LawSense School Law QLD 2025

Staff Issues Day & Student Issues Day. Tailored to Laws Applying to QLD Non-State Schools

Date & Time13 May 2025 – Staff Issues Day Non-State Schools (8.45am-4.45pm)
14 May 2025 – Student Issues Day, Non-State Schools (8.45am-4.45pm)
VenueVoco Brisbane
85-87 N Quay, Brisbane Brisbane
AND
Live Online & Recorded
Recording Access Expires 14 June 2025
PricingEach full day:
Staff Day: EB: $695 Standard: $795
Student Day: EB: $695 Standard: $795

Prices include gst. Early Bird expires 2 April 2025
CPDThis PD addresses 7.2.2. of the Standards
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Event Program

13 May 2025 – Staff Issues Day

 

8.45      LawSense Welcome

8.50      Chairperson’s Remarks

TBC: Toni Riordan, Principal, St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School

9.00      Psychosocial Hazards: Learnings from Recent Cases, What Schools Have Implemented and Dealing with Claims and Staff “Weaponising” Psychosocial Safety

Outlining Recent Laws Regarding Psychosocial Hazards and Potential Claims

  • Outlining the recent changes to WHS legislation affecting schools including:
    • examining definitions of psychosocial hazards and how this can include bullying, sexual harassment, and other behaviours
    • outlining how it applies to staff, students and others interacting with the school
    • understanding obligations to identify reasonably foreseeable psychosocial hazards that could give rise to health and safety risks
  • Understanding what claims staff, students or parents can make against you using the new laws

Learnings from Recent Cases and Attitude/Action of Regulators to Date

  • Examining the response of WHS regulators in investigating and enforcing requirements regarding psycho-social hazards. What have been “triggers” of regulator action?
  • Examining learnings from investigations and cases applying the new law

Staff Claims, Including Staff “Weaponising” New Laws

  • Understanding how staff can “weaponise” recent law changes in response to performance management or disciplinary action
  • Examining what changes to performance management and disciplinary processes you should consider to optimise your legal position
  • Dealing with staff claims of “unsafe” interactions or work environments – from low level claims to alleged serious failures

Case Studies – What Have Other Schools Implemented/Experienced

  • Exploring what schools have implemented to date, including:
    • consultation – surveys, focus groups and other tools including committee meetings, team meeting, networks and individual discussions
    • exit interviews for identifying hazards
    • other data sources/audit tools and records
    • control measures to eliminate (or minimise) psychosocial risks
    • changes to job design, including duties, workload, team structures, and resource allocations
    • changes in approaches to performance management and staff disciplinary matters
    • responding to staff “weaponisation” of new psychosocial hazards laws and regulation

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

TBC: Toni Riordan, Principal, St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School

10.30    Morning Tea

11.00    Ill and Injured Staff: Determining Work Versus Non-Work Injury and Navigating Medical Assessments and Return to Work

Navigating the Grey Areas of Determining Work Versus Non-Work Injury

  • Outlining the current legal framework applying to work versus non-work injuries
  • Examining the grey areas of what are work versus non-work injuries – exploring:
    • circumstances where there is a dispute about whether an injury is work or non-work related
    • scenarios where an original work injury changes or “expands” to arguably include non-work-related conditions
  • Understanding what information, you are able to request to clarify grey areas or disputes

Acceptable Medical Evidence and Effective IME’s

  • Dealing with medical certificates and reports – understanding when you can challenge or clarify medical evidence
  • Optimising questions to ask the staff member’s medical practitioner to verify or clarify the condition
  • Obtaining independent medical reports or evidence – when this can be done and how to brief the expert

Challenges With Return to Work and Reasonable Adjustments

  • Understanding obligations regarding reasonable adjustments and return to work with work and non-work related injuries
  • Understanding rights and obligations with chronic or age-related illness or injury
  • Exploring the limits – at what point does an adjustment become unreasonable under the current law
  • Learning from case studies and exploring adjustments, including rights and obligations regarding:
    • absence/time off, including when you consider taking action where there has been extended absence after a non-work injury
    • alternative duties or requests for particular classes
    • changes in timetable or workload
    • flexible work/ work from home arrangements
    • changes to the physical environment, furniture or devices where physical injury or disability is involved

