Enrolment

Processing enrolment forms and supporting documentation

For information and links to the application and enrolment forms, please refer to: Application and enrolment forms.

School enrolment involves the collection of personal information about the student and their family. This process requires parents/carers to complete an enrolment form with supporting documentation which is to be returned and processed by the school. All data is uploaded onto CASES21 as the department’s official system for recording student information. Enrolment data is also updated periodically in CASES21 when a student's circumstances change or during a school transfer.

Schools must:

• enrol eligible students who are new to the Victorian government school system under the name contained in their supporting documentation (primarily their birth certificate)
• sight and, where required, keep copies of specific supporting documentation
• verify changes to student enrolment names
• maintain and update student details obtained on enrolment
• provide new families with the privacy collection notice and keep all information securely and managed in accordance with the department’s privacy policies and Victorian privacy laws.

Evidence and supporting documentation required for admission

When processing enrolment forms, schools must sight and retain a copy of the following supporting documentation:

• date of birth
• an Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register
• Australian residency and other visa documentation (only if applicable)
• court orders or care arrangement documents (only if applicable).

When processing enrolment forms, schools may request:

• evidence for demonstrating permanent residential address, refer to Determining permanent residence
• health support forms. This may include a Medication Authority Form, an Asthma Action Plan, ASCIA Action Plan for Anaphylaxis or other forms relevant to a student’s medical condition as diagnosed and treated by a medical practitioner. Please note that students with health care needs can still be enrolled without provision of these forms, but schools must continue to request required forms until they are received. For more information please refer to Health Care Needs, Medication, and Anaphylaxis.

Specialist school enrolments are subject to additional evidence requirements. Refer to Enrolment in specialist schools for more information.

Evidence of student's name and date of birth

Schools must ask for the student’s birth certificate as evidence of the student’s name and date of birth.

Where a birth certificate cannot be produced, other acceptable evidence of a student’s full name and date of birth may include a passport, citizenship documents, Australian Visa documents or Immicard.

Where no official documentation can be produced, the school must ask for other identifying documentation such as a doctor's note attesting to a child's age and/or a Medicare card.

Immunisation history statements – primary students

Prior to commencing primary school, children should have received their childhood vaccinations as per the National Immunisation Program Schedule. The National Immunisation Program Schedule is prescribed by the Australian Government and seeks to protect children from vaccine preventable diseases that can cause serious illness, and sometimes death.

For each enrolled child, primary schools are required to:

• request parents/carers provide a copy of the Immunisation History Statement for their child from the Australian Immunisation Register
• take a copy of all Immunisation History Statements
• record information on their immunisation status of each enrolled child.

Homeopathic immunisation is not a recognised form of immunisation and therefore cannot be listed on an immunisation status certificate.

Collecting Immunisation History Statements will assist health authorities in protecting students in the event of a vaccine-preventable disease occurrence at the school.

Under the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019, an unvaccinated student may be excluded from school for a period of time in accordance with the department’s Immunisation Policy. However, prospective students should not be prevented from enrolling in primary school if they have not been immunised.

For more information on immunisation in primary and secondary schools, refer to Immunisation and the Department of Health fact sheet Starting primary school (PDF).

Records management

Schools must manage evidence and supporting documentation supplied for enrolment purposes in line with the Records Management – School Records Policy. Some document types (for example, court orders) have different retention periods. For more information, refer to the School records retention guide (XLSX) (staff login required).

Incomplete or missing student information or documentation

This section outlines the steps available when student information or documentation is incomplete.

Step 1

The principal may defer admission of a student for up to 5 days, provided that they:

• request that the parents/carers provide the missing information or documentation
• advise the parents/carers they are legally responsible for ensuring a child of school age attends school.

Step 2

The principal may enrol the student:

• if the information is not provided after 5 days
• where further delay in enrolment is likely to affect the student’s education and wellbeing.

This requires the principal to:

• record a notation on the student’s enrolment about the missing information
• where practicable, advise both parents/carers in writing that the enrolment has been accepted but that the enrolment will record that relevant information or documentation is missing.

Where further delay in enrolment is unlikely to affect the student’s education and wellbeing, the principal may decline the enrolment application and where practicable advise both parents/carers in writing of this decision.

