order is needed for a longer period than 12 months, a new order must be made
• correct inaccurate or erroneous information in the order – if an ongoing order is based on erroneous or incorrect information, it must be revoked.

Where a variation is not permitted, a new ongoing order should be made.

Procedure for varying ongoing orders

The authorised person should contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au for assistance with varying an order on eduSafe Plus.

The authorised person must follow the same procedural steps in issuing an ongoing order (refer to Procedures for issuing orders) if they:

• vary an ongoing order in a way that is unfavourable to the person the order applies to
• decline a request to vary the order from the person it applies to.

In circumstances where an ongoing order is varied in a way that favours the person the order applies to, the usual steps required when initially making an ongoing order don’t need to take place. The authorised person does, however, need to provide a written copy of the varied order to the person the order applies to.

If the ongoing order that is varied applies to a person who is a parent of a student enrolled at the school, the authorised person may need to update the communication and access protocol and promptly advise the parent of the protocol after the variation is given to the parent.

Revoking ongoing orders

An authorised person can revoke an ongoing order at any time by updating the eduSafe report. For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.

The revocation of an order needs to be communicated to the person the order applies to either verbally or in writing. If an immediate order is revoked orally, the authorised person must follow up with a written notice confirming the revocation.

Examples of when an ongoing order may be revoked include where the person the order applies to:

• has undertaken any actions specified in the order to address their behaviour
• has complied with the order, demonstrated that they understand the consequences of their previous conduct and have taken steps to ensure that that conduct will not be repeated in the future
• no longer has reason or cause to interact with the staff member subject to the past inappropriate conduct.

Revocation linked to actions specified in the order

An order may include actions that, if met, can lead to the revocation of the order. Where a person an order applies to has undertaken an action specified in the order to address the behaviour that led to the order being made, the authorised person is not necessarily bound to revoke the order. There would, however, need to be very persuasive reasons to continue the order where the person has proved that they have taken reasonable actions specified in the order.

If the person the subject of an order does not meet a condition included in the order, including one linked to revocation, this cannot result in a penalty or consequence other than the order continuing to be enforced.

For more information, contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au

Interaction with other statutory schemes

This school community safety order scheme is intended to operate side by side with, and in some cases considered by schools in addition to or instead of, the following laws and schemes:

• personal safety intervention orders
• family violence intervention orders
• trespass warning notices
• Child Safe Standards
• Reportable Conduct Scheme
• Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes
• any other applicable laws.

It is important for schools to understand when one scheme is likely to be more effective than the other in addressing inappropriate behaviour.

Trespass warning notices

Although the school community safety order scheme will be the preferred option in many cases, trespass warning notices may still be preferred in situations where a person needs to be told to leave and not enter school premises, without needing to comply with the procedural requirements to issue a school community safety order (order).

However, ongoing school community safety orders provide schools with greater flexibility and options to tailor an order to address inappropriate behaviour (for example, by prohibiting communication or attendance at school related places).

Trespass warning notices may be an additional option where a school community safety order is in place but the person is not complying with the order and swift action is necessary to protect the school community.

For further advice on whether a trespass warning notice is the more appropriate option, contact the Legal Division at 03 9637 3146 or legal.services@education.vic.gov.au

Family violence and personal safety intervention orders

An authorised person can still issue a school community safety order where there is an interim, final or application for a personal safety intervention order or family violence intervention order in relation to that person. This is because the school community safety order scheme is designed to protect individuals within the school community from certain types of behaviour, as opposed to:

• family violence intervention orders made between family members which protect family members from the behaviour of another family member
• personal safety intervention orders, made between people who are not family members. which protect a person from another person.

Examples of where an authorised person may also wish to issue a school community safety order to a person who is also the respondent to a family violence intervention order and/or a personal safety intervention order include where:

• a person who is the respondent to a family violence intervention order (who may or may not have children enrolled at the school) causes significant disruption to the school and its activities, and the family violence intervention order does not prohibit them from engaging in that behaviour towards staff or others at school
• a school staff member is seeking a family violence intervention order in relation to a member of their family, who is also harassing them on school grounds, impacting upon the safety of the school community.

In most instances, the existence of a family violence intervention order or personal safety intervention order will not be relevant to an authorised person’s assessment of whether there are grounds to make an order. However, they may be relevant to the conditions that are included in the order.

The existence of a school community safety order and any enforcement proceedings initiated because of a breach of a school community safety order may be relevant to law enforcement and courts in deciding about an application for a family violence intervention order or personal safety intervention order.

Students or staff affected by family violence

Authorised persons must not issue school community safety orders to manage family violence matters unrelated to the school or where they do not occur on school related places, in place of the Family Violence Intervention Order scheme. Authorised persons and schools should instead encourage families to seek advice and support to respond to family violence through appropriate family support services, including encouraging parents to consider applying for a family violence intervention order on behalf of themselves and/or their child(ren).

Under the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Framework, schools have responsibilities to identify and respond to family violence. Refer to Family Violence Support for determining the appropriate action to be taken in relation to family violence matters in alignment with MARAM, the Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes, and other school reporting requirements.

To support staff members affected by family violence, refer to Family Violence — Information for Employees.

Child Safe Standards and Reportable Conduct Scheme

Schools must continue to comply with their obligations in relation to the Reportable Conduct Scheme and the Child Safe Standards.

