Duty of care, contract arrangements, program fees
Duty of care
When a student attends a re-engagement program, the enrolling school retains duty of care for the student. The re-engagement provider also holds duty of care for the students enrolled in their program.
Often, the school will have little or no capacity to oversee the day-to-day running of a re-engagement program. In some instances, a student may also only be attending the re-engagement program part-time, and not attending any education setting when they are not at the re-engagement program. In these cases, a modified timetable should be utilised and signed off by the enrolling school principal.
Both schools and providers are subject to Ministerial Order No. 1359 – Implementing the Child Safe Standards – Managing the risk of child abuse in schools and school boarding premises (MO 1359). If there is a critical incident during the student’s attendance at a re-engagement program, both the school and the provider need to discharge their duty of care requirements as per MO 1359 and the department’s Child Safe Standards, including mandatory reporting and response requirements.
In all instances, duty of care arrangements must be clearly articulated and agreed upon by the enrolling school and the provider and documented in the responsibilities matrix within the Standard 7 to 10 contract (staff login required).
Contract arrangements
When a student decides to attend a re-engagement program, the arrangement must be formalised between the school and the provider, via a Standard 7 to 10 contract (staff login required) and a Contract cover sheet (staff login required).
The cover sheet includes a provider registration and program accreditation check for the school to complete, and is endorsed by the regional director. Checking appropriate registration ensures the provider complies with appropriate staffing qualifications, program facilities and resources and appropriate use of funding. The provider will also supply evidence of these to the school upon request, and the enrolling school principal will sign off on the cover sheet registration check.
The cover sheet also allows for confidential information collection of student enrolments for the department, to ensure appropriate department oversight of student movements and monitoring of vulnerable and priority cohorts.
A standard 7 to 10 contract must also be in place between the school and the re-engagement provider, for each student attending a re-engagement program. This contract will document the roles and responsibilities of each party in the responsibilities matrix (including duty of care arrangements), and the funding arrangements that are in place. The contract must be agreed upon and signed by the school principal and the provider.
Before finalising the contract, an unsigned copy, along with the contract cover sheet attachment, must be emailed to the Manager – Youth Pathways and Transitions (MYPAT) in the relevant regional office for final review and endorsement by the regional director. A final copy of the executed agreement must be provided to all signing parties, as well as the department regional team.
While the enrolment process is being completed by schools, providers and the department, schools continue to have a duty of care to the student which includes continuing efforts to engage the student with their education, and to ensure no gap in student support during the administrative process.
If subsequent students from a school are to attend a re-engagement program that has already been endorsed by the regional director previously, a contract variation (detailed in the standard 7 to 10 contract template) must be submitted to the regional office, along with an updated cover sheet with new student details. The regional director will then endorse the addition of these students to the partnership agreement, before the school and provider sign off on the agreement variation.
During the contract period, if the school has any concerns that the re-engagement provider is not meeting its obligations under the contract, the school should contact the regional office for advice.
The standard 7 to 10 contract and cover sheet templates can be located on the Resources tab.
Re-engagement program placement fees
When a student is enrolled in a re-engagement program, existing student funding must be used to purchase the program. This funding includes the Student Resource Package (SRP) allocation for the student, as negotiated between the school and provider, adhering to the placement fees as advised below. Parents or carers must not be required to provide any additional funding to cover the costs of the re-engagement program.
Any other funding attached to the student must also be transferred, to ensure the student continues to receive the full benefits to which they are entitled. This may include (but is not limited to):
- the Program for Students with Disability
- Disability Inclusion funding
- English as an Additional Language funding
- Career Education funding
- Camps, Sports and Excursions funding.
All funding arrangements must be documented clearly in the Standard 7 to 10 contract (staff login required) between the school and the provider and reviewed and endorsed via the Contract cover sheet (staff login required), by the relevant regional office.
Placement fees 2025
Fees for re-engagement programs are updated annually on this policy site under the Guidance tab. The fees for the 2025 school year for secondary students in years 7 to 10 are:
- 2025 daily rate: $46.34
- 2025 weekly rate: $231.70
- 2025 annual rate: $9,268
Reviewed 04 November 2024