Originated by LawSense – Now in its 13th Year
| Date | 9 March 2027 |
| Time | 9.00am-4.20pm AEDT (Syd time) |
| Venue | NSW Parliament House, 6 Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000 AND Live Online & Recorded Choose in-person or online. Recording available for both in-person & online attendees Recording Access Expires 9 April 2027 |
| Pricing | Early Bird: $645. Standard: $745 Price includes gst Early Bird Expires 19 February 2027 |
| CPD | Available for psychologists and counsellors (ACA & PACFA) |
Register
Program
9.00 LawSense Welcome
9.05 Chairperson’s Introduction
9.15 Exploring Best Practice, Defensible Note-Taking and Record Keeping, and Navigating AI
Note-Taking – 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
- Using the student’s language or quoting others
- Taking notes, but also being “in the moment” with the student
Ownership/Access Regarding Notes
- Examining rights and obligations with respect to “ownership” and access to your notes
AI and School Counsellor Note-Taking and Reports
- Exploring how common AI applications use and store data
- Understanding the existing law and guidelines affecting the use of AI
- Examining your obligations in use of AI applications and steps you should take in evaluating and using the applications
Data Storage, Access Permissions, Retention and Destruction
- 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 long should documents be retained?
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
Leighton Hawkes, Principal, McCabes
10.15 Morning Break
10.45 Case Studies – Disclosure of Student Counselling Information: Navigating Consent, Code of Conduct, Duty of Care and When You Can Share Within the School, Withhold from Parents or Disclose Against Student Wishes
Outlining Key Obligations, Including for Psychologists, Non-Psychologist Counsellors, and Social Workers in Schools
- Outlining changes in legislation, expectations and enforcement of privacy and confidentiality for school counsellors
- Outlining professional obligations and difference between psychologists and non-psychologist counsellors
- Examining the recent psychologists Code of Conduct and changes regarding disclosure issues compared to the previous APS Code of Ethics
- Examining how duties to your employer affect your privacy and confidentiality obligations towards the student
Consent: Key Laws and Implications of Recent Code of Conduct
- Outlining key laws regarding consent and examining consent requirements in the recent psychologists Code of Conduct
Student Capacity to Consent to Disclosure – Mature Minors, Recent Cases
- Examining the key elements of informed consent
- How is age considered in assessing consent in different circumstances?
- How does age affect considerations of consent where the student is between 12 and 14?
- What level of information is required to make it “informed” when dealing with mature minors?
- Examining recent cases regarding assessing Gillick competency (10- to 14-year-olds)
- Navigating student disability and consent
Updating or Seeking Multiple Consents, Enrolment Contracts
- Exploring the extent to which you can cover consent for counselling or disclosure in your enrolment contracts
- Exploring when you should obtain specific consents, including where the student is presenting with different issues in counselling sessions
- Should you obtain additional consent from the student when they turn 16?
- When should you also get consent of parents, even where a student has capacity to consent?
Consent from Parents, Including Separated Parents
- Separated parents -when is consent from only one parent adequate
Documenting Consent and Optimising Policies and Forms
- Exploring best practice in obtaining and documenting consent for counselling
Navigating Challenging Scenarios
In this part of the session, the presenter will work through scenarios to help you understand how the law applies in different circumstances and what are legally defensible and non-defensible decisions and outcomes. Issues include:
- Ambiguous self-harm risk
- Concerning relationship with older student
- Suspected bullying without clear evidence of immediate danger
- Harmful social-media activity outside school hours
- Concerning conduct at an out-of-school party
- Bullying investigation and a request for counselling notes by Principal
- Uncertain ability to rely on general consent in the enrolment contract
- Separated parents, conflicting instructions and a mature minor
- When a new issue changes the nature and purpose of counselling
- Disability, communication difficulties and parental pressure
Stephanie McLuckie, Special Counsel, Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers
11.55 Student Disability: Navigating Challenging Areas, Student Behaviour, Exam Adjustments
Current Legal Framework. Role of School Counsellors
- Exploring the range of disabilities encountered by schools and the role of the school counsellors, including:
- disability potentially affecting student behaviour
- disability requiring exam adjustment
- Outlining the current laws affecting disability discrimination in schools
Proposed Reforms – Disability Discrimination Act 1992
- Outlining notable proposed changes to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) and potential impacts on student disability and behaviour, including changes to definitions of discrimination, burden of proof and application to discipline and suspensions
Information To Collect to Assess and Determine Reasonable Adjustments
- Exploring optimum information collection – what information to seek of whom
- Dealing with reports from external professionals provided by the parents or advocates. When should you obtain your own professional evidence?