Processing and maintaining enrolment information

CASES21 student information database

CASES21 is the student information database and includes enrolment forms, transfer information, the student register (in primary schools) and class lists. The section below describes how schools maintain student information in CASES21:

1. Enrolment data is entered for students who are new to the Victorian government school system
2. Data is:
   • reviewed and confirmed by the parent/carer before students transfer
   • updated when schools are informed of changes to student information
   • reviewed half yearly, specifically parent/carer contact information. Refer to CASES21 Administration User Guide for guidance including processes for generating the Student Enrolment Information Form and Student Information Full Details Report)
   • revised annually for state and Commonwealth reporting.
3. Records are retained and disposed of in accordance with the School Records Retention and Disposal Authority. Refer to Records Management – School Records Policy

Schools enrolling international students should update CASES21 to confirm the student's commencement of study within 5 working days of commencement. Any changes to the student's enrolment should also be recorded in a timely manner. This will ensure an accurate disbursement of funds to the relevant school. Refer to the International Student Program (ISP).

Where students are moving from one government school to another government school, student data must be transferred using CASES21 and:

• parents/carers are not required to complete a new enrolment form if data is transferred using CASES21
• schools must not create a new student record in CASES21 – this will create a duplicate record
• schools are required to send a copy of the Student Enrolment Information Form to the parent/carer for checking, updating and signing to ensure student data is current and accurate.

For students who are new to the government system, schools must obtain a completed enrolment form before admitting a student.

Refer to the Transfers section of these guidelines for more information.

Changing enrolment name

Schools can change the name under which a student is enrolled if:

• new legal documentation with an amended name is provided, such as:
  • officially amended birth certificate
  • proof of adoption
  • court order authorising another name
• supporting documentation, which was not originally available, differs from the name provided during enrolment.

Victorian Student Number

A Victorian Student Number (VSN) is allocated to students who are new to the Victorian government school system, in the name certified in enrolment documents. When students transfer between schools, the name will remain the same as that attached to the VSN unless new legal documentation with an amended name is provided. For more information on student numbers, visit the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA).

Maintaining and using immunisation records – primary students

Schools are responsible for requesting and maintaining immunisation records for primary school students. Schools must:

1. request copies of official Immunisation History Statements from parents/carers prior to enrolment. Record the immunisation status of the student on CASES21 (whether an Immunisation History Statement has been received or not)
2. maintain a file containing Immunisation History Statements (note: if a primary student transfers to another primary school, a copy should be sent to the receiving school and recorded in CASES21)
3. during disease outbreaks refer to student Immunisation History Statements. Where relevant, instruct parents /carers of students not immunised to keep their children at home for the recommended period, as outlined in the Department of Health’s School exclusion table (refer to Immunisation).

Under the ‘No Jab No Play’ legislation, only the Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register is acceptable for the purposes of enrolling in a primary school in Victoria. Sighting of the stamped immunisation booklet or documents produced by GPs or other immunisation providers is not sufficient evidence to meet this requirement. Please note that students can still be enrolled without provision of the Immunisation History Statement. The immunisation status of the student must be recorded on CASES21 (whether an Immunisation History Statement has been received or not) and updated when necessary.

Maintaining Student Family Occupation and Education (SFOE) information

Funding for equity (Social Disadvantage) provides an individual loading for students from disadvantaged backgrounds that will increase with the density of disadvantage at the school. Increased funding for schools has proven to raise educational outcomes, particularly for these students. Schools use Social Disadvantage funding to deliver tailored educational programs to meet the needs of this cohort of students.

The Social Disadvantage loading allocates funding based on parental occupation, parental education and the level of concentration of disadvantage in a school. Students with the highest level of need are targeted with the most funding to ensure schools have the resources to support them.

Student Family Occupation and Education (SFOE) information that parents provide directly affects the level of Social Disadvantage funding that a school will receive. Therefore, it is essential that schools:

• ensure that their staff understand why SFOE data is needed and the benefits of ensuring there are no errors in data logged on CASES21
• clearly explain to parents the importance of correctly completing the parent information form
• have a process to ensure SFOE information is accurate and up-to-date
• contact parents when occupation and/or education data is missing, incomplete or unclear
• keep records to explain any changes or updates to data submitted by parents.