Law for School Counsellors & Guidance Officers QLD 2025

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Program

8.45      LawSense Welcome

8.50      Chairperson’s Remarks

Dr Nathan Simmons, President, Queensland Guidance and Counselling Association (QGCA)

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

Annie Smeaton, Partner, Cooper Grace Ward Lawyers

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 & 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?

Tracey Jessie, Principal, Jessie Lawyers; Former Principal, Education Queensland

11.20    Clarifying Your Legal Duties in Responding to Bullying and Cyberbullying

• Outlining current laws applying to bullying/cyberbullying in schools, including 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

Trent Forno, Partner, MinterEllison

12.20    Lunch

1.00      Chairpersons Remarks

Brian Day, A/Manager Guidance Services, Metropolitan Region, Department of Education Queensland; Immediate Past President, Queensland Guidance and Counselling Association (QGCA)

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

Leah Mooney, Director, KPMG Law

2.05     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

Alistair Macpherson, Managing Director, Vocare Law

3.05     Afternoon Tea 

3.20     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
  • Navigating complex scenarios

Facilitator: Tim Longwill, Partner, McCullough Robertson Lawyers

Panel:

Greg Pierce, Executive Principal, Brisbane State High School

Brian Day, A/Manager Guidance Services, Metropolitan Region, Department of Education Queensland; Immediate Past President, Queensland Guidance and Counselling Association (QGCA)

Catherine O’Kane, Principal, All Hallows’ School

Cathy Perkins, Head of Health and Wellness, All Hallows’ School

4.25      Closing Remarks

4.30      Event Close

Presenters / panelists include:

	Annie Smeaton specialises in employment, anti-discrimination and industrial law. She has extensive experience dealing with proceedings in the Federal Court, Federal Circuit Court, Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, Fair Work Commission, Australian Human Rights Commission, Anti-Discrimination Commission and the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
	Tracey Jessie is the principal of Jessie Lawyers - a boutique law firm in Queensland. Tracey has over 20 years’ experience including 6 years as a partner in State and National firms. Before studying law, Tracey was a teacher and principal within Education Queensland. Tracey now advises a range of educational institutions, not-for-profit organisations and small to medium business enterprises.
	Trent Forno has significant experience in all areas of employment law in both the public and private sectors. Trent practises in a variety of industry sectors, including education. Trent is recognised as a leading workers' compensation and self-insurance lawyer. In 2016, Trent was recommended in the Best Lawyers' category for Labour and Employment.
	Brian Day is a dedicated professional with over 20 years of experience in the education sector. He is currently a Senior Guidance Officer for the Department of Education Queensland, Metropolitan Region, specialising in the developmental and primary school sector. He has worked in regional and remote regions of Queensland and New South Wales and has interests in mental health and wellbeing, learning disabilities, engagement and making a positive difference in the lives of children and young people.
	Leah Mooney is a cyber security and privacy professional best known for helping organisations to identify and understand cyber risk, data breach management and cyber resilience planning. Leah is a legal consultant for MinterEllison. As part of this role she coaches clients affected by data breaches in the strategic management of their legal and regulatory obligations.
	Alistair Macpherson focuses on legal issues affecting schools, non-profit entities and other corporate clients. Alistair has personally appeared in numerous Tribunals and Courts as advocate for schools and other clients. Alistair is also a Board Member of Queensland Baptists, which engages in, amongst other things, in schools and other charitable activities
	Tim Longwill is a legal practitioner of over 20 years experience. He is a specialist industrial lawyer with significant exposure to the education sector. Tim was also recently named for the third year in a row as being among ‘Australia’s Best Lawyers’ by the Financial Review.

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