Authorised persons must ensure that the conditions of a school community safety order do not prevent the school from complying with the Reportable Conduct Scheme or the Child Safe Standards, particularly Standard 4: Family Engagement which require schools to:

• make sure families participate in child safety and wellbeing decisions which affect their child
• engage and openly communicate with families and the school community about its child safe approach.

If physical or behavioural indicators lead you to suspect that a child has, or is at risk of being abused, regardless of the type of abuse, schools must respond as soon as practicable by following the Four Critical Actions (PDF) and Protecting Children — Reporting and Other Legal Obligations.

Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes

The Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes provide authorised organisations, including Victorian schools, with an expanded ability to request and share confidential information to promote the wellbeing or safety of children or to assess or manage family violence risk.

Authorised persons in information sharing entities (which includes principals in schools) can use these schemes to support decision-making and appropriately consider and manage risks to children, in relation to issuing an order and after an order is made.

Examples of interaction with other schemes

The following examples aim to assist schools and authorised persons in understanding when one scheme is likely to be a more effective than the other in addressing inappropriate behaviour.

Scenario 1

Example

A parent emails their child’s teacher daily and the tone is often aggressive and offensive. This is despite the school providing responses to the parent’s concerns on many occasions and attempts to warn the parent about the negative impacts of their behaviour on staff.

Recommended action

Consider making an ongoing order prohibiting the parent from continuing to contact the teacher about that issue

Scenario 2

Example

A parent regularly calls the school and behaves aggressively and offensively over the phone to school staff regardless of who the parent is communicating with.

Recommended action

Consider making an ongoing order prohibiting the parent from telephoning any staff member and requiring the parent to communicate with the school via email or other stipulated mode of alternative communication.

Scenario 3

Example

A group of people living near a school comes onto school grounds on Friday evenings to consume alcohol after all students and staff have left. They continuously leave behind rubbish that causes a nuisance to the school in needing to clean the premises every week, but their behaviour does not directly affect members of the school community.

Recommended action

Consider issuing a trespass warning notice prohibiting the group of people from being on school grounds, as the behaviour does not affect any members of the school community and therefore, does not satisfy any of the grounds for issuing an order.

If the individuals cause significant damage to school property or grounds, and that damage interferes with the wellbeing, safety and educational opportunities of students when they attend school the following week, there may be a case to issue an ongoing order.

Scenario 4

Example

The parent attends on school grounds and yells and behaves in an intimidating way towards various staff members. The parent also sends aggressive and offensive emails and is abusive over the phone.

Recommended action

Consider making an ongoing order to prohibit entry onto school grounds and communication with staff members. Consider trespass warning notice if behaviour on school grounds continues and requires police involvement.

Scenario 5

Example

The parent is unhappy about how the school has managed their concerns about incidents involving their child. The parent telephones the principal makes threats to physically hurt the principal.

Recommended action

Consider applying for a personal safety intervention order protecting the principal and make an ongoing order.

Minimising impacts on students

Students should continue to be able to access their education and attend their school even if their parent cannot directly engage with the school community because of a school community safety order (order). Students of parents who have been issued an order should not be punished, treated differently or barred from participating in school activities.

An authorised person must prepare a communication and access protocol to minimise the impact of an order on a child’s education and ability to access school. Refer to Procedures for issuing orders for more information.

Guidance for outreach to students

The authorised person and/or principal should identify a staff member who has an existing relationship with the student whose parent has been issued with an order. This person should monitor the student’s behaviour and attendance for any signs of deteriorating mental health and provide support in a discrete manner.

In certain cases, a parent may not wish to disclose the existence of an order to their child. Authorised persons should consider whether they should first seek permission from the parent who has been the subject of an order to contact the child directly to offer information or support.

A parent refusing to allow the school to provide direct support to their child does not prevent the school from providing mental health and wellbeing support if they identify signs of deteriorating mental health. In such circumstances, the school must provide support to meet its duty of care to students and engage a staff member with a pre-existing relationship with the student to provide support to them in a discrete manner. Refer to Duty of Care for more information.

School access

An authorised person must prepare a communication and access protocol to minimise the impact of an order on parents’ involvement in their child’s education as well as on the child’s ability to access school (refer to Procedures for issuing orders). In some cases, however, the ability of a parent to drop off and collect their child from school may be limited by an order.

The following supports and subsidies may assist the student to travel to and from the school in such circumstances:

• The School Bus Program provides free travel to eligible students in rural and regional Victoria to and from school by bus with some exceptions for students.
• The Conveyance Allowance Program provides financial assistance to families in transporting students to and from school where the student lives outside the Metropolitan Conveyance Allowance Boundary (JPG) and attends their nearest appropriate school/campus, or lives within the designated transport area and attends an eligible specialist school.
• The Students with Disabilities Transport Program provides a range of transport assistance options to eligible students with disability, such as transport by bus or taxi, a conveyance allowance or travel education to build the student’s capability to travel independently.
• Additional concessionary fares or free ticketing products are available to assist students with travel, particularly in metropolitan areas.
• Student Support Services can provide assistance from allied health staff to develop plans for the school to support the student. For example, strategies to facilitate school pick up and drop off where the parent is prohibited from entering school grounds.