Extent of Consultation Required
- Understanding the extent of your obligations to consult with parents, other stakeholders and advocates. What information should be communicated to parents?
Rights of the School to Determine Adjustments Versus Experts
- Understanding the rights and responsibilities of the school versus health experts to determine what the student requires to meet the diagnosis or disability
Risk Assessments
- Exploring best practice in developing risk assessments, including, when they are required, exploring how extensive assessments should be and who should be involved
Support Plans / Reasonable Adjustments Case Studies – Disability and Behaviour
- Learning from case studies and examples:
- how should schools approach determining the limits of reasonable adjustments required in each circumstance, including:
- balancing impacts on other students and staff
- managing experts: responding to experts, briefing, and managing school experts
- determining unjustifiable hardship
- Documenting steps and decision making regarding reasonable adjustments to ensure compliance and optimise your legal position
- how should schools approach determining the limits of reasonable adjustments required in each circumstance, including:
Discipline, Suspensions and Expulsions
- Outlining and balancing key laws applying to suspensions and expulsions of a student with a behavioural disability, including:
- student rights and procedural fairness, including Human Rights legislation
- obligations to staff, including WHS and other obligations
Exam Adjustments
- Identifying the student’s functional needs and appropriate adjustments, including extra time, rest breaks, separate supervision and changes to the examination environment.
- Preparing effective supporting evidence: documenting the impact on examination performance, demonstrating the student’s usual adjustments and using specialist reports
- Dealing with circumstances where the student is recently diagnosed or has not previously sought adjustments
- Navigating the application process: clarifying the counsellor’s role, consulting students and parents, managing consent and confidentiality, and meeting assessment authority requirements
- Responding to refused or inadequate adjustments, changed circumstances and examination-day difficulties, including seeking reviews
Christa Lenard, Partner, Kingston Reid
12.55 Lunch
1.40 Chairperson’s Introduction
1.45 Harmful Sexualised Behaviours: Navigating Issues Between Students, Deep Fakes, Sextortion and the “Manosphere”
Rights and Obligations, Including Navigating the “Manosphere”
- Exploring definitions of harmful sexualised behaviours
- Examining obligations and risk assessment when dealing with students adopting misogynistic or concerning attitudes and demonstrating disrespectful behaviour
Allegations by Staff of Sexual Harassment by Students
- Outlining rights and obligations where staff allege sexual harassment by students
Deep Fakes, Sextortion – Applicable Laws and Obligations
- Exploring how deep fakes and sextortion has emerged in the school context
- Examining the law relevant to deep fakes, including with AI generated explicit images. What criminal offences could students creating or distributing deep fakes be committing
- Examining the obligations of the school where students and staff are the subject of deep fakes
- Understanding legal restrictions on the school copying, storing or sharing the offending explicit material, including deep fakes
- Understanding and dealing with “sextortion” affecting students
Obligations of School Counsellors
- Understanding the role of the school counsellor in supporting the alleged survivor and/or alleged perpetrator of harmful sexualised behaviours or sexual harassment
- 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
Kristine Gorgievski, Principal, McCabes Lawyers
2.45 Afternoon Break
3.05 Dealing with Separated Families, Family Violence and DVOs/AVOs
Rights and Obligations Where There Are No Court Orders
- Understanding parent rights and responsibilities where there is parent separation and there are no court orders or any written agreement/arrangement
Understanding and Interpreting Court Orders
- Outlining how Family Court Orders can dictate:
- the obligations of parents, including consequences of non- compliance
- school obligations
- Understanding and interpreting Family Court Orders and parenting agreements including:
- Interim Orders
- Final Orders
- the difference between Family Court Orders and Parenting Plans
- orders regarding parental responsibility and living with/spending time with one parent or the other
