LawSense School Excursions, Camps & Trips

Engaging & Managing External Providers, Staff Arrangements & Management, Student Disability & Chronic Conditions

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Program

12.00    LawSense Welcome

12.05    Chairperson’s Introduction

Audrey Bower, Chief Legal & Risk Officer, Catholic Schools NSW

12.10    Implementing Best Practice in Engaging and Managing External Providers

Keys Laws and Recent Cases/Coronials

• Outlining key areas of law applying in dealing with and managing external providers
• Exploring how your duty of care changes depending on the involvement of the external provider and circumstances
• Summarising key learnings from recent cases and coronials

Approaches to Risk Assessment

• Understanding the extent to which you can rely on risk assessments by the external provider
• To what extent is the school expected to be able to identify all applicable hazards?

Extent of Due Diligence on Provider

• Examining the extent of your obligations to perform due diligence on the external provider:
  • Identifying information and documents you should you require? What documents should you sight?
  • What other enquiries should you undertake?
  • What inspections should you undertake, including equipment and site inspections
  • To what extent should schools assess the individual staff of external providers?

Supervision/Monitoring

• Exploring to what extent you should monitor activities of external providers

Information Exchange with the External Provider

• Effectively managing information exchange with the external provider, including navigating privacy obligations

Permission Notes, Waivers and Disclaimers

• Examining key aspects to consider in assessing documentation required by external providers:
  • risk warnings or consent forms – understanding how these should be considered and incorporated into what the school provides to students and families
  • dealing with different indemnity clauses

• Exploring how school permission notes, waivers or disclaimers should cover potential liability arising from external providers

Jason Newman, Principal, Gilchrist Connell

1.10      Break

1.20      Exploring Optimum Staffing Arrangements and Management to Mitigate School Liability

• Implementing best practice approaches to assessing required staff ratios for different types of excursions, camps and trips and different student cohorts
• Understanding and managing particular considerations in having volunteers such as parents in the staff mix

• Exploring the extent of your obligations:
  • to assess and manage particular hazards for staff, including psychosocial hazards
  • evaluating staff fitness to participate in the relevant activities, including navigating privacy obligations in collecting medical information
  • assessing staff skills mix is required and evaluating the relevant skills and experience of school staff and volunteers
  • in implementing staff training and induction
• Exploring practical approaches to “de-clutter” risk documents to make it practical for the staff on the ground

Amy Walsh, Special Counsel, MinterEllison

2.20      Break

2.30      Student Disability or Chronic Conditions: Collecting Information, Assessing Participation and Managing Reasonable Adjustments

• Interpreting and applying obligations to make reasonable adjustments accommodating students with a disability or medical condition
• Understanding when you can disallow a student with a disability or condition from going on the excursion, camp or trip – balancing obligations to the student, other students and staff
• Determining reasonable adjustments:
  • how should you approach determining the limits of reasonable adjustments required in each circumstance?
  • understanding your options where a parent is not providing adequate or complete information
  • managing experts: responding to experts, briefing, and dealing with school experts
• Managing administration of medication – including student self-administration and administration by non-clinical staff
• Learning from case studies and examples

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

3.30      Chairperson’s Conclusion

3.35      Event Close

Presenters / panelists include:

	Jason Newman's practice includes the defence of claims in the education sector. He has advised many insurers, schools and teachers on claims and potential claims against them. His clients include Catholic Church Insurances, several major brokers and Lloyds Syndicates.
	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.
	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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