School Community Work

Appropriateness of tasks and settings

The school must ensure that the tasks and settings of a particular school community work are appropriate for the student and unlikely to harm the student's health, safety, moral or material welfare or development. In doing so, the school should consider:

• the student's age, maturity, competency, and physical and emotional development
• the nature and management of the school community work or activity
• the nature and environment of the workplace where the school community work is to be performed

For example, the following types of work or activities are likely to harm a student's health or safety unless the risk of harm is managed or minimised:

• repetitive bending, twisting or lifting
• manual lifting of heavy items
• working with or near cooking equipment, or any other equipment that involves unsafe temperatures
• working with sharp instruments, power-operated tools or other dangerous equipment
• working near moving vehicles
• working at heights
• working with uncontrolled animals
• working in extreme weather conditions

For more information about age-appropriate tasks and settings for volunteer student workers, refer to Work Experience.

In addition, the Child Employment Act 2003 (Vic) prohibits the employment of a child:

• in door-to-door selling
• on a fishing boat, other than a boat operating on inland waters
• on a building or construction site — whether commercial or residential, at any time before the buildings on the site are at lock-up stage

Regardless of whether or not the student volunteer is covered by the Child Employment Act, students must not undertake these activities when participating in school community work.