Animals – Wellbeing and Engagement

Policy

This policy sets out requirements for the use of animals in Victorian government schools as part of the delivery of a variety of animal-assisted wellbeing and engagement programs, including school support animals, animal-assisted therapy and animal-assisted activities, to support the wellbeing and engagement of students.

This policy focuses on animal assisted wellbeing and engagement programs and provides only limited guidance on other uses of animals at school. For more information on dogs at school or animals used for teaching purposes, refer to:

• the Teaching with Animals policy for information on teaching with animals
• the School Policy Templates Portal for information and an optional template school policy on Dogs at School (staff login required).

Summary

• All staff must take reasonable steps to reduce foreseeable risks of harm to students when using wellbeing and engagement animals in schools.
• Schools must ensure that 2 staff members are designated responsibility for the care, safety and wellbeing of the wellbeing and engagement animal whilst at school and outside of school hours (including overnight, on the weekends and school holidays). In the case of a dog, this will include its trained animal handler. Where appropriate, the wellbeing and engagement animal must be trained by a suitably qualified person before working with students. Refer to the Guidance tab for specific guidance on wellbeing and engagement dogs.
• Schools must provide guidance to students on how to interact appropriately with wellbeing and engagement animals, including when they are eating, sleeping and toileting.
• Schools must ensure the welfare of school-owned wellbeing and engagement animals by providing appropriate food, water, warmth, bedding, medical care, exercise, rest and hygiene, and making sure the animal is treated humanely.
• Schools must refer to the guidance chapters on the guidance tab to understand and meet the requirements for having a wellbeing and engagement animal, including requirements relating to procurement, costs and insurance.
• Schools that are considering starting an animal-assisted wellbeing and engagement program may be eligible for an animal-assisted programs grant. Refer to Animal-assisted Wellbeing and Engagement Programs: Grant Guidelines for more information.
• Schools can:
  • access the department’s free 20-minute onlinemodule on Implementing animal-assisted wellbeing and engagement programs in schools. Refer to Animal-assisted wellbeing and engagement programs
  • register for the La Trobe University 10-week course: Implementing Animal-Assisted School Programs.

Details

Animal-assisted wellbeing and engagement programs in schools include:

• school or emotional support animals – where an animal is trained to work in a school under the care of a trained handler to engage in goal-directed, structured programs to support student wellbeing and engagement
• animal-assisted therapy – where an animal is used by a psychologist, counsellor or social worker in delivering their professional services to help support the psychological needs of students, for example, equine-assisted therapy or canine-assisted therapy. Animals trained to work alongside qualified health professionals are referred to as therapy animals
• animal-assisted activities – where students participate in activities involving animals for the purposes of student support or environment enrichment, for example, programs where students read to dogs. Activities may involve the engagement of an external organisation.

Animals that are part of these wellbeing and engagement programs in schools are ‘working’ animals when they are at school; they are not pets. These animals and their handlers must have undertaken appropriate and accredited training before they can be allowed on school grounds. Wellbeing and engagement animals do not have the legal status of an assistance animal (see below for more information on assistance animals).

School pets

School pets are not covered by this policy.

A school pet is any animal kept on school premises or under the control of a school staff member.

Keeping of school pets does not require a licence or Victorian School Animal Ethics Committee approval provided the pet is not used to:

• teach part of the curriculum in science
• engage in structured, goal-directed programs to promote student wellbeing and engagement.

Refer to Teaching with Animals and Classroom pets - Animal Welfare Victoria for more information.

Pet dogs

Pet dogs owned by school community members or staff are not covered by this policy.

Each school principal is responsible for determining whether they will permit pet dogs to be brought to school (by staff or students) in certain circumstances. Schools are not public places and there is no general right to be on school premises.

Schools may also choose to implement a local school policy on dogs being on school premises. Refer to the School Policy Templates Portal for information and an optional template school policy on Dogs at School (staff login required).

Assistance animals

This section provides limited guidance on assistance animals. For help in determining how to respond to a request for a student or staff member to have an assistance animal onsite, schools can contact Legal Division at legal.services@education.vic.gov.au.

The use of assistance animals is protected under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth).

Assistance animals are defined under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) as animals accredited or trained to assist a person with a disability to alleviate the effect of their disability. This includes, but is not limited to:

• guide dogs
• seeing eye dogs
• dogs trained to pick things up for people with mobility disabilities
• dogs trained to assist people who have seizures.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth), the Disability Standard for Education 2005 (Cth) and the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic), schools must make reasonable adjustments for students with a disability to participate in their education on the same basis as their peers. In some circumstances, allowing a student to bring an assistance animal to school may be an appropriate reasonable adjustment.

