Independent Schools Victoria Compliance Framework

Day to day operational issues including records management, food safety and privacy.

Duty of care

Please scroll to the bottom of the page for contacts and links

Do you need to comply?

Yes

Conditions of compliance

In addition to their professional obligations, principals and teachers have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to protect students in their charge from risks of injury that are reasonably foreseeable.

If you have to comply, what do you have to do?

Although the general duty is to take reasonable steps to protect students from reasonably foreseeable risks of injury, specific (but not exhaustive) requirements of the duty involve:

• providing adequate supervision in the school or on school activities
• providing safe and suitable buildings, grounds and equipment.

The teacher's duty is greater than that of the ordinary citizen in that a teacher is obliged to protect a student from reasonably foreseeable harm or to assist an injured student, while the ordinary citizen may choose to do nothing in a similar situation.

What are the consequences if you don't comply?

You may be the subject of litigation

Who will help you?

Independent Schools Victoria contact:

Peter Roberts
Director, School Services
Ph: 9825 7211
peter.roberts@independentschools.vic.edu.au

Annia Dear
Risk and Compliance Advisor
Ph: 9825 7275
annia.dear@independentschools.vic.edu.au

Elspeth Adamson
Manager, Student Services
Ph: 9825 7204
elspeth.adamson@independentschools.vic.edu.au

Other links:

DEECD: School Policy and Advisory Guide - Duty of Care

DEECD: School Policy and Advisory Guide - Supervision

Submitted 4/24/2006, edited 29/02/12