Excursions

Overseas travel

As well as the requirements for all excursions (such as approvals, risk management planning, consent) there are additional steps when planning and conducting overseas excursions. When planning and conducting overseas excursions, schools are required to:

• at least 6 months before travel, submit a travel forecast (via the School Staff Travel Applications page) (staff login required)
• comply with DFAT travel advice
• ensure all parents or carers have completed the Medical information form – camps and overseas excursions (DOCX)
• ensure all participants have appropriate travel insurance
• ensure copies of appropriate documentation are available on the excursion and at the school
• ensure a School Staff Travel Application has been completed and approved within the correct timelines
• complete a post-travel report on the School Staff Travel Applications (staff login required) page
• ensure staffing arrangements are sufficient in the event of an emergency
• ensure excursion planning and risk management planning considers the school’s child safety responsibilities. This is especially important if there are any times where students are not under the direct supervision of school staff (such as homestay arrangements). For more information refer to Child Safe Standards.

Schools should also:

• ensure there are appropriate contingency funds available for staff on the excursion to access in the event of an emergency
• develop a communications plan, including assigning a designated school contact
• conduct a pre-trip briefing for staff, students and the parents/carers of students attending the excursion.

DFAT travel advice

Schools must confirm that the locations and activities planned comply with any current Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade travel advice. Risk and emergency management plans must be developed in consideration of the location, students, activities planned, types of travel undertaken and any relevant advice from DFAT.

The Smartraveller website is the DFAT travel advisory and consular assistance service. This site also provides useful travel information and tips. Before travelling overseas, schools should check the Smartraveller website to ensure that they have the most up-to-date travel advice for the proposed countries and locations to be visited.

Schools planning and conducting overseas excursions must ensure that they:

• comply with any DFAT travel advice current for the proposed location
• subscribe to receive automatic travel advice updates from the Smartraveller website both prior to the excursion and when overseas
• review their risk assessment if there are any changes to the DFAT travel advice. This will require the principal to consider whether there is a need to cancel, recall or alter excursion arrangements.

This section describes the 4 levels of DFAT travel advice with the required actions and considerations:

• Level 1: Exercise normal safety precautions.
• Level 2: ‘Exercise a high degree of caution’ – requires additional attention to planning and assessment of risk.
• Level 3: ‘Reconsider your need to travel' – would generally mean excursions should be postponed or cancelled as the educational goals are unlikely to justify the risks. Any decision to continue would require consultation with the Security and Emergency Management Division (emergency.management@education.vic.gov.au), a detailed risk assessment and treatment plan together with detailed contingency planning.
• Level 4: ‘Do not travel' – principals must cancel or postpone the excursion.

Schools must complete the Excursions risk register and emergency management plan template (DOCX) – risk register template mandatory for all day, overnight, adventure activities, interstate, overseas excursions or travel by air or water. This resource includes examples and a template for the emergency management plan. A blank version of this template is also available for use – blank excursion risk register and emergency management plan template (DOCX).

Travel insurance for overseas excursions

All students and staff must take out travel and medical insurance for the entire overseas trip. Where possible, it is recommended all staff and students travelling overseas are covered by the same insurance provider. This makes it easier to manage multiple claims within a group.

It is strongly recommended that staff and students take out insurance cover directly and not via a tour operator. This ensures that insurance coverage has been obtained as required (there have been past instances where tour operators have accepted pre-payments on account of insurance but failed to take out the insurance as promised leaving staff and students uninsured).

Before taking out any insurance cover, staff and families of student travellers should ensure they:

• consider whether or not the insurance cover excludes events that may disrupt travel plans such as pandemics, wars, storms, floods, and strikes
• make an independent assessment of whether or not the level of cover provided is appropriate for their needs.

For information regarding insurance coverage for travellers who are diagnosed as COVID-19 positive, please refer to the guidance on insurance policies – 2.4 Travel insurance for teachers and students at Insurance for Schools.

The department strongly recommends schools and students arrange travel insurance through the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA). The department has arranged a cost-effective travel insurance facility for students and accompanying teachers on international excursions which provides generally broader cover than most commercial insurers.

Travel insurance purchased through VMIA also provides the travellers access to AHI Assist, a 24/7 medical assistance company and emergency hotline, which includes services such as:

• immediate access to doctors and nurses
• case management if hospitalised
• assistance in replacing a lost or stolen passport
• legal assistance
• the arrangement for transport by road, aircraft or special air ambulance to an appropriate medical centre if this is required for treatment, accompanied if necessary by a doctor or nurse
• arrangements for evacuation and transportation home if necessary
• civil unrest evacuation
• natural disaster evacuation
• immediate access to safety and security experts.

Refer to Insurance for Schools for further information on VMIA travel insurance.

Documentation

The teacher in charge of the excursion must have access to the following documentation while overseas:

• front page (the photo page) of each participant’s passport and any visas
• medical information/relevant health management plans for all participants
• risk management plan
• emergency management plan (including details for in-country emergency assistance)
• Medical information form – camps and overseas excursions (DOCX)
• communications plan (if applicable)
• contact details of families
• contact details for students (if applicable)
• contact details for host school (if applicable)
• contact details for host families (if applicable)
• each student’s consent form (paper copy preferred)
• detailed itinerary
• details of travel insurance for all participants.

A copy of these documents must also be left at the school.

Contingency funds

Teachers accompanying students on overseas excursions should have access to sufficient contingency funds provided by the school to be used in the event of an emergency. Contingency funds must be approved by school council.

Travel forecast

Forecasting travel is crucial in managing the operational risks associated with travel.

