LawSense Law for School Counsellors VIC 2025

Registration

Program

8.45      LawSense Welcome

8.50      Chairperson’s Remarks

Bernadette Cronin, General Manager, Student Engagement Team, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS)

9.00      Case Studies: Exploring Best Practice Note-Taking – Good Versus Bad Notes

Principles to Apply

• Outlining key principles to apply in note-taking and record keeping by school counsellors, including:
  • level of detail or clarity
  • ensuring you cover key aspects
  • “loaded” words from which inferences could be drawn about the writer
  • recording conversations and dealing with hearsay
  • communications with external professionals
  • recording your hypotheses, investigations, conclusions and setting out the basis of opinions
  • making changes to notes after they were originally written
  • naming or referring to other individuals in case notes

Learnings from Examples and Case Studies – Good v Bad Notes

• Exploring best practice note-taking and good versus not so good notes in particular areas:
  • cyber bullying
  • sexualised behaviours/assault
  • anxiety, self-harm
  • case management of complex matters

Dr Gary Banks, Principal Clinical Psychologist and Managing Director, Sydney Counselling Centre; Authorised Clinician, NSW Children’s Court; Approved Clinician (Family Reports and Single Expert Reports); Accredited Family Dispute Resolution Provider

10.00    Morning Tea

10.20    Disclosure to Parents, Parent Consent and Parent Involvement in Student Counselling: Navigating Student Wishes, Mature Minors, Separated Parents and Non-Cooperative or Non-Engaged Parents

• Outlining circumstances where parents or one parent/carer may not be involved in or not be provided with information about student care, including:
  • where the student does not wish the parent/carer to be informed or involved
  • there is parent separation and a parent refuses to consent to counselling or to cooperate
  • parents/carers disagree there is an issue, are non-cooperative or disengaged
  • there are risks to the student from the involvement of a parent/carer

Student Wishes, Assessing the Mature Minor and Considerations with Non-Disclosure to Parents

• Examining legal requirements in assessing and managing mature minors
• Exploring duty of care issues in not disclosing to parents and practical considerations
• Exploring circumstances where you would be able to provide information to a parent without student consent
• Effectively documenting assessment about whether a student is a mature minor

Parent Separation – Consent to Counselling and Rights to Information

• Exploring what parent can consent to student counselling where there is family separation
• When do you need consent from both parents?
• Understanding parent rights to information where there are no Court orders:
  • should information provided to one separated parent about counselling be provided to the other? What if the student or other parent objects?

Parent Disagreement/Non-Engagement

• Navigating rights and obligations where there is disagreement between parents about student care
• Understanding your duty of care and obligations where parents deny there is an issue with the student or are disengaged. To what extent are you required to take proactive steps? When does mandatory reporting apply?

Steven Troeth, Partner, Gadens

11.20    Clarifying Your Legal Duties in Responding to Bullying and Cyberbullying

• Outlining current laws applying to bullying/cyberbullying in schools, including relevant impacts of recent changes to social media laws
• Examining what sort of behaviour falls within the legal definitions of bullying or conduct requiring action
• Understanding your obligations in investigating incidents:
  • should you make enquires or investigate?
  • what steps should you reasonably take and what evidence should you seek?
• Understanding the scope of powers of the e-Safety Commissioner and other enforcement agencies
• Clarifying your obligations in responding where:
  • conduct occurs outside school with students from other schools
  • a student does not wish you to act or disclose to parents
  • a student discloses potential crimes
• Outlining notable recent cases and implications for school counsellors

Jason Newman, Principal, Gilchrist Connell

12.20    Lunch

1.00      Chairperson’s Remarks

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, Managing Director, Psychologist, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Dr Emma Steer, Head of Psychological Services, Clinical and Educational & Developmental Psychologist MAPS, Lauriston Girls’ School

1.05      Exploring Best Practice Records Management, Exploring AI and Sharing Information Inside and Outside the School

Obligations Regarding Privacy, Record-Keeping, Psychologist versus Non-Psychologist

• Outlining key obligations regarding storage and retention of counselling records – privacy, confidentiality, consent
• Examining the potential difference where the school counsellor is a registered psychologist versus non-registered psychologist
• Outlining exceptions to privacy and confidentiality applying to wellbeing and health records
• Exploring the potential conflict between professional obligations not to disclose and duty of care obligations of school management – who has authority over what information is released?

Data Storage, Access Permissions and Sharing Within the School

• Examining how notes should be kept and stored – exploring best practice with emails, texts, hand-written and electronic notes, and social media/web
• Exploring optimum counselling data management policies and learnings from schools:
  • who should have access?
  • what permissions should be in place?
  • how can information be shared to meet school duty of care and privacy/professional obligations?
  • learnings from case studies and examples

Disclosure of Counselling Information Outside School – Information Sharing Legislation

• Outlining legislation allowing a school counsellor to share information with other organisations
• Examining key considerations in responding to and making information sharing requests

Exploring AI Use

• Understanding options to use AI for generating notes and other counselling records and how some schools are currently using AI
• Examining current legal and risk issues in using AI in school counselling – including privacy/confidentiality, IP/copyright, bias, “hallucination