Providing mental health and wellbeing support to students whose parents are subject to an order

Schools should ensure that adequate mental health and wellbeing support are considered and in place for the student, such as the following:

• contacting the school counsellor (if available at the school)
• accessing Student Support Services for assistance from allied health staff such as psychologists and social workers
• department funded face-to-face and telephone counselling from headspace
• seeking support from the school’s mental health practitioner (for secondary schools only)
• Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800, 24 hours a day 7 days a week
• Beyond Blue Support Service.

Information for schools, students and parents on supporting student mental health and wellbeing can be found in the Mental Health Toolkit.

In order to support the student whose parent is subject to an order, school staff who are not directly impacted by an order may need to know about the existence and content of an order. Authorised persons should first consider the existing relationship between the staff member and the student and whether the knowledge would adversely impact their relationship before disclosing the contents of an order to them.

Providing information about orders to students affected by an order

Schools should consider whether to provide information about orders to the general student population or an individual student whose parent has been issued with an order where it is apparent that they are aware of such an order being issued. This may help to counteract any inaccurate information circulating within the school that may cause anxiety to the student.

Information tailored to students about school community safety orders can be found on the Victorian Government School Community Safety Orders website.

Mitigating the impact of an order on a student with vulnerability

If the student whose parent is subject to an order has a vulnerability, reasonable adjustments to minimise any impacts of the order must be detailed in the communication and access protocol. For example, such vulnerabilities may include impacts on the child’s:

• continued attendance and engagement at school
• mental health and wellbeing due either to the knowledge that their parent is subject to an order, or as a flow on effect of any detrimental impacts on parent health, wellbeing or behaviour
• physical safety and wellbeing, particularly if there is family violence involved.

Authorised persons may seek advice on mitigating impacts on students with vulnerability through Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or legal.services@education.vic.gov.au, who will provide advice in consultation with relevant areas of the department.

Strategies for mitigating impacts on students with disability or additional needs

A student with disability whose parent is subject to an order may be particularly vulnerable to adverse consequences associated with the order. To limit the impact of an order on a student with disability, the following supports should be considered:

• The school should continue to convene Student Support Group (SSG) meetings to identify and plan responses for areas of concern and need. If the parent is prohibited from attending school, alternative meeting arrangements can be explored such as video or teleconferencing (DOCX) (staff login required). If an order prevents the parent from interacting with any staff members in the SSG, the SSG should consider asking an alternative family member to attend meetings, replacing the staff members affected by the parent’s behaviour, or if this is not possible, limiting the parent’s interactions to receiving and giving updates on the student’s progress via email.
• The school should consider updating Individual Education Plans to ensure the required supports are in place, particularly to reflect any changes to the student’s circumstances and strategies to mitigate impacts of the order on the student.
• The school can provide the affected family with information about student transport options, as required and outlined above under ‘School access’.
• The school should consider accessing Student Support Services for assistance from allied health staff such as psychologists, speech pathologists and social workers, to provide support for students and consultation to school staff in terms of minimising impacts on vulnerable students.

Mitigating impacts on Koorie students

Schools should implement robust measures to mitigate unintended impacts of an order on the engagement and educational opportunities of Koorie students whose parents’ involvement in school life may be limited by an order. Schools should consider:

• building the capability of staff to deliver culturally sensitive education and support to Koorie students, including Community Understanding and Safety Training (staff login required) to strengthen the cultural capability of school staff and accessing the Koorie Cultural Inclusion Practice Notes (PDF) to improve and extend Koorie cultural inclusion practices within schools
• contacting a Koorie Education Coordinator (KEC) to assist with supporting schools to strengthen Koorie parent/carer partnerships in education
• contacting a KEC or a Service Support Manager to arrange for a Koorie Engagement Support Officer (KESO) to work with schools to support the engagement, attendance and wellbeing of Koorie students
• updating Individual Education Plans to ensure the required supports are in place, particularly to reflect any changes to the student’s circumstances and strategies to mitigate impacts of the order on the student
• whether the student is in out-of-home care and seek assistance from a LOOKOUT Education Support Centre to support individual students.

Other strategies and programs to support the continued engagement of Koorie students can be found in the Koorie Education policy.

Strategies to mitigate risks of student disengagement

A possible unintended consequence of an order that prohibits a parent from attending a school or school related place could be that the child disengages with or increasingly fails to attend school.

Given education is a key protective factor in reducing the likelihood of vulnerable and at-risk children entering the criminal justice system, authorised persons should establish processes to support the child’s continued education. Students from some cohorts would benefit from increased support to foster their wellbeing and engagement at school, including children from low-income households, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children, children experiencing family violence or children in out-of-home care.

The school’s Student Wellbeing and Engagement policy (staff login required) should be reviewed regularly to ensure the school meets the needs of the student population with targeted strategies to address student behaviour, and health and wellbeing issues.

Targeted support should be provided to students who are already disengaged, at-risk of disengaging or may become disengaged as a result of their parent being issued with an order.

As a first step, schools should access student attendance data through CASES21 to identify the following students:

• students who are disengaged or at-risk of disengaging
• students whose attendance has declined since an order has been issued.

As a next step, schools should consider the following actions to mitigate further disengagement of such students:

• referring to the school’s student engagement policy to ensure engagement strategies are implemented school-wide
• referring to the attendance policy and guidance for strategies to improve student attendance
• seek assistance from a LOOKOUT Education Support Centre to support students in out-of-home care
• making a referral to a re-engagement program such as Navigator if strategies to support the student to improve engagement in the school have not been successful
• if the student is already in a student’s re-engagement program, contacting the provider of the program to check their attendance and level of engagement
• asking a member of staff with a pre-existing relationship with the student to monitor signs of disengagement.

