Dealing with Challenging Scenarios, Managing Communications, Meetings & Media, Optimising Staff Training, Implementing Best Practice Policies & Codes of Conduct,
Date | Three Sessions: 24, 31 October & 7 November 2025 |
Time | Session One, 24 October: 12.00pm-1.45pm Session Two, 31 October: 12.00pm-2.15pm Session Three, 7 November: 12.00pm-1.45pm |
Venue | Live Online with recording (recording access expires 15 December 2025) |
Pricing | $595 Prices includes gst. |
Sector | Non-State Schools |
CPD | Addresses 7.2 of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. |
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Program
SESSION ONE – 24 October 2025 – LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND COMPLEX SCENARIOS
12.00 LawSense Welcome
12.05 Chairperson’s Introduction
Dr Gareth Leechman, Headmaster, Arndell Anglican College
12.10 Understanding the Difficult Parent and Examining the Relevant Legal Framework
- Exploring the sources of parent complaints in schools and understanding the difficult parent
- Understanding the applicable laws, including contracts, duty of care and new laws on managing psychosocial hazards to staff in schools
- Examining how the new laws on psychosocial hazards affect management by the school of parent interactions
- Examining the school’s obligations in practice to students and staff in managing difficult parents
- Understanding when and how you can implement more robust options:
- restricting or limiting communication with the parent
- restricting the parent from involvement in school activities
- banning a parent from a school
Navigating Complex Complaints Including Student Disability, Separated Parents, Responses to Student Discipline, Parents on Social Media
‘Vexatious’ Parents Bullying Staff
- Assessing whether a parent is “vexatious” or bullying staff
- Understanding what particular legal rights and obligations apply
- Considering the approach that should be taken
Parents of Students with a Disability
- Exploring common causes of complaint escalation and conflict
- Following a process and consulting to ensure you have a defensible position
- Responding to parent requests to provide certain adjustments
- Exploring approaches and outcomes where parents pursue discrimination proceedings against a school
- Understanding the School’s role
- Exploring unique challenges in dealing with parents in conflict including
- parents demanding information
- attending school contrary to Court Orders
- contrary views of parents on student issues
- school fee disputes
Responses to Student Discipline
- Procedural fairness, documentation and avoiding the landmines
Online Criticism
- Responding to posts or messages online – understanding the legal position of the school and/or staff targeted and potential pitfalls
- Approaching websites, blogs or social media platforms to have material removed. What are your options where material is hosted offshore?
- Effectively dealing with the parent posting the material
Staff Who Are Parents, Relatives or Family Friends
- Navigating circumstances where staff are parents of a student at the school or there may be another conflict-of-interest conflict including where they are extended family or known friend
Different Cultures & Parent Bias
- Navigating perceived or actual parent bias towards the school staff member
Jennifer Patterson, Partner, MinterEllison
1.40 Closing Remarks
1.45 Session Close
SESSION TWO – 31 October 2025 – MANAGING COMMUNICATIONS & MEETINGS & IMPLEMENTING STAFF TRAINING
12.00 LawSense Welcome
12.05 Chairperson’s Introduction
Natalie Charles, Principal, St Catherine’s School, Toorak
12.10 Managing Communications, Privacy, Meetings, Mediation and Media to Optimise Management of the Difficult Parent and Protect Your Legal Position
- Developing a communications strategy in dealing with difficult parents
- Navigating potential privacy issues in communicating with parents, including where it involves communicating consequences or action regarding staff or other students
- Exploring options for informal or formal mediation
- Managing communications:
- when to phone, email, meet, negotiate or mediate
- dealing with requests by parents to record communications or meetings
- taking and distributing notes of meetings or other interactions
- managing meetings or communications where the parent is using or wishes to include a lawyer or barrister
- Using “Without Prejudice” communications to try and negotiate an outcome without prejudicing your legal position
- Exploring best practice letter templates
- Implementing effective record keeping to protect your legal position – understanding what you should record and who should be keeping notes of records
- Knowing when to get lawyers involved
Steven Troeth, Partner, Gadens
Managing Difficult Parents and Media
- Exploring strategies to mitigate the risks of difficult parents going to the media or providing school communications to the media
- Understanding the media “cycle” and how this informs assessment of potential reputation risk and response
- Managing journalists and their requests for information
- Exploring strategies to influence or control the narrative to optimise accurate reporting or “turn a story around”
- Learning from recent school case studies – what responses have worked well and what not so well
Tracey Cain, Chief Executive Officer, H/Advisors APA
2.10 Closing Remarks
2.15 Session Close
SESSION THREE – 7 November 2025 – BEST PRACTICE POLICIES & PARENT CODE OF CONDUCT
12.00 LawSense Welcome
12.05 Chairperson’s Introduction
Jeff Davis, Principal, Hillcrest Christian College
12.10 Developing/Updating Policies and Registers to Effectively Manage Difficult Parents and Ensure You Meet Obligations to Staff, Students and Other Parents and Stakeholders
- Exploring best practice frameworks encompassing polices for:
- receiving, triaging, and escalating parent complaints
- managing difficult parents
- exploring implementing a complaints register, including what would be recorded and how
- Examining key objectives in developing effective complaints polices, including ensuring:
- parents have an appropriate outlet to be heard and are discouraged from ventilating concerns externally
- there are adequate internal grievance resolution procedures available
- parent issues are dealt with objectively and sensitively
- bad school decisions, misconduct, cultural and systemic issues are identified and addressed
- issues are dealt with by the appropriate person, and in a way which does not undermine the effective operation of the School
- Understanding how policies should be modified to meet your school context
- Examining key content to include in complaints polices and policies addressing difficult parents
Writing and Enforcing an Effective Parent Code of Conduct
- Understanding the potential role of a parent code of conduct in managing difficult parents
- Examining when and how a parent code of conduct should be enforced.
- Examining key aspects to cover in a parent code of conduct
- Communicating the code of conduct to parents and the school community
Exploring Best Practice Staff Training to Meet Obligations and Deal with Complaints and Difficult Parents
- Identifying staff roles interacting with difficult parents in schools
- Designing staff training to meet challenges in your school context
Ben Tallboys, Principal, Russell Kennedy Lawyers; Legal Consultant to Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA)
1.40 Closing Remarks
1.45 Session Close
Presenters / panelists include: