Law and Order

About the program

Increase your capacity to lead your school's approach to manage legal and policy obligations and risks.

Law and Order will equip you with the knowledge and skills you need to navigate Department of Education policy requirements and respond to operational compliance and legal issues that arise in schools.

Leave with a stronger understanding of key legal concepts, obligations and department policy. You will also be supported with practical resources for navigating sensitive issues such as family disputes, child safety, inappropriate parent and or carer behaviour, and duty of care.

What you'll learn

• Master school-based legal frameworks. Gain a clear understanding of the legislative requirements and policies governing school operations.  
• Navigate complex duty of care obligations. Develop practical skills to manage student safety, supervision and risk mitigation.  
• Resolve disputes and legal challenges. Acquire strategies to manage conflict, family law complexities and challenging behaviours. 

Expert facilitators

Legal workshops

Facilitated by senior and experienced staff including lawyers from the department’s Legal Division who have spent many years advising schools and the department.

Compliance workshops

Facilitated by staff from the department’s Operational Policy, School Engagement and Compliance Division. They support schools to meet their obligations under the Minimum Standards for school registration, including the Child Safe Standards.

Who should apply

Roles

This program is designed for:

• school principals
• assistant principals
• business managers
• leading teachers.

School sectors

This program is only available to the Victorian Government sector. 

Structure

Delivery

Law and Order comprises 8, 1-1.5 hour workshops.

Workshops explore a range of resources, including case studies and policies, and are designed to be interactive through group discussions and presentations. 

To support your area of interest, intakes are designated for:

• Law and Order: Overview (parts 1 and 2)
• duty of care
• family disputes and intervention orders
• discrimination and human rights
• challenging parent and or carer behaviour
• child safety and Minimum Standards
• contracts.

You must attend Workshop 1 before attending Workshops 2 to 8. 

Workshops 3 to 8 are standalone, so you can choose which workshops to attend, depending on your specific needs.

Workshop 1: Law and Order - Overview Part 1 

This workshop will provide an overview of key areas of law including:

• seeking legal advice from the Legal Division
• local school policy and department policy
• family law issues including intervention or parenting orders and the Family Law Act
• managing challenging parent and or carer behaviours
• duty of care
• discrimination law (with a focus on students with disabilities)
• privacy and information sharing.

Workshop 2: Law and Order - Overview Part 2

This workshop will provide an overview of key areas of law including:

• privacy and information sharing, including under the Child Information Sharing Scheme and Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme
• social media use by staff
• student suspension and expulsion
• student enrolment and attendance
• Child Safe Standards
• reportable conduct
• worker screening (i.e. Working with Children Clearances (WWCC) and child safety suitability screening requirements during recruitment processes).

Workshop 3: Family Disputes and Intervention Orders

This workshop will specifically look at:

• family law as it applies in schools
• disputes between parents and carers
• types of intervention orders and intervention order issues in schools.

Workshop 4: Duty of Care

This workshop explores the legal obligation of duty of care through real case studies and provides practical guidance on how to meet your duty of care to students.

Workshop 5: Child Safety and Minimum Standards

This workshop includes mitigation actions to prevent institutional abuse in schools. It explores:

• the Minimum Standards Assessment process
• tips for schools to become and remain compliant
• key risks
• compliance supports and resources available to schools.

Workshop 6: Contracts

This workshop provides guidance and advice for principals and school staff responsible for managing the commercial side of school operations.

Drawing on insights gained from providing legal advice to hundreds of schools, this program delves into the most common types of contracts that schools manage.

Participants will gain a better understanding of how to effectively identify legal risks and negotiate with suppliers to achieve positive school outcomes. Policy support, templates and other resources available to schools will also be provided.

Workshop 7: Challenging Parent and or Carer Behaviour

Understand your legal obligations, rights and the available tools to help prevent and manage challenging behaviours of parents, carers and others in the school community. This applies to when they are on school grounds and in school communications.

Through case studies, you will develop a greater understanding of the options and supports available and when it might be appropriate to use the:

• School Community Safety Order Scheme
• Trespass Warning Notices
• other tools to address such behaviour.

Workshop 8: Discrimination and Human Rights 

This workshop will support you to understand the key concepts in discrimination law, with a focus on students with disability, and provides an overview of the Charter of Human Rights.

Learning outcomes

You will learn:

• your school’s key legal and policy obligations
• when to seek legal or other department advice
• strategies and steps for reducing legal risk in relation to:
  • family disputes and intervention orders
  • effective responses to disputes and managing challenging behaviours of parents and or carers and visitors
  • legal obligations for students with disabilities
  • duty of care, as it relates to bullying, excursions, camps and social media
  • the legal framework and department policy underpinning enrolment, attendance, suspension and expulsion
  • contracting with third parties in schools
  • information sharing and privacy
  • strategies for establishing and maintaining child safe environments and preventing institutional abuse.

Fees and support

This program is fully subsidised for Victorian Government schools.