Regardless of whether an order places limitations on a parent’s ability to communicate with the school, the school should always notify parents of unexplained absences, as soon as practicable on the same day of the absence in accordance with the Attendance policy.

Psychological safety and wellbeing support for school staff

Following an incident that led to a school community safety order (order) being issued, school staff will require adequate post incident support.

As well as creating an order report on eduSafe, authorised persons must also create a separate incident report on eduSafe Plus outlined in the Managing and Reporting School Incidents (including emergencies) policy. Where time permits, an incident report should be prepared before creating an order. By creating an incident report, this will enable staff to receive adequate post-incident support and advice on managing hazards from the department.

Post-incident support

There is evidence that repeated exposure to critical incidents can have a cumulative impact on a person’s wellbeing. This may necessitate wellbeing support for witnesses, principals whose decision to issue an order is being challenged at internal and/or external review, and other affected staff as per the eduSafe report submitted by the school.

Support for school staff whose mental health and wellbeing has been impacted by work-related violence requires active engagement from all levels of the department. Line managers (such as area executive directors for principals, and principals for school-based staff) must monitor and proactively provide wellbeing support to staff, recognising the potentially serious mental health impacts of the incident(s) that led to an order being issued.

Line managers should proactively monitor the wellbeing of staff by providing post-incident assistance to ensure that they receive appropriate support, as exposure to incidents can adversely impact mental health and wellbeing. Appropriate support for impacted staff may include:

• referral to counselling services such as the Employee Assistance Program (phone: 1300 361 008) for video counselling, live chat, onsite support, risk assessments and group debriefing service (line managers should allow time during work hours and a private space to debrief and receive counselling)
• temporary relief from duty (for example, temporary arrangements to allow impacted staff members to take leave)
• providing safe access to and from school, such as by arranging for impacted staff members to be accompanied by another staff member
• arranging for another staff member to report the incident on behalf of an impacted staff member to avoid additional trauma from recounting the incident
• targeted health and wellbeing support for principals including the early intervention program (staff login required) to assist with identifying and addressing emerging and existing health and wellbeing issues, and Manager Assist, a dedicated telephone advisory service that provides coaching on supporting staff at risk and managing the impact of mental health issues within the workplace (phone: 1800 338 663, email: prinsupport@injurynet.com.au)
• accessing the range of free support services (staff login required) that the department provides to keep all employees safe and well
• in line with the Safe and Well: Injury and Illness Management Framework (PDF) and Return to work guidelines from WorkSafe, workers compensation support is available to affected employee/s who may require time off work following workplace incidents, for medical treatment/counselling if required
• external supports, such as Lifeline on 13 11 14 and the Beyond Blue Support Service.

More information can be found in the Work-Related Violence in Schools Post-Incident Checklist (PDF) (staff login required), a step-by-step checklist designed to support schools to manage the health, safety and wellbeing impacts of the incident on staff and students.

Reviewing risk controls following an incident

Under the OHS Act, employers have a duty, so far as is reasonably practicable, to eliminate risks to health or, where this is not possible, reduce those risks as far as is reasonably practicable. Reviewing the Risk Management policy in consultation with health and safety representatives will help principals monitor and review the effectiveness of current risk controls in place to manage or eliminate the risk that might affect their students, staff or operations.

Principals are required to monitor and review the effectiveness of current risk controls in place following an incident to improve measures to manage or eliminate the risk, in consultation with health and safety representatives and relevant employees.

Support for conducting an OHS risk assessment of the hazards relating to the behaviour that resulted in an order being issued is available through the OHS Advisory Service on 1300 074 715 or safety@education.vic.gov.au

Monitoring compliance with and enforcing school community safety orders

This chapter describes the arrangements authorised persons must make to monitor compliance with a school community safety order (order) while it is in place.

Principals must report all instances where a person fails to comply with an order through eduSafe Plus. Reporting such instances will enable the school to make an informed decision about whether to take enforcement action and can be referred to as evidence if the school decides to pursue enforcement action through the Magistrates’ Court.

Procedure for monitoring compliance with and enforcing orders

1. Authorised persons must identify staff who should be made aware of the order to monitor compliance

The number and identity of school staff who an order should be disclosed to will depend on the nature and effect of the order. As orders contain personal information, authorised persons must follow the department’s Schools’ privacy policy and only share the existence and terms of the order with staff members who need to be made aware of an order for the purpose of monitoring compliance.

Staff members who have become aware of an order should not disclose that information to other staff members or members of the school community unless it is related to monitoring or enforcing the order.

For example, where an order prohibits a parent/carer of a student from entering or remaining on school-related places, the authorised person should consider who to inform. For example the following staff members:

• the principal and assistant principals
• the student’s classroom teacher
• front of house administrative staff who greet visitors who enter school grounds
• any teachers who are scheduled to be on yard duty (particularly during drop-off and pick-up periods) during the period of the order
• any teacher who is in charge or supervising students at a school a school-related place off school grounds where an activity is being conducted by or in connection with the school.