Requests for assistance animals to support students in schools must therefore be considered separately from the animal-assisted program examples listed above.

If a student wishes to bring an assistance animal to school, parents/carers make a request to the principal to seek permission. The principal can lawfully ask the parents/carers to produce evidence that an animal:

• is trained specifically to assist the student in alleviating the effects of a disability (for example, guide dogs)
• is accredited by an animal training organisation prescribed in the regulations
• meets standards of safety, hygiene and behaviour appropriate for a school environment.

Principals must consider a request by a parent/carer for a student with a disability to attend school with an assistance animal on a case-by-case basis.

For more information on assistance animals, including guide dogs and seeing eye dogs, refer to the Resources tab.

Staff requests for animals onsite

This policy is intended to support schools to implement animal-assisted wellbeing and engagement programs for students. It does not apply to staff.

Staff members wishing to bring an animal to school (for example, a wellbeing animal or pet) must first make a request to the principal to seek permission. The principal must consider each request on a case-by-case basis.

If a staff member is dissatisfied with the decision made by the principal, schools should contact their regional office on 1800 338 663 or email enquiries@education.vic.gov.au.

Definitions

Animal
Any live non-human vertebrate (that is, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals including domestic animals, purpose-bred animals, livestock, wildlife).

Animal handler
The person responsible and in control of an animal while on school grounds. If the animal is school-owned, these responsibilities extend to the care and welfare of the animal at all times.

Assistance animal
Animals that are specially trained to perform tasks or functions to help a person with a disability alleviate the effects of the disability, for example, a guide dog.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) provides the following definition of an assistance animal as a dog or other animal that:

1. is accredited under a State or Territory law to assist a person with a disability to alleviate the effects of disability; or
2. is accredited by an animal training organisation prescribed in the regulations; or
3. is trained to assist a person with a disability to alleviate the effect of the disability and meets standards of hygiene and behaviour that are appropriate for an animal in a public place.

School pet
A school pet is any animal kept on the school premises or under the control of a school staff member that is not used in a teaching activity in science and not used in a structured, goal-directed program to promote student engagement and wellbeing. For example, a pet lizard in the classroom only used for display.

School or emotional support animal
Animals that are trained to work in a school under the care of a trained handler to engage in goal-directed, structured programs to support student wellbeing and engagement. These animals provide comfort and emotional support to a range of students. They do not have the legal status of an assistance animal. Where the animal is a dog, it has been appropriately trained as a school or emotional support animal by a suitably qualified person and is under the care of its trained animal handler at all times while at school.

Therapy animal
Animals trained to work alongside qualified health professionals in a therapeutic setting are referred to as therapy animals. For example, an animal that is used by a psychologist, counsellor or social worker in delivering their professional services (for example, canine-assisted therapy or equine-assisted therapy) to help to support the psychological needs of students.

Wellbeing and engagement animal
Animals used to support student wellbeing and engagement in a structured and goal-directed manner. These animals do not have the legal status of an assistance animal.

References in this policy to wellbeing and engagement animals also cover school support or emotional support animals and therapy animals.

Animals that are part of these wellbeing and engagement programs in schools are ‘working’ animals when they are at school, they are not pets. These animals and their handlers must have undertaken appropriate and accredited training before they can be allowed on school grounds.

Related policies

• Child Safe Standards
• Duty of Care
• Mental Health Fund and Menu
• NDIS Funded Therapy in Schools
• Risk Management – Schools
• Students with Disability
• Teaching with Animals
• Working with Children Checks and other Suitability Checks for School Volunteers and Visitors

Relevant legislation

• Domestic Animals Act 1994 (Vic)
• Ministerial Order 1359 – Implementing the Child Safe Standards – Managing the risk of child abuse in schools (PDF)
• Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 (Vic)
• Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Regulations 2019 (Vic)
• Victorian codes of practice for animal welfare

Contacts

For support related to animal-assisted wellbeing and engagement programs or animal-assisted activities which are school led, please contact animal.assisted.programs@education.vic.gov.au.

For support related to assistance animals or support animal requests related to a student or staff member with a disability, please contact legal.services@education.vic.gov.au.

For support related to requests around pet animals please contact the regional office on 1800 338 663 or email enquiries@education.vic.gov.au.