Cecelia Irvine-So, Practice Leader, Education and Corporate Advisory, Moores

2.05      Afternoon Tea

2.25      Dealing with Harmful Sexualised Behaviours Between Students

• Understanding the role of the school counsellor in supporting the alleged survivor and/or alleged perpetrator
• Examining potential risks and conflicts where the school counsellor is involved with both students
• Understanding your duties where agencies will not act, or they close the case and you still consider there are ongoing issues
• Understanding the obligations and options where the alleged victim does not wish the matter to be disclosed, investigated or reported
• Balancing privacy obligations with your duties to other students and parents

Examining When Reporting Obligations to Agencies and Police Are Triggered

• Evaluating when legal obligations to report and notify police are triggered

Dealing with Police

• Police interviewing students or staff:
  • what are a school’s rights and obligations to participate?
  • what are the rights of the alleged student perpetrator and student witnesses the police wish to interview
  • supporting a student or participating in police interviews – key matters to consider
• Examining your rights and obligations in meeting requests for documents or other material from the police.
• Providing a witness statement and giving evidence to police – what is your exposure and how should this be managed?

Communicating with the Alleged Perpetrator, Survivor/Victim, Parents

• Understanding how communications between the school and parties can and has been used in evidence
• Communicating in a way that is supportive, but considers the legal position of the parties involved, including the school

Eve Bignell, Senior Counsel, Xavier College; Former, Director, Workplace and Education Law Branch, Legal Division, Department of Education and Training, Victoria

3.25      Case Study: Working with The Principal on Complex Issues While Best Navigating Your Employment Obligations, Professional Duties, Privacy/Confidentiality and Best Interests of the Student

• Outlining key laws and considerations that apply:
  • Duty of care, risk & student safety
  • Employment obligations
  • Consent – student and parent
  • Privacy/confidentiality obligations, including sharing information within the school
  • Professional obligations and guidelines – psychologists and non-psychologists
  • Wellbeing policies, student consent forms
  • Involvement of:
    • other wellbeing or health staff, including school nurse
    • external professionals
    • parents/carers and other stakeholders
  • Navigating complex scenarios

Facilitator:

Ben Tallboys, Principal, Russell Kennedy Lawyers

Panel:

Susan Just, Principal, Lauriston Girls’ School

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, Managing Director, Psychologist, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Dr Emma Steer, Head of Psychological Services, Clinical and Educational & Developmental Psychologist MAPS, Lauriston Girls’ School

Mark Murphy, Principal, Whitefriars College 

Martha Goodridge-Kelly, Principal, Suzanne Cory High School

4.25      Closing Remarks

4.30      Event Close

Presenters / panelists include:

	Dr Gary Banks is a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist, in practice for more than 25 years. In addition to a number of other clinical positions, he has been appointed to the NSW Children’s’ Court Clinic since its inception and as a Family Consultant to the Family Law Court. He has been a provider to the NSW Legal Aid Commission and the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for more than 20 years.
	Steven Troeth has extensive experience in the education sector, including acting for independent and Catholic schools. He advises on employment, student and parent issues, including staff and teacher disputes, discrimination, bullying, cyber and social media issues, enterprise agreements and contractual disputes.
	Jason Newman's practice includes the defence of claims in the education sector. He has advised many insurers, schools and teachers on claims and potential claims against them. His clients include Catholic Church Insurances, several major brokers and Lloyds Syndicates.
	Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is one of Australia's highest profile psychologists working in all forms of media. A successful author, speaker, broadcaster and mental health advocate, Michael works in private practice in Melbourne. Michael has a long career in mental health and advocacy with respect to youth including being a founding member of the National Coalition Against Bullying; he was appointed the Queensland Government’s expert on anti-bullying; and headed a NSW Government review in to the non-educational use of smartphones in schools.
	Dr Emma Steer works as the Senior Psychologist at Lauriston Girls’ School and in private practice at Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre. She has worked with children, adolescents and young people for over seventeen years in clinical and educational settings. Emma also works with athletes and performing artists. Emma is endorsed as both a Clinical and Educational and Developmental Psychologist and a professional psychology supervisor.
	Cecelia Irvine-So is accredited as a specialist in Business Law by the Law Institute of Victoria. Cecelia works for a significant number of independent schools regarding joint ventures, corporate compliance, enrolment terms, and privacy compliance, including the new mandatory data breach reporting regime. Cecelia believes in best achieving change and compliance by drawing on the powerful values of each school.
	Ben Tallboys provides sector-specific, practical legal solutions to schools across Australia. Ben is a passionate and effective advocate for principals dealing with complex matters relating to parents, staff and students, as well as their own employment.
	Beginning her teaching career in government schools in Queensland, Susan Just went on to gain extensive teaching and leadership experience in the independent school sector in Australia; she has been the Principal of three independent girls’ schools in Queensland and Canberra. Degrees Susan holds include a BA (UQ), Dip ED (UQ), M.Ed Admin (UNE) and Advanced Management Course (Harvard).
	Mark Murphy has been an educator in Catholic Schools for over 36 years. The last 25 of which have been spent exclusively in Catholic boys’ educational settings. During this time, he has held positions of leadership in several schools in student wellbeing, Teaching and Learning and faith leadership. Mark was Principal at Marcellin College Bulleen for 11 year and was appointed to the position of Principal at Whitefriars College Donvale in 2020.

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