Where an ongoing order prohibits a person from approaching or communicating with a particular staff member, the order may only need to be disclosed to that staff member, who should be instructed to inform the authorised person of any breach.

If an ongoing order prohibits a person from using or communicating on a school communication platform, the order may only need to be disclosed to staff who have been identified to monitor the relevant communications platform.

2. Inform the principal of an actual or suspected breach immediately

Identified staff who are aware of an order should notify the principal as soon as practicable if they have witnessed a breach (including a suspected breach).

Such staff should also notify the principal if they observe the person subject to an order taking any actions that the order specifies as something that may be the considered in revoking or amending the order.

3. Where possible, inform the person that they have breached the order

Where safe and appropriate to do so, the person should be told that they have breached an order and given the opportunity to respond or explain their behaviour.

This is important to confirm whether the behaviour was in fact a breach and avoid reporting a breach incorrectly or without context, such as where:

• there is a misunderstanding about whether the person has actually breached the order (for example, a person reports that a parent has breached an order by entering school grounds for school pick up and drop off when this is not an activity that is prohibited in the order)
• a person breaches an order due to an emergency or critical situation that may explain or justify the breach (for example, where a parent contravenes an order that prohibits them entering school grounds by dropping off their child at school because the alternative access arrangements, such as the usual school bus, was not accessible on that particular day).

4. Report the breach on eduSafe Plus

Once the principal reasonably believes that a breach has occurred, they must report this on eduSafe Plus by updating the related school community safety order report and creating an incident report. More information is contained in Reporting an order.

Legal Division will then contact the principal to provide advice on taking appropriate action in response to the breach. The appropriate course of action the school should take in response to a breach may depend on a number of factors, such as whether there are more appropriate actions available to the school to deal with the breach than seeking approval from the Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services to initiate enforcement proceedings in the Magistrate’s Court.

Contacting police in response to a breach

Schools should only contact Victoria Police when there is an immediate risk of harm or when they reasonably suspect that a criminal offence has been committed. For example, because a breach involves some element of criminality, including violence or threats of violence.

Rebuilding relationships with persons subject to an order

Following the expiry of a school community safety order (order), it is important for the school to support the re-engagement of a parent as part of the school community while considering the health and safety of school staff who have been affected by the parent’s behaviour. Principals must make reasonable efforts, in good faith, to re-establish and strengthen the relationship between the school and the person who was subject to the order.

Schools should avoid assumptions that a person will continue to engage in the harmful behaviours that resulted in an order being issued and provide them with a genuine opportunity to re-establish the relationship.

Rebuilding the relationship while an order is in place

Schools do not have to wait until an order is no longer in place to start re-engaging a parent. An order may specify reasonable and appropriate actions that the person subject to the order can take to facilitate repair of the relationship while it is in force.

For example, an order can specify that the person to whom it applies may undergo mediation with the affected school staff member through the department’s independent conflict resolution provider, Converge International (staff login required). This may be appropriate where an affected school staff member feels safe to meet with the person face-to-face or to otherwise participate in a process that re-instigates contact with the person while an order is in place.

The nature of the mediation will depend on the situation and the parties involved, but may involve:

• all parties meeting (virtually or face-to-face) in a formal setting with an independent facilitator
• facilitated discussion between the principal (on behalf of the affected staff member) and the person subject to the order in an informal setting
• the principal of the school receiving counsel.

It is then open to the authorised person to consider whether completion of such actions is enough to revoke the order. Failure to attempt or complete such actions does not result in any penalty to the person subject to the order.

Steps for re-engaging a person following the expiration of an order

1. Contact the senior education improvement leader for support

The authorised person will receive an email reminder from eduSafe Plus 3 weeks prior to the expiration of an ongoing order. The authorised person should contact their senior education improvement leader (SEIL) for strategies and support to re-engage the parent. They may refer them to supports provided by:

• a community liaison officer
• the Independent Office for School Dispute Resolution, which can facilitate the repairing of a relationship following a dispute
• the Employee Wellbeing Response team (Employee.Wellbeing.Response.Team@education.vic.gov.au), which connects schools with training, supports and services they need for complex employee safety and wellbeing issues
• Converge International (staff login required), the department’s independent conflict resolution provider.

2. Consider strategies to repair the relationship

Authorised persons should consider using strategies and services to repair relationships with the persons subject to an order, considering:

• the severity of the harmful behaviour that resulted in an order being issued
• the willingness of the staff member(s) affected by the harmful behaviour to re-engage with the person
• the level of risk the strategy presents to the safety of the staff member(s)
• the benefit of the strategy to furthering the educational opportunities of the student whose parent or carer was issued with an order
• how successful such a strategy may be in re-engaging the parent or carer and advancing the child’s education.

For example, if the person who was recently subject to an order physically assaulted a staff member and the staff member feels unsafe meeting with the person face-to-face, a mediation may not be an appropriate strategy. If the person subject to the order chooses not to re-engage with a particular staff member, the authorised person should seek further advice from the relevant area team.

Possible strategies include:

• when an order is to be revoked or set to expire, seeking input from the person subject to the order on how they would like to reset the relationship moving forward
• meeting with, calling or sending a letter or email to the person to re-engage them back into the school community and discuss the suggested topics under Step 4
• inviting department staff (such as the SEIL or community liaison officer) to attend initial meetings with the person for support
• asking religious or community leaders and/or senior school leaders or board members to help support and navigate communications between the school and families
• encouraging the person subject to the order to seek support from community organisations or advocates and inviting them along to any meetings or correspond on their behalf.

