Procedures for issuing orders
It is important that authorised persons follow the procedure set out in this chapter when they make or review a school community safety order (order). There are different procedures for making immediate orders and ongoing orders. In exercising their powers, authorised persons must act reasonably, impartially, in good faith and must not act outside of their powers.
For further information and advice, contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au
Procedure for issuing an immediate order
An immediate order can ban a person from entering or remaining on any school-related place of the relevant school specified in the order. Immediate orders are for imminent and unacceptable risks. If an authorised person wishes to make an order banning other behaviour, where the risk is not imminent, they must consider whether there are any grounds to make an ongoing order.
Authorised persons should call the police if issuing an immediate order or giving notice of an intention to issue an immediate order results in escalated behaviour that warrants calling the police. The following steps must be followed in issuing an immediate order.
1. Ensure that all mandatory requirements (grounds) are satisfied with regard to all mandatory considerations
Refer to Grounds for issuing an order and Mandatory considerations before issuing an order.
2. Give verbal notice before making an immediate order (if possible)
Although there is no requirement to give notice of a proposal to make an immediate order, this is recommended where it is reasonable and safe to do so. In some cases, giving verbal notice before making an immediate order may have the effect of making a person re-think their actions and refrain from continuing to act in a manner that poses an imminent and unacceptable risk.
Examples of when it will not be reasonable or safe to provide advance notice include:
- where the potential harm is so imminent that there is no opportunity to provide notice
- where it may escalate the situation causing safety concerns.
Authorised persons should refer to the script for issuing a verbal immediate school community safety order when verbally issuing an immediate order.
3. Make an immediate order, either verbally or in writing
An immediate order may be made either orally or by written notice given to the person it applies to. Immediate orders may be made orally because they deal with situations where there is an imminent risk of harm and swift action is needed to de-escalate the situation by removing the person from the school grounds.
There may be circumstances where it is apparent that the person does not understand what they are being told, but it is not possible to provide support or assistance (such as an interpreter) at the time. In such circumstances, the authorised person should identify adjustments at a later time, for example, providing a translated or plain English version of an order. Refer to the Resources tab to download fact sheets in simple English or translated into 30 languages.
Verbally issuing an order
Authorised persons should refer to the script for issuing a verbal immediate school community safety order when verbally issuing an immediate order.
If an authorised person verbally issues an immediate order they must give written notice of the order to the person it applies to as soon as practicable after making the oral order. That written notice must include the information above.
Issuing an order in writing
Follow the process below in step 4.
4. Submit an incident report on eduSafe Plus
As well as creating an order on eduSafe Plus, authorised persons must also create a separate incident report on eduSafe Plus outlined in the Managing and Reporting School Incidents (including emergencies) policy. By creating an incident report, this will enable staff to receive adequate post-incident support and advice on managing hazards from the department.
Where time permits, an incident report should be prepared before creating an order. If the behaviour that the order has been issued in response to relates to an existing incident report, a new incident report does not need to be created.
Related incident reports can be cross-referenced in a school community safety order report. If you require assistance or support to submit an incident report, contact the OHS Advisory Service on 1300 074 715 or safety@education.vic.gov.au
5. Report the immediate order on eduSafe Plus
The authorised person must contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au for assistance with reporting an immediate order.
An authorised person must report an immediate order on eduSafe Plus in the following circumstances:
- after verbally issuing an order
- if they haven’t issued an order verbally, before they issue an order in writing.
For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.
When describing the situation on eduSafe Plus that has led to an order being issued, an authorised person should:
- record a complete description of the inappropriate behaviour using objective language, along with a description of its impact on the person affected by that behaviour (for example, when you raised your voice and spoke over staff member X, staff member X felt intimidated), rather than state subjective conclusions about the behaviour (for example, you were rude to staff member X). The latter description may aggravate the situation, as the person involved will likely dispute your conclusion. This approach may also allow relationship repair efforts to begin by focusing on changing behaviour, increasing the chance of success of such efforts
- avoid the use of names or identifying features of persons (other than the person the order applies to), unless it is critical to being able to explain the grounds.
6. Create a written copy of an immediate order
Once an immediate order is reported on eduSafe Plus, the authorised person must complete this Letter template to issue an immediate school community safety order in writing to provide to the person. This template includes an immediate order template, a written submission form that the subject of the order may choose to complete and a communication and access protocol (refer to below step).