Trent Forno, Partner, MinterEllison

12.25    Chairperson’s Remarks

12.30    Lunch

1.15      Chairperson’s Remarks

Rev Chris Ivey, Headmaster, Somerset College

1.20      Specialist Staff, Including in Music, Extra-Curricular and Sport: Effectively Navigating Impacts of Recent Law Changes Regarding Fixed Term Contracts, Independent Contractor Laws, Industrial Agreements

  • Exploring how specialist staff are used in schools and work arrangements, including music teachers, sports coaches and other work
  • Outlining key laws applying including:
    • recent changes to the law affecting fixed term contracts
    • laws regarding independent contractors
    • applicable industrial agreements
  • Examining the challenges and impacts of the current legal framework on use and flexibility with specialist staff
  • Exploring options and work-arounds to optimise arrangements with specialist staff in light of changed laws

Tim Longwill, Partner, McCullough Robertson Lawyers

2.20      Flexible Work Requests, Including Job Sharing: Understanding the Boundaries for Refusal, Effectively Evidencing Reasons, and Exploring Impacts of The Right to Disconnect [RELEVANT HERE?]

  • Outlining the obligations of schools regarding flexible work arrangements, including:
    • obligations to consult and attempt agreement with the staff member
    • refusing on reasonable business grounds
    • obligations to respond in writing providing reasons and other changes the school is willing to make
  • Exploring other legal considerations regarding the potential impacts of allowing job-sharing or other flexible arrangements in schools
  • Exploring the interaction, in practice, with the right to disconnect
  • Reviewing the implications for schools of recent cases applying the current laws, including circumstances in which the Fair Work Commission has considered it reasonable to have flexible work arrangements and where it hasn’t
  • Exploring what types of arrangements are considered reasonable in schools
  • Examining best practice in documenting assessment of requests for flexible work and reasons for refusal

Case Studies and Panel: What Have Other Schools Implemented and Learnings

Rev Chris Ivey, Headmaster, Somerset College

John Hamilton, Principal, McInnes Wilson Lawyers

3.20      Afternoon tea

3.40      Drafting Effective and Defensible Allegations and Communications to a Staff Member Where There Is Alleged Misconduct or Disciplinary Action

Drafting Allegations

  • Understanding school procedural fairness obligations and how they impact drafting allegations
  • Drafting/framing allegations against staff – properly drafting allegations regarding the staff member being investigated or disciplined:
    • what extent and level of evidence should be obtained and considered and what should the allegations include
    • ensuring that the allegations you communicate to the staff member meet your procedural fairness obligations
    • learning from examples

Letters and Communications

  • Exploring key elements of best practice communications with the staff member during performance management, disciplinary action or claims
  • Learning from case studies – good letter versus not so good letters and communications

Note-Taking and Record Keeping

  • Exploring optimum note-taking and record keeping to protect your legal position with staff issues

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

4.40      Closing Remarks

4.45      Event Close

 

14 May 2025 – Student Issues Day (Non-State Schools)

 

8.45      LawSense Welcome

8.50      Chairperson’s Remarks

TBC: Jeff Davis, Principal, Hillcrest Christian College

9.00      Reasonable Adjustments Case Studies – Behaviour, Learning and Activities: Understanding Limits, Effectively Balancing Factors and Navigating Student Discipline

Current Legal Framework and Understanding What is “Reasonable”

  • Reviewing the current laws affecting disability discrimination in schools and potential reform
  • Exploring circumstances where you can impute disability
  • Understanding current interpretations of disability laws, including exploring what is “reasonable”

Information You Should Collect to Assess and Determine Reasonable Adjustments

  • Exploring optimum information collection – what information should you seek of whom
  • Dealing with reports from external professional provided by the parents or advocates. When should you obtain your own professional evidence?

Extent of Consultation Required

  • Outlining the laws requiring consultation
  • Examining what constitutes a reasonable level of consultation. 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

Reasonable Adjustments Case Studies – Learning Disability

  • Learning from case studies and examples:
    • optimising assessment of learning needs
    • understanding the extent to which you can make changes to the curriculum
    • exploring the limits of required learning support resources
    • implementing changes to the physical learning environment

Reasonable Adjustments – Exams and Other Assessments

  • Exploring the extent of your obligations to make adjustments for conditions affecting exams or assessments

Reasonable Adjustments Case Studies – Activities, Excursions and Trips

  • Interpreting and applying obligations to make reasonable adjustments with school excursions, camps and trips. What are the limits of reasonable adjustments? When can you say a student cannot attend an, excursion, camp or trip?