In some cases, the principal and/or the authorised person may determine that directly re-engaging the person who has been subject to an order may result in escalated or aggravated behaviour and a safety risk to staff or the principal. The most appropriate option in such circumstances may be to avoid direct engagement upon expiry of an order and assess the situation against the OHS Risk Matrix in consultation with the school’s health and safety representative to determine an approach forward.

3. Build staff capability in conflict management

Staff may feel more confident about the re-integration of a person subject to an order if they are provided with training and capability building opportunities to manage conflict and challenging behaviours.

Training and resources that provide practical strategies and tools to manage conflict can be found in Effective communication with parents and carers, including the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership's Navigating Conflict course.

4. Keep the focus of discussions on the child’s education

Re-engagement efforts are likely to be more successful if the school and the parent maintain a focus on supporting the child’s learning and wellbeing.

Suggested topics for discussion include:

• the child’s progress at school, their learning and wellbeing needs, and further support that could be provided
• shared expectations for respectful behaviour, using the school’s statement of values, school philosophy or the department’s Respectful Behaviours within the School Community Policy as the basis for such discussions
• respectful ways of communicating that would be most conducive to having a positive relationship with the school and ultimately support the needs of the child
• agreeing on ways for the parent to raise constructive and respectful feedback, such as through the school’s complaints policy or the department’s Complaints – Parents policy (a quick reference guide is available for parents and carers to understand how to raise a concern or complaint: Parent concerns and complaints (PDF)).

Further guidance for developing positive and meaningful relationships with parents and families can be found in:

• Work-Related Violence in Schools policy
• Family engagement in learning resource – for parents and carers (PDF) (staff login required).

5. Access mental health and wellbeing support

Re-engaging a person who has behaved harmfully in the past may be challenging for staff and may negatively impact their mental health. Staff are encouraged to access the mental health and wellbeing supports and services reflected in Psychological safety and wellbeing support for school staff.

Internal and external review of an ongoing order

A person who has been issued with an ongoing school community safety order (order) may apply for an internal review of the authorised person’s decision to make, not revoke, vary or not vary the order. A person who is unhappy with the outcome of an internal review may apply to Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for external review of the decision.

The order remains in place while an internal or external review is being completed.

For further advice on internal or external review processes, contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au

Internal review

Applications for internal review are assessed by the department. The department will make all reasonable efforts to ensure the internal review decision is fair, unbiased and objective.

The following positions are considered internal reviewers who may review appeal applications:

• the Assistant Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services
• the Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services.

The department will appoint an internal reviewer who is supported with information relevant to the decision.

The internal reviewer will make a decision that affirms, varies or revokes the order within 28 days of the application. This period can be extended for a further 28 days on their own motion or upon application by the applicant.

If a decision is not made by the internal review panel within 28 days from when the application was received by the school, or the agreed extended period, the ongoing order is considered to be revoked.

Procedure for internal review

1. If a person submits an Internal review application form (DOCX) to the school, the principal must report this on eduSafe Plus as soon as is practicable, along with any supporting documentation or submissions received.
2. The internal review secretariat will be notified when eduSafe Plus has been updated and will provide the principal with advice about the internal review process, including how they can be involved with providing a submission or otherwise participating in the process. The department will lead the internal review process independent of the school.
3. A person who has been issued with an order who is seeking an internal review can make written submissions or, if permitted by the reviewer, oral submissions. In addition, they can be represented, accompanied or assisted by another person.
4. The authorised person and their senior education improvement leader (SEIL) and area executive director will be notified of when the review process has completed via email notification from eduSafe Plus.
5. Within the agreed period (28 days, or longer if an extension has been made), the Internal Reviewer must make a decision. As soon as practicable after the decision has been made, the internal review secretariat will inform the applicant in writing of:
   • the outcome of the internal review application
   • the reasons for the decision
   • information about their right to seek external review of the decision at VCAT.

A more detailed procedure will be published on this page at a later date.

External review

A person wishing to appeal the outcome of an internal review decision must submit an application to VCAT within 28 days of the day on which the decision is made.

Once an external review application is lodged and the department is notified, Legal Division will update the eduSafe Plus report for the ongoing order to reflect this change. This will notify the authorised person, their SEIL and their area executive director by email.

All VCAT proceedings will be managed by Legal Division. The department must abide by the Victorian Model Litigant Guidelines when engaged as a party to proceedings initiated by the person seeking external review of an order in VCAT.

Reporting an order

When a school community safety order is made, the authorised person must report this by submitting a school community safety order report on eduSafe Plus (staff login required).

The eduSafe Plus knowledge base has a user guide to help you create and manage a school community safety order report.

If authorised persons are unable to access eduSafe Plus at the time of reporting an order, the relevant forms below should be completed, emailed to Legal Division on legal.services@education.vic.gov.au and stored securely by the school until the eduSafe Plus report can be submitted:

• eduSafe Plus manual reporting form – immediate school community safety order (DOCX)
• eduSafe Plus manual reporting form – ongoing school community safety order (DOCX)

Principals and other authorised persons may contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or legal.services@education.vic.gov.au for assistance with completing, submitting or updating a school community safety order report on eduSafe Plus including if there are any issues experienced with accessing the school community safety order report.

