LawSense School Enrolment Workshop

Updating & Optimising Contracts, Declining Enrolment & Dealing With Challenging Scenarios

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Program

12.00    LawSense Welcome

12.05    Chairperson’s Introduction

12.10    Refusing Enrolment – Navigating Disability, Unjustifiable Hardship, Gender and Other Issues

• Exploring the grounds upon which a school may wish to query or decline enrolment:
  • student behaviour record or incidents or school refusal in previous schools
  • student disability which is unable to be reasonably accommodated
  • other issues, including sex or gender, the religious/ideological basis of or operational limitations of the school
• Examining best practice in assessing enrolment, including using enrolment panels

Sex/Gender

• Navigating rights and obligations where the student is expressing a different gender to their sex on the birth certificate

Student Behaviour

• Student behaviour record – ensuring you obtain all key information from parents and the student before forming a view
• Examining key considerations in declining enrolment based on information you have about student behaviour

Student Disability

• Student disability:
  • examining when and on what basis a school can decline enrolment
  • ensuring you have sought all the relevant information in order to make a defensible decision
  • declining enrolment where information has not been provided or where misleading information has been given

Unjustifiable Hardship

• Examining when you can decline enrolment for unjustifiable hardship. What is ’unjustifiable’?
• Balancing the impacts:

• on other students – to what extent does this factor into ‘unjustifiable hardship’ or ‘reasonable’ adjustments?
• impacts on staff – understanding what to consider

• factoring in limitations on resources as a result of already supporting a number of students with a disability

Delayed or Conditional Enrolment, Reviewing Enrolment

• Exploring options to:
  • delay enrolment or make enrolment conditional
  • provide for a review ongoing enrolment, for example to allow for withdrawal of enrolment if there is a change in the level of disability

Incomplete Information or Failure to Provide Information

• Exploring when you can decline enrolment for a failure to provide adequate or complete information at the time of application

Defensible Documentation of Decisions

• Documenting decisions to refuse enrolment to optimise legal defensibility

Jennifer Patterson, Partner, MinterEllison

1.20      Break

1.30      Updating Enrolment Frameworks and Contracts – What Should You Ensure Is Included In 2025?

Outlining Key Applicable Laws

• Outlining key laws applying to enrolment contracts, including the Australian Consumer Law
• Learning from notable cases

Managing Pre-Enrolment

• Managing pre-enrolment including:
  • the application form, what should be included and ensuring your collecting of data limits privacy breach risks and optimises privacy compliance
  • managing waitlists
  • rights and obligations in obtaining information from a previous school

Key Matters to Include in 2025

• Identifying key contract clauses and documents to have in the current environment
• Addressing particular challenges, including:
  • separated families
  • Consumer Law issues and fee recovery
  • student behaviour – social media, breach of school values, uniforms
  • parent behaviour including terminating enrolment
  • privacy and consent issues
  • inclusivity including sex/gender
  • information regarding student disability

Clauses Dealing with Terminating Enrolment

• Optimising terms allowing the school to terminate enrolment due to:
  • student or parent behaviour, including due to mutual relationship breakdown
  • fee payment issues

Modifying Enrolments Terms

• Changing enrolment terms during the course of the student’s enrolment at the school

Ben Tallboys, Principal, Russell Kennedy Lawyers; Legal Counsel, Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA)

2.30      Break

2.40      Case Studies: Relying on Enrolment Documentation in Challenging Scenarios, Including Learnings from Recent Fees Cases, Separated Parents, Student Disability Changes, Student and Parent Behaviour, Suspensions and Withdrawing/Terminating Enrolment

• Learnings from how schools have relied on enrolment documentation in particular circumstances and examining where schools have come unstuck. Areas include:
  • separated parents
  • withdrawal of enrolment due to change in student disability – unjustifiable hardship or issues with reasonable adjustments
  • suspensions or expulsions for student behaviour, including breach of school values, or continued “lower level” issues such as uniform policy breaches
  • student counselling
  • withdrawing enrolment because of the conduct of parents
  • withdrawal of enrolment because of a failure of parents to provide key information
  • changing of fee structures or teaching arrangements
  • seeking fees relating to parents withdrawing the student from school
• Optimising communications with parents and advocates to ensure you can rely on enrolment terms and defend your legal position

Ben Tallboys, Principal, Russell Kennedy Lawyers; Legal Counsel, Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA)

3.40      Chairperson’s Conclusion

3.45      Event Close

Presenters / panelists include:

Jen Patterson has extensive experience as an industrial relations, employment and WHS law advisor. Jen has particular expertise advising schools. She has acted for the Association of Independent Schools in NSW for more than 20 years and sits on their Employee Relations Committee. Jen was the lead adviser to the AISNSW on industrial strategy for its member schools following the two most recent legislative reforms.

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.

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