Reasonable Adjustments Case Studies – Disability Affecting Behaviour

  • Exploring the range of disabilities encountered by schools impacting behaviour or causing significant impacts of students and staff – ADD/ADHD, ODD and other behaviour disorders, depression/self-harm
  • Learning from case studies and examples:
    • how should schools approach determining the limits of reasonable adjustments required in each circumstance?
    • balancing impacts on other students and staff
    • managing experts: responding to experts, briefing, and managing school experts
    • determining unjustifiable hardship
  • Managing consultation and communications with parents, other stakeholders, and advocates
  • Documenting steps and decision making regarding reasonable adjustments to ensure compliance and optimise your legal position

Discipline, Suspensions and Expulsions

  • Outlining and balancing key laws:
    • laws applying to student rights and procedural fairness, including Human Rights legislation
    • obligations to staff, including WHS and other obligations
  • School discipline examples and case studies: assessing options considering discrimination and other obligations:
    • managing ongoing discipline of a student with behavioural disability issues
    • navigating suspensions
    • expulsion of a student with behavioural disability – key considerations and navigating pitfalls
  • Effectively documenting steps, communications, and decisions regarding expulsions to protect your legal position

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

TBC: Jeff Davis, Principal, Hillcrest Christian College

10.30    Morning Tea

11.00    Student Social Media Update: Understanding the Implications of Social Media Age Limits and Other Proposed Reforms

Interpreting the Implications of the New Laws on Social Media Age Limits

  • Examining the new laws regarding age limits on social media use, including examining exceptions
  • Exploring the implications of the new laws for schools:
    • what action should you take if you suspect students are using social media in breach of the age limit?
    • do the changes provide further rights or expectations for the school to search student devices or monitor social media use
  • Updating school polices to deal with the changes in social media laws

Other Social Media/Cyber Reforms

  • Outlining other cyber/social media reforms – duty of care

Student Bullying: Understanding Obligations to Identify Bullying, Dealing with Issues Outside School, Responding to Parent Complaints and Learnings from Recent Cases

Student Bullying – Outlining Key Obligations

  • Outlining key laws applying to bullying and violence in schools, including:
    • defining bullying
    • duty of care

Obligations to Proactively Identify Bullying or Act on Suspicions

  • Exploring the extent of your obligations to:
    • proactively identify and investigate bullying
    • investigate suspicions of bullying
  • What tools can you use and what policies should you consider

Extent of Obligations to Manage Issues Outside School

Before and After School –Bus/Train Stops and Other Scenarios

  • Understanding the extent of your liability in monitoring student transport and activity before and after school, including learnings from recent cases

Social Media, Including Implications of Proposed Age Restriction Laws

  • Understanding the extent of a school’s obligations where student bullying occurs on social media, including:
    • understanding the impacts of new proposed aged restrictions on the school’s obligations and monitoring
    • assessing when social media activity outside school can increase legal risk and evolve into a situation a school should actively manage
    • examining the extent of a school’s rights and obligations to manage or respond to students on social media outside school
    • understanding duties where the bullying is from a student not from the school

Recent Findings Against Schools Regarding Bullying Management – Where Have Schools Come Unstuck?

  • Learnings from recent cases – how should schools approach multiple and repeated instances of bullying?  What is a school’s obligation to pro-actively identify patterns of bullying?

Responding to Parent Complaints, Investigations

  • Exploring best practice in responding to parent complaints or concerns
  • Examining key aspects to consider in an effective investigation

Note-Taking and Record Keeping

  • Optimising note-taking and record keeping to protect your legal position, including time-saving approaches and tips

Policies

  • Updating policies to optimise responses to bullying and address legal risks

Updating policies to optimise responses to bullying and address legal risks

Allison Inglis, Managing Partner, HBM Lawyers

12.25    Chairperson’s Remarks

12.30    Lunch

1.15      Chairperson’s Remarks

TBC: Nicole Gregory, Principal, The Lakes College

1.20      Drafting Effective Letters and Communications to Parents: Dealing with Challenging Student Issues, Responding to Complaints, Difficult Parents and Legal or Media/Publicity Threats

  • Exploring circumstances where there is a heightened need in schools to craft communications to advance or protect the school’s legal position, including:
    • student discipline
    • parent complaints/difficult parents
    • student disability
    • investigations
    • severing enrolment
  • Understanding your audience
  • Developing a communications strategy and objectives and considering your options, including informal versus more formal approaches
  • Implementing communications to avoid a claim
  • Using “Without Prejudice” communications to try and negotiate an outcome without prejudicing your legal position
  • Case studies and examples – what are the ingredients of an effective letters or communications. What has landed well and not so well?