7. Prepare a communication and access protocol (if the person has a child enrolled at the school)
The school community safety order scheme requires communication and access protocols to be established to minimise the impact of an order on parents’ involvement in their child’s education as well as on the child’s ability to access school. Refer to the Communication and access protocol template , which is also included in the Letter template to issue an immediate school community safety order in writing.
Where possible, this should be provided to the person subject to an order along with the written immediate order and uploaded to eduSafe Plus. For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.
8. Serve the person with a written copy of the immediate order
The written copy of the immediate order should be personally handed to the person or sent to them by post or email. Authorised persons can arrange for and rely on other people to send or hand the order to the person it applies to, without invalidating the order. Authorised persons should consider the risk to their health and safety when determining whether to issue in person or issue by post or email.
Where possible, an authorised person should give notice both electronically by email as well as by registered post. It may not be possible to send written notice to the person by post or email, for example, where the person may not have a postal address or access to a device to access emails. In these circumstances the authorised person should personally hand the notice to the person.
If the authorised person is not able to give the written order to the person, the authorised person must update the immediate order report on eduSafe Plus to attach a copy of the order and reflect:
- the reason a written notice was not able to be given to the person the order applies to
- a description of the person the order applies to, if the person is unknown to them and refused to provide their name or contact details.
9. Review the order, including any submissions from the person an order has been made to
An authorised person must, as soon as is practicable but no later than the last day an immediate order is in place, review the immediate order. This involves considering whether grounds for an ongoing order exist.
If the authorised person decides grounds for an ongoing order exists, they must follow the procedure for ongoing orders (set out in the next section, Procedure for issuing an ongoing order).
Where grounds do not exist, the immediate order must be revoked. A person who has been issued with an immediate order may make submissions to the authorised person at any time while the order is in place, which must be considered by the authorised person before deciding the outcome of the review. The Letter template to issue an immediate school community safety order in writing includes a copy of the written submission form, which should be provided to the subject of the order when given to them.
The result of the authorised person’s decision following the review and any submissions received from the person must be reported on eduSafe Plus. For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.
Inclusion and access measures
A request to make an oral submission instead of a written submission must be accommodated unless there is a good reason not to do so, such as if the person who has been issued with an order has been verbally abusive towards staff.
The person may also request to nominate another person to make a submission or submissions on their behalf. The authorised person may also consider allowing the person subject to an order more time to make a submission if their vulnerability impacts on timeliness.
Procedure for issuing an ongoing order
Ongoing orders can prohibit or limit a person from more behaviours than what is prohibited by immediate orders, for up to 12 months. The following steps must be followed in issuing an ongoing order.
1. Ensure that all mandatory requirements (grounds) are satisfied and have regarded all mandatory considerations
Refer to Grounds for issuing an order and Mandatory considerations before issuing an order.
2. Submit an incident report on eduSafe Plus
As well as creating and order on eduSafe Plus, authorised persons must also create a separate incident report on eduSafe Plus outlined in the Managing and Reporting School Incidents (including emergencies) policy. By creating an incident report, this will enable staff to receive adequate post-incident support and advice on managing hazards from the department.
Where time permits, an incident report should be prepared before creating an order. If the behaviour that the order has been issued in response to relates to an existing incident report, a new incident report does not need to be created.
Related incident reports can be cross-referenced in a school community safety order report. If you require assistance or support to submit an incident report, contact the OHS Advisory Service on 1300 074 715 or safety@education.vic.gov.au
3. Prepare a notice of the proposal to issue an ongoing order
Before making an ongoing order, an authorised person must provide notice that they intend to make the order to the person to who would be receiving it. This is to provide reasons for why an order is proposed to be issued and invite the individual to make submissions as to why the order should not be issued.
The authorised person must contact Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au for assistance before preparing a notice of the proposal to issue an ongoing order.
The authorised person must complete the Letter template – Notice of proposal to issue an ongoing school community safety order to provide to the person. This template includes an ongoing order template and a written submission form that the subject of the proposed order may choose to complete to provide a submission.
4. Serve the person with the notice of the proposal to issue an ongoing order
The proposal to issue an ongoing order should be personally handed to the person or sent to them by post or email. Authorised persons should consider the risk to their health and safety when determining whether to issue in person or issue by post or email. Authorised persons can also arrange for and rely on other people to send or hand the order to the person it applies to, without invalidating the order.
