Managing and Reporting School Incidents (Including Emergencies)

Roles and responsibilities

The principal is responsible for the initial incident severity rating and reporting. This responsibility can be delegated to other school staff at the principal’s discretion. It is recommended that the list of delegates include at least one school staff member outside the school’s leadership team.

Where an incident is rated as either Extreme or High, the regional office area executive director and/or the Director, Security and Emergency Management Division will also have governance and oversight of incident management, particularly in relation to reviewing the categorisation of the incident and coordinating supports. The nature of this responsibility will vary depending on the severity of incident and the level of support required by the principal.

The decision to evacuate a school during an emergency rests with the principal who should enact the school’s Emergency Management Plan based on the best available information. However, the principal must seek regional director approval (by contacting their senior education improvement leader (SEIL)) to temporarily close a school or dismiss students early in response to an emergency which involves a risk to the health or safety of students or staff. Additional advice to inform this decision should be sourced from regional emergency management staff, their SEIL, and emergency services agencies, where appropriate.