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

2.20      Excursions, Camps and Trips Risk Assessment and Management Workshop: Implementing Best Practice, Including Navigating Students with Conditions, External Providers and Staff Risks

Recent cases and coronial matters have highlighted the many elements that should be included and balanced in a risk assessment involving offsite activities. This session explores best practice risk assessment in schools using case studies and scenarios, walking through what an optimal risk assessment would look like in different circumstances

Key Legal Obligations Underpinning Risk Assessment and Management

  • Examining key legal rights and obligations guiding risk assessments, including:
    • duty of care, including duty of care of the school versus other schools, venues or external providers
    • child safety obligations
    • discrimination laws
    • contractual arrangements with external providers or venues
    • WHS laws affecting staff or volunteers, including laws regarding psychosocial hazards
    • industrial laws or agreements

Risk Assessment and Management Templates

  • Optimising and “de-cluttering” risk assessment documents

Collecting Information and Managing Privacy

  • Ensuring you obtain all relevant information to optimise the risk assessment
  • Implementing approaches to manage privacy obligations, including where external providers are receiving information about students and staff

Risk Assessments by External Providers

  • To what extent can you rely on risk assessments provided by external providers?

Case Studies and Scenarios

  • Implementing effective risks assessments and risk management involving:
    • a student with a chronic condition or more complex medical needs
    • the school is relying on external service providers and staff
    • higher risk, outdoor activities are involved

Katie Clark, Partner, MinterEllison

3.20      Break

3.35      Privacy, Access to and Disclosure of Information: Examining Optimum Access for Different Staff and The Limits of Disclosure to Parents and Others

Key Privacy and Confidentiality Laws and Potential Reforms

  • Outlining key laws applying to privacy, confidentiality and information sharing in schools
  • Examining potential privacy reforms and impacts on schools

Access Within a School

  • Examining the elements to consider in deciding what information different staff or departments within the school should be able to access
  • Exploring optimum access and sharing within a school of student information, including access to and sharing of:
    • medical information, including parent medical information
    • disability assessments and reasonable adjustments
    • counselling records
    • parent financial information
    • school investigations and police information

Staff Issues and Disclosure

  • Understanding what you can disclose to staff when you are dealing with complaints they have made against other staff
  • Examining what you can disclose to other staff and the school community when staff are being investigated or are facing / have been subject to internal or external disciplinary action
  • Examining what information you can disclose about staff mental health issues
  • Exploring what information you can provide school staff about disputes with parents

Disclosing to Parents, the School Community and External Experts

  • Understanding the types of records often required by parents
  • Examining obligations to share student information with parents including:
  • school internal notes or correspondence – what can be required for disclosure?
  • providing student records:
      • sharing and consent from mature minors
      • dealing with information sharing with separated parents
  • Complaints of bullying against students – what information can you provide to affected parents about the other student, their family and steps taken
  • Navigating disclosure to the school community where there has been an incident or issue, including when it has received media coverage
  • Managing disclosure to external experts dealing with student mental health, disability of behaviour issues

Implementing Best Practice Policies

  • Exploring best practice privacy policies

Trenton Schreurs, Principal, McInnes Wilson Lawyers

4.35      Chairperson’s Remarks

4.45      Event Close

Presenters / panelists include:

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.
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.
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.
John Hamilton has a strong track record in advising clients across a wide range of commercial and corporate matters. He possesses specialist knowledge and application in industrial relations matters, including employment and workplace issues, whilst working extensively in the education sector. John has a 25-year track record of managing publicly sensitive issues and delivering results.
Before studying law Tracey Jessie was a teacher and principal within Education Queensland. Tracey now advises a range of educational institutions on employment matters. Tracey has extensive experience leading investigations and complaints on behalf of employer organisations. She is experienced in preparing employment contracts, policies and procedures for employers. 

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