Where possible, an authorised person should give notice both electronically by email as well as by registered post. It may not be possible to send written notice to the person by post or email, for example, where the person may not have a postal address or access to a device to access emails. In these circumstances the authorised person should personally hand the notice to the person.
5. Consider any submissions from the subject to determine whether to proceed with issuing an ongoing order
The authorised person must provide the person at least 7 days (from the date the notice of the proposal to make an order is given) to make submissions on the proposed order. The authorised person must consider any submissions received from the person before deciding to make the order.
The Letter template – Notice of proposal to issue an ongoing school community safety order includes a copy of the written submission form, which should be provided to the subject of the order when given to them.
Any submissions received from the person, as well as the authorised person’s comments in consideration of the submission must be uploaded to eduSafe Plus. For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.
Inclusion and access measures
A request to make an oral submission instead of a written submission must be accommodated unless there is a good reason not to do so, such as if the person who has been issued with an order has been verbally abusive towards staff. Authorised persons should consider the risks to their health and safety when determining whether oral submissions can be made.
The person may also request to nominate another person to make a submission or submissions on their behalf. The authorised person may also consider allowing the person subject to an order more time to make a submission if their vulnerability impacts on timeliness.
Extensions
At any time before an order is made, the person to whom the order is proposed to apply may request an extension of time to make submissions. If an authorised person decides to approve an extension, they must give the person written notice of the extension, which sets out the new time within which submissions must be made.
If the proposed ongoing order is being considered as a result of an authorised person’s review of an immediate order (refer to step 8 under ‘Procedure for making an immediate order’), and an extension of time to provide submissions is granted, any time taken by the applicant within the extension of time to make submissions is not counted towards whichever is the earlier of the period specified in the immediate order or the 14 days after the day on which the order is made. The written notice of the extension must also set out the date on which the immediate order expires.
6. Decide whether to proceed with issuing an ongoing order
Where an authorised person has considered any written submissions and decided not to make an order, they must inform the person that an order will not be made.
Where an authorised person has considered any written submissions and decided to make an order, the Letter template to confirm the issuing of an ongoing school community safety order should be personally handed to the person or sent to them by post or email. Authorised persons should consider the risk to their health and safety when determining whether to issue in person or issue by post or email. Authorised persons can arrange for and rely on other people to send or hand the order to the person it applies to, without invalidating the order.
Where possible, an authorised person should give the Letter template to confirm the issuing of an ongoing school community safety order by both email as well as by registered post. It may not be possible to send written notice to the person by post or email, for example, where the person may not have a postal address or access to a device to access emails. In these circumstances the authorised person should personally hand the notice to the person.
7. Report the ongoing order on eduSafe Plus
The authorised person must contact the Legal Division on 03 9637 3146 or email legal.services@education.vic.gov.au for assistance before issuing an ongoing order.
eduSafe Plus must be used to issue an ongoing order. For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.
When describing the situation that has led to an order being proposed, an authorised person should:
- record a complete description of the inappropriate behaviour using objective language, along with a description of its impact on the person affected by that behaviour (for example, when you raised your voice and spoke over staff member X, staff member X felt intimidated), rather than state subjective conclusions about the behaviour (for example, you were rude to staff member X). The latter description may aggravate the situation, as the person involved will likely dispute your conclusion. This approach may also allow relationship repair efforts to begin by focusing on changing behaviour, increasing the chance of success of such efforts
- avoid the use of names or identifying features of persons (other than the person the order applies to), unless it is critical to being able to explain the grounds.
8. Prepare a communication and access protocol (if the person has a child enrolled at the school and an ongoing order is ultimately issued)
The school community safety order scheme requires communication and access protocols to be established to minimise the impact of an order on parents’ involvement in their child’s education as well as on the child’s ability to access school.
Refer to the Communication and access protocol template , which is also included in the Letter template to confirm the issuing of an ongoing school community safety order .
Where possible, the communication and access protocol should be provided to the person subject to an order along with the Letter template to confirm the issuing of an ongoing school community safety order. Once prepared, a copy must be uploaded to eduSafe Plus. For more information on reporting on eduSafe Plus, refer to Reporting an order.
Reviewed 10 July 2022