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8.45       Welcome from LawSense

8.50       Opening Remarks from the Chairperson

Paul LaCava, Director of Sport, Geelong Grammar School

9.00       Sport Events, Excursions and Trips in 2021: Assessing, Managing and Documenting Risk and Understanding the Extent of Your Obligations

• Outlining key laws affecting sports excursions, camps and trips, including duty of care, child protection and discrimination laws
• Reviewing current government health restrictions affecting sports camps and trips

Developing Risk Assessment and Management Plans – Extent of Obligations

• Understanding the extent of your obligations to assess and manage risk:
  • examining safety and security conditions in host location and venue
  • assessing external providers
  • evaluating appropriate transport
  • exploring accommodation risks and issues, including billeting
  • understanding and documenting medical conditions and fitness of students and staff
  • determining the level of supervision required at different stages
  • assessing social events and student “free time”

Students with a Disability and Sport Events, Excursions and Trips

• Exploring key considerations in allowing access to sport events, excursions and trips to students with a disability

Assessing and Managing Staff, Contractors and volunteers

• Understanding your obligations to assess the relevant skills, experience or fitness of school staff, contractors and volunteers
• What information should you request or obtain about staff of external venues or contractors?
• Understanding your rights and obligations when parents or other volunteers are involved
• Determining appropriate induction and supervision

Understanding Obligations to Assess and Manage Other Teams/Schools Involved

• Examining what should be considered and information obtained from other schools/opposing teams

Key Considerations in Dealing with Contracts

• Outlining contracts often involved – contracts with service providers, venue/accommodation contracts, transport arrangements
• Key clauses to look out for, including indemnity clauses
• Understanding the scope of coverage offered by insurance

Documentation and Record Keeping

• Exploring best practice in documenting and recording risk assessments, management, and incidents

Jason Newman, Partner, Gilchrist Connell

10.00     Break

10.05     School Permission Notes / Consent Forms, Risk Warnings, Disclaimers: Exploring Best Practice, Knowing What to Include and Learning from Examples

• Outlining key laws applying to permission notes/consent forms, risk warnings and disclaimers
• Understanding the limits of legal protections provided

Permission Notes / Consent Forms

• Evaluating blanket permission notes versus event-specific permission
• Managing potential pitfalls in electronic or online permission systems
• Understanding the minimum information permission notes/consent forms should include to afford legal protection
• Examining examples of optimal permission notes dealing with current issues in schools
• Learning from cases where permission notes have been adequate or inadequate to protect from legal liability

Risk Warnings and Disclaimers

• Implementing risk warnings into communications and parent forms
• Exploring what risk warnings should include and learning from examples
• Including disclaimers and exploring what they should say
• Learning from cases and examples

Tracey Jessie, Principal, Jessie Lawyers; Former Principal, DET QLD

11.05     Break

11.10     Opening Remarks from the Chairperson

Cam Anderson, Head of Sport, Barker College

11.15     Incidents and Accidents in School Sport: Understanding the Liability of the School, Staff and Contractors, Effectively Responding, and Documenting Actions and Issues

• Outlining key laws regarding the legal exposure of a school, school staff and contractors, including medics or physiotherapists, where there are incidents or accidents in sport
• Reviewing the implications of the latest developments in concussion litigation and research
• Documenting lower-level incidents and injuries – understanding when you should record and what should you include
• Responding to an accident:
  • ensuring you have an adequate response plan for the circumstances
  • documenting and reporting accidents – what should you document or report and how? who should you report incidents to (e.g. parents, insurers)?
  • document retention and privacy regarding access to medical records.
• Managing investigations and subsequent legal proceedings
  • preserving evidence and records
  • dealing with requests for information or interviews from regulators, police or insurers
  • understanding liability and damages where multiple schools and contractors are involved in the same incident

Dr David Maddocks, Partner, Perry Maddocks, Trollope Lawyers; Registered Neuropsychologist

12.15     Break

12.20     Inclusiveness in Sport Update: Examining Your Current Obligations and Optimum Implementation

Students Who Identify as Transgender: Examining Your Obligations and Practical Approaches to Ensuring a Level Playing Field

• Reviewing your legal obligations regarding transgender students, including discrimination, exceptions to discrimination and duty of care
• Balancing your duty to other students participating in sport
• Dealing with opposing teams or players and the school community
• Managing uniforms, change rooms and accommodation
• Developing consent forms and waivers

Students with Disabilities and Sport: Clarifying Your Obligations to Make Reasonable Adjustments and Exploring Effective Risk Assessments

• Identifying key laws affecting participation of students with a disability in sport
• Exploring to what extent you are required to make reasonable adjustments and provide extra staff
• Exploring best practice in developing effective risk assessment and management plans regarding students with a disability in sport:
  • reviewing matters to take into account
  • assessing impacts on other students
  • determining education and training requirements
• Dealing with external service providers and venues:
  • understanding the level of due diligence, you should apply in assessing external service providers
  • what information should you request?
  • what are key contractual provisions that should be included and what insurance should you require?
• Developing appropriate permission notes and using waivers, disclaimers and risk warnings

Alistair Macpherson, Managing Director, Corney & Lind Lawyers

1.15       Closing Remarks from the Chairperson

Presenters / panelists include:

	Paul La Cava has worked in education for over 20 years at Wesley College Melbourne, Camberwell Grammar School and more recently at Geelong Grammar School on the Campus Management Team as the Director of Sport. As the APS Delegate he has had much experience in managing and leading all aspects of School sport. During this time, he has also been on the board of ACHPER and Co-Author of Sport Education Coaching.
	Jason Newman expertly manages litigation for insurers across all lines and categories of insurance, in particular product, public and professional liability claims. He has considerable experience in the education sector and has advised many insurers, schools and teachers on claims and potential claims against them. Jason is the Vice President of the Australian and New Zealand Education Law Association.
	Tracey Jessie is the principal of Jessie Lawyers - a boutique law firm. Tracey has over 20 years’ experience in employment law 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 on employment and business matters.
	David Maddocks has many years of experience dealing with issues relevant to schools. He has acted for schools in major legal cases, including Royal Commissions, Coronial Inquests and personal injury claims. Aside from acting for schools, David also works in sports law and acts for doctors. He has provided legal advice to the AFL and the AFL Doctors Association and was involved as a lawyer in the AFL - Essendon Football Club supplements matter. Prior to law, David worked as a Neuropsychologist. He has conducted internationally recognized research into the diagnosis and recovery from concussion in sport. Aspects of this research have been adopted by the IOC, FIFA and American NFL.
	Alistair Macpherson is a Director of Corney & Lind Lawyers, where he focuses on legal issues affecting schools, non-profit entities and other corporate clients. Prior to working in private practice, Alistair was employed as an in-house solicitor with several government organisations advising across the various areas of law relevant to government enterprise. He has also worked as a criminal prosecutor with the ACT DPP and the Queensland DPP.

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