| Date | 19 October 2026 |
| Time | 12.00pm-3.00pm Times are in AEDT (Syd/Mel time) |
| Venue | Live Online with recording (recording access expires 19 December 2026) |
| Pricing | $440 Prices includes gst. |
| Sector | Non-State Schools |
| CPD | Addresses 7.2 of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. |
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Program
12.00 LawSense Welcome
12.05 Chairperson’s Introduction
Dr Alec O’Connell, Headmaster, Scotch College (Perth)
12.10 Examining Legal Rights, Obligations and Legal Tools to Manage the “Difficult Parent”
Understanding and “Categorising” the Difficult Parent to Help Management
- Exploring the sources of parent complaints in schools and understanding the difficult parent
- Understanding the different “types” of difficult parent and how this can help with managing the difficult parent
Applicable Laws
- Understanding the applicable laws, including contracts, duty of care, laws allowing banning of parents and laws on managing psychosocial hazards to staff in schools
Difficult Parents and Staff Psychosocial Hazards Laws
- Examining how the laws on psychosocial hazards affect management by the school of parent interactions
Legal Tools – Enrolment Contract
- Examining key clauses to include in your enrolment contract to optimise management of difficult parents including managing separated parents, fees, adherence to school values, policies and Code of Conduct
Legal Tools – Code of Conduct
- Examining best practice parent Code of Conduct
- Ensuring you can rely on the Code of Conduct in managing difficult parents, including enforcing the school’s legal rights, such as terminating enrolment
Legal Tools – Restricting Parent Access/Banning, Termination of Enrolment
- Understanding and optimising your options for:
- restricting or limiting communication with the parent
- restricting the parent from involvement in school activities
- banning a parent from a school
- terminating the enrolment of the student because of parent conduct
David Scanlan, Employment Law Practice Lead – WA, Mapien Law; Former, Director, People and Culture, St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls, Perth
1.20 Break
1.30 Implementing Best Practice in Managing the Difficult Parent at Key Points, Including What to Say and What Not to Say:
- Triaging and Managing Complaints, “Requests” and Demands, including Dealing with a High Volume of Communications, and Learnings from What Policies Schools Have Implemented
- Developing systems to effectively:
- triage and direct complaints/demands/requests
- deal with a high volume of complaints/requests, many of which may be low level issues from parents to teachers via email
- Learning from what schools have implemented – what has worked and what hasn’t in complaints management
- Developing systems to effectively:
- Optimising and Managing Communications, Including What to Say and What Not to Say
- 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
- where parents have requested CCTV footage or other records
- Best practice in managing communications:
- optimising your first communication with the parent on an issue
- when to phone, email, meet, negotiate or mediate, meeting face to face or online
- scripting meetings top optimise effectiveness and your position
- dealing with requests by parents to record communications or meetings
- taking and distributing notes or summaries 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
- Learning from examples of meeting scripts, first and subsequent communications
- Navigating potential privacy issues in communicating with parents, including:
- Specific Considerations: Parents With Mental Health Issues, Separated Parents, Parents on Social Media, Sports
- identifying and managing parents with mental health issues affecting the complaint and complaint resolution
- navigating separated parents and complaints/disputes:
- exploring how complaints /disputes with the school can arise from parent separation issues
- understanding court orders, lack of court orders and decision making rights of parents
- understanding the school’s role, duty of care and managing complaints/disputes
- dealing with difficult parents on social media, including:
- 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
- effectively dealing with the parent posting negative material
- dealing with circumstances where parents are posting your letters on social media
- Understanding and navigating obligations and best practice with sports contractors and staff dealing with difficult parents
- Defensible Escalation, Including: Limiting Communications, Banning, Termination of Enrolment
- Understanding when you can defensibly:
- limit communications with a parent
- ban a parent from the school grounds or activities
- terminate an enrolment because of parent conduct
- exploring when you can implement these measures where the conduct is low level or “passive aggressive” but continuous and having a significant impact on staff or operations?
- Understanding when you can defensibly:
- Developing a communications strategy in dealing with difficult parents
Ben Tallboys, Principal, Russell Kennedy; Legal Counsel, Association of Heads of Independent Schools Australia
2.55 Closing Remarks
3.00 Webinar Close
Presenters / panelists include:
Dr Alec O'Connell commenced as the 7th Headmaster of Scotch College in June 2011. Before taking on the role of Headmaster at Scotch College, Dr O’Connell was the Assistant Director at the Catholic Education Office of WA where he held the portfolio of People and Organisational Services. He graduated as a teacher in 1982 and since graduating has worked across K-Tertiary, including holding a variety of both teaching and administrative positions.
David Scanlan is currently a Senior Employment Lawyer at Mapien Law heading up their WA office, having commenced in September 2025. Prior, David was the Director of People & Culture at St Hilda’s from 2020. In this role he drove the people development, cultural development, talent acquisition and compliance functions of the 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.