For technical support when reporting, contact the IT Service Desk:

• phone: 1800 641 943
• email: servicedesk@education.vic.gov.au.

You can also log an IT faults and issues request on the Services Portal.

When to create a school community safety order report on eduSafe Plus

Authorised persons can create a school community safety order report if they:

• have made an immediate order verbally or before they issue it in writing
• have made a written notice of a proposal to issue an ongoing order.

Only the authorised person who issued an order can submit a school community safety order report in respect of that order. This function cannot be delegated to others.

Submitting a report will notify the department who will follow up to provide advice and support as needed.

Submitting and updating a school community safety order report on eduSafe Plus

A school community safety order report on eduSafe Plus (staff login required) is designed to guide the authorised person through the procedural requirements and thresholds that need to be satisfied to issue an order. Authorised persons must use this report to report when an order is made.

Creating an incident report

If a school community safety order report has been submitted, a separate incident report must be created on eduSafe Plus per the Managing and Reporting School Incidents (including emergencies) Policy. If the behaviour that the order has been issued in response to relates to an existing incident report, a new incident report does not need to be created.

Related incident reports can be cross-referenced in a school community safety order report. If you require assistance or support to submit an incident report, contact the OHS advisory service on 1300 074 715 or safety@education.vic.gov.au

Refer to OHS Management System (OHSMS) Overview Procedure – Chapter 5 eduSafe Plus for general information about the online reporting and hazard management system.

Updating school community safety order reports

After being submitted online, an order can be updated to:

• upload a written copy of the order and any other relevant documents, such as:
  • any submissions received from the person and consideration of such submission
  • a communication and access protocol (if the person has a child enrolled at the school)
• record a breach of an order (the department will update the record to reflect the school’s intention to apply to the deputy secretary, Schools and Regional Services (SRS) to initiate enforcement proceedings, if so desired)
• upload requests from the person to have the order revoked and consideration of such a request
• vary or revoke the order.

For immediate orders, an authorised person can also update an order report to record the outcome of their immediate review of the order.

For ongoing orders, an order can be updated to:

• upload the written notice of the proposal to issue an order and update the record accordingly
• record an internal review application (the department will update the record with an outcome of the internal review)
• record an external review application (the department will update the record with an outcome of the external review)
• upload requests from the person to have the order varied and consideration of such a request.

How to report if there has been a breach of an order

If the school is aware that there has been a breach of an existing order, the principal must report the breach on eduSafe Plus by updating the relevant school community safety order record and provide a description of the instance of non-compliance.

This will notify Legal Division to contact the authorised person to provide advice and enable them to make an informed decision on next steps, including if the school wishes to seek approval from the deputy secretary, School and Regional Services to initiate enforcement proceedings.

How to report if there is a request for an internal or external review (ongoing orders only)

If the person subject to an order has applied for an internal review, the principal must update the school community safety order report and attach the Internal review application form (DOCX).

This will notify the internal review secretariat to contact the principal to provide information about the internal review process. The Internal Review Secretariat will facilitate the internal review process and will notify the principal of the decision outcome.

Legal Division will manage the external review process with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The principal will be updated with the progress and will be notified of the decision outcome.

How to report the variation or revocation of an order

An authorised person can vary or revoke an ongoing order at any time by updating the order report.

Once an order has naturally expired or has been revoked, authorised persons cannot make further updates to the eduSafe Plus record.

Resources

Guidance and supports

Ministerial Guidelines – provide detailed sector-neutral information about the interpretation and application of the relevant provisions of the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic) and details of administrative policies, practices and procedures that should be adopted or considered by authorised persons and reviewers when administering and making decisions under the school community safety order scheme (the scheme).

eLearn module with essential information about the scheme, such as who an order can be issued to and how to issue an order. Completion is required for all principals and other authorised persons prior to issuing an ongoing order.

Overview of the school community safety order scheme

A short video is available that covers essential information to understand the school community safety order scheme.

School community safety orders information session video

The department has recorded an information session video including guidance for authorised persons to understand when and how to use school community safety orders and the supports and resources available.

Templates relevant to this policy and procedure

Script for issuing a verbal immediate school community safety order (DOCX) – includes scripts for issuing a verbal notice of an immediate order and a proposal to make an immediate order.

Letter template to issue an immediate school community safety order in writing (DOCX) – to assist authorised persons to follow up a verbally issued immediate order in writing or to issue an immediate order for the first time in writing. This includes a cover letter, a template order, communication and access protocol template and written submission template.

Letter template – notice of proposal to issue an ongoing school community safety order (DOCX) – to give notice of the proposal to make the order and invite submissions. Includes a cover letter, template proposed order and written submission template.

Letter template to confirm the issuing of an ongoing school community safety order (DOCX) – to confirm the issuing of an ongoing order following consideration of submissions. This includes a cover letter, a template order, communication and access protocol template and Internal review application form.

First warning to parents/carers letter template (DOCX) (staff login required) – to send to a parent or carer in response to an incident or correspondence where they have not met expectations to behave respectfully towards staff as reflected in the Respectful Behaviours within the School Community Policy. This letter is intended to prevent the escalation of behaviours in the early stages and should be sent before sending a communication plan or other measures that manage unacceptable behaviour that is ongoing.

