Child Link

Roles and responsibilities of school principals as Child Link Authorisers

Child Link Authorisers are responsible for the creation and management of Child Link Users. The Authoriser for a Victorian government school is the principal (this can include a co-principal or acting principal, but only one person at a time). The Authoriser in this context does not include a deputy, or assistant principal, and the role of Authoriser cannot be delegated in a school (unless acting arrangements are in place).

The principal manages Child Link access for their nominated Child Link Users. Users in a school can be made up of registered teachers, education support staff, and student wellbeing professionals within that school.

Authorisers are provided with access to Child Link to perform Authoriser functions. However, they do not have access to the confidential information it contains about children and their families, unless they are also authorised as a Child Link User. For example, principals can also be a Child Link User if authorised by the region’s Principal Employment Co-ordinator (PEC).

Roles and responsibilities

School principals as Authorisers must:

• nominate up to 7 appropriate Child Link Users within their school. When selecting Users, the principal must consider:
  • the relevance of the school professional’s role and purpose for accessing the information on Child Link
  • the capability of the school staff/professionals to effectively use Child Link, and appropriately manage confidential information
  • the school staff/professional’s level of understanding of the Child Information Sharing Scheme, which is a prerequisite for Child Link access. Examples of roles a principal can nominate include, but are not limited to: assistant and campus principals, year-level coordinators, student wellbeing coordinators, teachers, and school-based mental health practitioners. It is expected that Users will be those who work directly with children to support their wellbeing and safety. It is up to principals to determine the suitability of any role based on their specific school setting. Principals can also become Users through the region’s Principal Employment Co-ordinator (PEC)
• remind school staff who are Child Link Users to comply with the Child Link Secretary's Guidelines (PDF), the Terms of Use of Child Link and Child Link User Practice Guidance
• manage Child Link access in their school, including the removal of school staff who are Child Link Users where required, such as staff leaving their role
• notify the Child Link team when the Authoriser has formed a view that a Child Link User in their school should have their access investigated (phone 1800 549 646 or email childlink@education.vic.gov.au)
• review and confirm the accuracy of school staff who are Child Link Users under their authorisation every 4 months in the 'User Access Review':
  • principals will receive a system email to complete the User Access Review. If the review is not completed within the timeframe communicated, all staff who are Child Link Users will no longer be able to access child information on Child Link until the review is completed on the system
• ensure their authorisation functions are temporarily transferred to another person in their school who has the appropriate authority to be an Authoriser when they are unable to perform their functions for up to 1 school term (90 calendar days):
  • principals must only transfer their authorisation to an acting or co-principal. Upon return to the school, the principal’s access to the Authoriser platform will be reinstated
• contact the Child Link team when they are leaving their school permanently or will be on leave or secondment for more than 1 term (greater than 90 days), at least 4 weeks prior to leaving the school (if possible)
• this email must include: the date the principal needs to be removed as the school’s Authoriser
• the name and Department of Education email address of the new substantive or acting principal (if known).

Inviting Child Link Users

Once the principal has identified staff to become Child Link Users, the principal logs into Child Link and issues the User an invitation.

For detailed instructions how to invite nominated Users to Child Link, please refer to the Child Link Guide for School Principals as Authorisers (available on the Resources tab).

Removing Child Link Users

School principals as Authorisers have a responsibility to remove Child Link Users’ access at any time when it is inappropriate for access to continue. Examples of this may include when school staff who are Child Link Users:

• change roles within the organisation (such as a secondment) for a period greater than 90 days
• take extended leave, such as long-service leave, parental leave, or a sabbatical for a period greater than 90 days
• change roles and require authorisation to access Child Link for another purpose or under a different Authoriser – for example, moving into a role in the department’s regions that is eligible to access and use Child Link
• no longer hold a valid WWC Clearance (due to exclusion, interim exclusion, suspension, revocation, or expiry) or VIT Registration (due to suspension, cancellation, or expiry)
• leave their school
• change roles in their school into a role that does not require Child Link access
• do not meet the pre-requisites to be a Child Link User
• are no longer in circumstances where it is appropriate to have access to Child Link (for example, a conflict of interest or misconduct has been evidenced)
• by accessing Child Link, pose an unacceptable risk of harm to any person.

Please refer to the Child Link Guide for School Principals as Authorisers (available in the Resources tab) for practical instructions for how to remove a User’s access.

Adding a new campus to an existing Authoriser’s profile

If Child Link receives details of a new campus for a school the following actions will occur:

1. the Child Link team will contact the school principal (as the school’s Authoriser) to confirm the new campus
2. the school principal will confirm within 5 business days (during school term) whether the campus needs to be added to their school profile on Child Link
3. following confirmation from the school principal, the Child Link team will add the new campus to Child Link within the principal’s list of available campuses (services)
4. the principal will receive an email from Child Link with an invitation to accept the new school campus/service within 7 days
5. the principal will add the new campus to existing Users.

Refer to the Child Link Guide for School Principals as Authorisers (available on the Resources tab) for practical instructions for how to add the new campus to their User/s profile.

Removal process for school principals as Authorisers

Where Authorisers are unable to perform their authorisation functions for more than 90 days (if less than 90 days, please refer to the information below on the Temporary Transfer of Authoriser responsibility), they must be removed from Child Link. This includes the following circumstances:

• they are leaving the role or the service, and will no longer have relevant Child Link responsibilities
• they are taking extended leave, such as long service leave or sabbatical for more than 90 days.

To be removed as the school’s Authoriser, school principals must contact childlink@education.vic.gov.au at least 4 weeks prior to their departure, and confirm:

• the date they need to be removed as the school’s Authoriser
• the name and @education.vic.gov.au email address (if known) of the incoming principal (can be an acting principal) who needs to be invited to Child Link. This person can already have an Authoriser Child Link profile, for example at another school, or may be a new Authoriser
• names of Child Link Users who need to be transitioned to the new principal taking responsibility for the Child Link Users.

Child Link User Access Review

The User Access Review occurs every 4 months. Principals will receive an email informing them when it is time to perform the review. The principal (as the school’s Authoriser) must review and determine whether their Users should have their Child Link access maintained or removed. Instructions for how to complete the User Access review can be found in the Child Link Guide for School Principals as Authorisers (available in the Resources tab).

Principals will be asked to review the Users who have been added as Child Link Users more than one month prior to the review start date. Principals will have 2 weeks to complete the review of Users. The review can take place over multiple sessions within this 2-week window until all the Users have been reviewed.

If a principal does not undertake the review within the required period, the User/s under their authorisation will have their Child Link accounts locked, and they will not be able to access Child Link until the review is completed. The principal can still log in to the Child Link platform to perform the review at any time.
Refer to the Child Link Guide for School Principals as Authorisers (available in the Resources tab) for further instructions on performing the User Access Review.

Temporary Transfer of Authoriser roles and functions on Child Link

Principals may temporarily transfer their authorisation power to another person for a limited period (up to 90 calendar days).

The circumstances in which a principal must consider temporarily transferring their authorisation power include, when they are on short-term leave, including recreational and personal leave, or a short-term secondment or backfill equivalent to 90 calendar days or less.

The person nominated to be the Temporary Authoriser must have the appropriate authority to perform the authorisation functions – principal, acting principal or co-principal.

Instructions on how to perform a temporary transfer can be found on the Child Link Authoriser Temporary Transfer webpage and in the Child Link Guide for School Principals as Authorisers (available in the Resources tab).

When the Temporary Transfer has been actioned, Child Link will send an email to the person nominated as the Temporary Authoriser as well as impacted school staff who are Child Link Users. The email will include the name of the Temporary Authoriser and the dates of authorisation.