- responsibility for day-to-day and longer-term decision regarding the child
Challenges for School Counsellors – Consent to Counselling, Information Requests by a Parent
Consent to Counselling
- Navigating circumstances where:
- one parent agrees to the student attending school counselling but the other does not
- the parents do not agree to counselling but you assess that the student needs it
Providing Information to One Parent or the Other
- Examining factors dictating what information can be provided to a parent or withheld from a parent
- Navigating circumstances where one parent agrees to counselling, but asks that you do not inform the other parent
- Understanding the role of the students wishes/consent:
- when should student consent be sought in releasing information to parents
- when do student wishes about parent information access override parent requests
- understanding how student wishes should be documented where information is going to withheld from one parent or another
Dealing With Alleged or Suspected Family Violence or Coercive Control and Navigating DVOs/AVOs
DVO’s, AVO’s and Other Orders
- Understanding the different types of apprehended or domestic violence orders and key provisions to be aware of
- Inconsistency between Family Court and Domestic/Apprehended Violence Orders – which orders take precedence?
- Interpreting Orders – learning from examples of different Orders
Counsellor Obligations Family Violence / Coercive Control Suspicions and Information Received
- Exploring family violence and coercive control and how it may manifest for a school counsellor
- Understanding your duties where:
- you suspect domestic violence or coercive control regarding a parent or other person in a student’s life – to what extent should you make enquiries/investigate or when should you report?
- a student provides information or makes allegations related to family violence or coercive control
- a student is alleged to have been involved in domestic violence issues
- Conducting risk assessments regarding the implications of family violence or coercive control following suspicions, information / evidence or DVOs/AVOs
- Understanding your obligations where a mandatory report has been made but does not appear to have been actioned
- Communicating with the family
- Learnings from cases and example scenarios
Amy Walsh, Special Counsel, MinterEllison
Rebekah Dorter, Principal, Dorter Family Lawyers; Nationally Accredited Mediator; Independent Children’s Lawyer
4.15 Chairperson’s Remarks
4.20 Event Close
Presenters / panelists include:
 | Leighton Hawkes commenced his career in claims management and other technical roles with a major Australian insurance, working on claims for the NSW Treasury Managed Fund (TMF). Leighton has acted for the NSW Department of Education for many years. Presently he acts in a diverse range of matters. |
 | Stephanie McLuckie assists clients in the not-for-profit space, practising in the areas of education, charity, commercial and employment law. She acts for many independent schools and charities. Stephanie consults to schools and charities about governance issues and advises clients in relation matters including privacy, regulatory compliance and unfair contracts. |
 | Christa Lenard is a workplace relations and employment lawyer with extensive experience in advising public sector departments and agencies at both Commonwealth and state level, as well as large and medium private sector companies. |
 | Kristine Gorgievski has many years of personal injury and public liability litigation experience acting for a variety of insurers and government agencies including the NSW Department of Education. Kristine is a specialist in child sexual abuse claims including sensitive, complex and high quantum claims. Kristine has extensive experience representing clients at multi-party mediations and settlement conferences. She has a strong understanding in this unique field and takes a compassionate approach to all her matters. |
 | Amy Walsh advises Independent Schools and the NSW Department of Education on matters including enrolment disputes, student issues and wellbeing and safety matters, employment matters, parent disputes, child protection investigations, funding issues and governance. |
 | Rebekah Dorter, Principal of Dorter Family Lawyers and Mediators is an Independent Children’s Lawyer, Nationally Accredited Mediator, is admitted as a Solicitor of the High Court of Australia and has been practicing law for 30 years. Rebekah has a special interest in promoting children’s best interests and helping facilitate parents reach agreement post-separation. |