Internal review application form (DOCX) – to be completed by person who wishes to appeal an ongoing order for review by the department.

Written submission form (DOCX) – for the person to respond with any information to be considered before the ongoing order is issued or while an immediate order is in place.

Communication and access protocol (DOCX) – must be prepared by the authorised person where the subject of an order has a child enrolled at the school to ensure that the parent can continue to be informed of and participate in their child’s education.

Application form to request authorisation (DOCX) – for school or department staff to apply to authorise other department employees as authorised persons.

eduSafe Plus manual reporting form – immediate school community safety order (DOCX) – this form can be used to record details of an immediate order if the authorised person cannot access eduSafe Plus.

eduSafe Plus manual reporting form – ongoing school community safety order (DOCX) – this form can be used to record details of an ongoing order if the authorised person cannot access eduSafe Plus.

School community safety order scheme communications material

Communications toolkits

The scheme is part of a suite of measures to create and support a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment within Victorian schools. Use the communications materials contained in these toolkits to inform the school community about the new scheme.

• Government schools communications toolkit (DOCX)
• Government schools peak bodies toolkit (DOCX)
• Non-government schools peak bodies toolkit (DOCX)
• Parent organisations toolkit (DOCX).

Safety at work posters

Download and print the parent facing poster for display in settings where parents, carers and adults in the school community frequent:

• Safety at work for school staff – staff poster – English (PDF)
• Safety at work for school staff – parent poster – English (PDF).

Download safety at work poster in different languages

The poster is available in 30+ languages to select from below:

• Amharic – print (PDF)
• Amharic – web (PDF)
• Arabic – print (PDF)
• Arabic – web (PDF)
• Assyrian – print (PDF)
• Assyrian – web (PDF)
• Chin Hakha – print (PDF)
• Chin Hakha – web (PDF)
• Dari – print (PDF)
• Dari – web (PDF)
• Dinka – print (PDF)
• Dinka – web (PDF)
• Hindi – print (PDF)
• Hindi – web (PDF)
• Karen – print (PDF)
• Karen – web (PDF)
• Khmer – print (PDF)
• Khmer – web (PDF)
• Kiswahili – print (PDF)
• Kiswahili – web (PDF)
• Korean – print (PDF)
• Korean – web (PDF)
• Macedonian – print (PDF)
• Macedonian – web (PDF)
• Nepali – print (PDF)
• Nepali – web (PDF)
• Nuer – print (PDF)
• Nuer – web (PDF)
• Oromo – print (PDF)
• Oromo – web (PDF)
• Persian – print (PDF)
• Persian – web (PDF)
• Punjabi – print (PDF)
• Punjabi – web (PDF)
• Samoan – print (PDF)
• Samoan – web (PDF)
• Simplified Chinese – print (PDF)
• Simplified Chinese – web (PDF)
• Sinhalese – print (PDF)
• Sinhalese – web (PDF)
• Somali – print (PDF)
• Somali – web (PDF)
• Tagalog – print (PDF)
• Tagalog – web (PDF)
• Tamil Sri Lankan – print (PDF)
• Tamil Sri Lankan – web (PDF)
• Tamil – print (PDF)
• Tamil – web (PDF)
• Tigrinya – print (PDF)
• Tigrinya – web (PDF)
• Tongan – print (PDF)
• Tongan – web (PDF)
• Traditional Chinese – print (PDF)
• Traditional Chinese – web (PDF)
• Turkish – print (PDF)
• Turkish – web (PDF)
• Urdu – print (PDF)
• Urdu – web (PDF)
• Vietnamese – print (PDF)
• Vietnamese – web (PDF).

School community safety order scheme newsletter content

Use these materials to tailor content informing parents, carers, or your school community about the scheme.

You will need to add your principal’s name and signature to these Microsoft Word materials:

Suggested newsletter from principal to school community (DOCX).

Download newsletter content in different languages

The suggested newsletter from principal to school community is available to download in different languages:

• Amharic (DOCX)
• Arabic (DOCX)
• Assyrian (DOCX)
• Chin Hakha (DOCX)
• Dari (DOCX)
• Dinka (DOCX)
• Hindi (DOCX)
• Karen (DOCX)
• Khmer (DOCX)
• Kiswahili (DOCX)
• Korean (DOCX)
• Macedonian (DOCX)
• Nepali (DOCX)
• Nuer (DOCX)
• Oromo (DOCX)
• Persian (DOCX)
• Punjabi (DOCX)
• Samoan (DOCX)
• Simplified Chinese (DOCX)
• Sinhalese (DOCX)
• Somali (DOCX)
• Tagalog (DOCX)
• Tamil (DOCX)
• Tamil Sri Lankan (DOCX)
• Tigrinya (DOCX)
• Tongan (DOCX)
• Traditional Chinese (DOCX)
• Turkish (DOCX)
• Urdu (DOCX)
• Vietnamese (DOCX).

Fact sheets for parents

The below fact sheets can be provided to parents who have been issued with an order or who otherwise wish to seek more information about the scheme. It contains information about how an order applies to them, appeal rights and impacts on the child:

• Simple English immediate school community safety order fact sheet (DOCX)
• Simple English ongoing school community safety order fact sheet (DOCX).

Translated fact sheets on immediate and ongoing school safety orders in 30 languages are available to download on the Victorian Government website – Information for parents and carers.