All school-based staff intending to travel representing the department must notify the department of this travel via completion of a travel forecast form, at least 6 months before travel is scheduled to occur.

Schools must submit a travel forecast using the School Travel Forecast form (staff login required) on the department’s intranet.

Travel application process

Schools must read the department’s Travel policy including the Travel Rules of Use – School-based Staff before completing a travel application.

Schools must complete the DE School Staff Travel Application form located on the School Staff Travel Applications (staff login required) intranet page. The DE Travel Tracker – Admin/User Guide is a useful resource throughout the application process.

International travel applications must be completed at least three weeks advance.

The information included in the travel application will be reviewed by the region’s travel registrar and will determine whether the travel is approved by the regional director. The application is then forwarded to the central travel registrar for a quality assurance check and approval by the Assistant Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services.

For further details regarding the travel application form, please contact your region’s travel registrar.

Communications

When conducting an overseas excursion, a communications plan should be developed. This should consider the type of communication, the responsible party, timing of communication in response to a variety of situations (including emergencies).

Any overseas excursion must have a teacher in charge, who is the central point of contact for the group on the excursion. It is also recommended that schools assign a designated school contact. This should be a senior staff member who is not travelling with the group and can be contacted in the event of an emergency. The designated school contact should be used as a key liaison between the travelling group and the department, parents/carers and the school community.

Pre-trip briefing

Schools should undertake a pre-trip briefing for students attending the overseas excursion and their parents.

Attention should be given to the following topics:

• educational purpose
• code of conduct for students while on the trip
• cultural considerations
• emergency response procedures (including communications)
• risks associated with specific activities
• logistics
• travel SIM cards
• passports/visas and security measures
• money
• recommended packing lists (including weather considerations).

Post-travel reporting

Upon return of the overseas trip, a staff travel report must be submitted to the regional travel registrar to within 14 days of return from trip. The template for the travel report can be found on the School Staff Travel Applications (staff login required) intranet page. The completed report musty be uploaded to the existing online form. Change the tracking status to: 'Submit Travel Report' and assign to your regional travel registrar. Please refer to the department's Travel policy for further details.

Using third-party providers

Many schools engage third party providers (tour operators) to organise and facilitate overseas experiences for students. These tour operators provide unique travel experiences and manage many of the logistics and administrative burden that would otherwise be placed on schools. Note that the department does not recommend using tour operators to obtain travel insurance – refer to the section above headed Travel insurance for overseas excursions.

It is important to remember that engaging a tour operator does not fully transfer duty of care and schools will still need to take reasonable steps to reduce foreseeable risk by following all relevant aspects of the Excursions policy.

Contracts

Before parents enter into any agreement with a tour operator to run all or part of an overseas experience, the school should consult with the department’s Legal Division.

The school must ensure that parents are made aware of the fact that the school bears no responsibility for any agreement entered into between parents and the tour operator. As the school is not a party to the agreement between parents and the tour operator, the school will not be liable for any loss or damage incurred by a parent as a result of a tour operator breaching the terms and conditions of an agreement. All queries or concerns about agreements with third-party providers should be directed to the department’s Legal Division via legal.services@education.vic.gov.au

Refunds

The principal and parents of students attending the trip organised by a tour operator must understand the terms or conditions in relation to cancellations, alterations/postponements, and refunds. Before any decision is made by the school to cancel a trip the school should contact the department’s Legal Division for advice on the implications of cancellation (including incurring cancellation fees or loss of coverage under the insurance policy.

If a tour operator cannot honour a booking or cancels a tour part-way through the tour, through no fault of the students attending the tour as planned, then any payments made in respect of that cancelled booking should be refunded. However, there is unlikely to be the ability to claim damages from the tour operator beyond the amount of the refund.

Travel Insurance

Tour operators often offer travel insurance as part of the travel package. The department strongly recommends against using tour operators to obtain insurance. Principals should refer to the guidance in the Travel insurance for overseas excursions section above and make arrangements for the school staff and students to be covered under VMIA.

Staffing and supervision

The supervision requirements set out in the Supervision chapter of these guidelines apply to overseas excursions. School staff must read this chapter carefully to ensure the staffing arrangements meet the policy requirements.

Tour operator or activity operator staff (external staff) can only be included in the overall staffing numbers for the excursion when they are on duty and available on the same basis as school staff. This means that when the external staff are ‘off duty’, or will not be with the school group (including flights), they cannot be included in the overall staff-student supervision requirements.

Risk assessment

Many tour operators who conduct overseas travel experiences for schools will complete and provide risk assessments to the school. However, the school must complete their own risk register for the excursion as part of the approval process and as set out in the Risk management planning chapter of these guidelines.

It is important that schools complete their own risk register in order to:

• ensure all risks are clearly identified
• ensure measures in place to manage the risks (controls and treatments) are consistent with relevant department policy
• ensure specific risks to students and staff (including but not limited to risks associated with having external staff supervising the excursion) are addressed.

Schools should consider drawing upon the advice in the tour operator risk assessment when identifying controls or treatments for specific risks.

Staff should also familiarise themselves with the emergency management procedures of the tour operator to ensure they complement the school’s excursion emergency management plan.

Medical information form – camps and overseas excursions

The Medical information form – camps and overseas excursions (DOCX) must be completed by a parent or carer prior to their child going on camp or an overseas excursion. The information on this form will be used if a child requires medical assistance while on camp or overseas. The information on this form must be current at the time of the camp or overseas excursion.

Designated school contact

Some tour operators may have a dedicated emergency support hotline or contact person. However, the school must still have a designated contact person in the event of an emergency as per the requirements set out in the Emergency or critical incident management chapter of these guidelines.