Tailored to Law Applying to VIC Non-State Schools. Part of LawSense School Law VIC and Separately Bookable
| Date & Time | 14 May 2026 – Student Issues Day (Non-State Schools 8.45am-4.35pm) |
| Venue | RACV City Club 501 Bourke St., Melbourne And Live Online & Recorded Recording available for both in-person & online attendees Recording access expires 14 June 2026 |
| Pricing | E. Bird. $695 Stan. $795 Prices include gst. Early Bird expires 3 April 2026 |
| CPD | This PD addresses 7.2.2. of the Standards |
| Sector/State | Specific to Non-State Schools |
| Other related LawSense Events | See all the many events for schools at LawSense Events |
Event Program
8.45 LawSense Welcome
8.50 Chairperson’s Remarks
Natalie Charles, Principal, St Catherine’s School
8.55 Social Media and Bullying Updates and Students Targeting Staff Online
Bullying Update: Navigating Recent Cases, Rapid Review, Bullying on Social Media, Obligations Beyond the School Gate, Dissatisfied Parents, AVOs Between Students
Applicable Laws and Government Anti-Bullying Rapid Review
- Outlining relevant laws applying to student bullying
- Examining the implications of the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review
- Examining obligations in identifying bullying, including grey areas such as social exclusion
School Obligations Beyond the School “Gate”
- Reviewing recent cases and implications regarding a school’s duty to address bullying beyond the school gate – how has this been extended?
Navigating Particular Challenges with Online Bullying
- Navigating particular challenges in dealing with online bullying, including determining the extent of your duties for conduct outside school hours, or conduct involving students outside the school
Supervision/Monitoring of Online Activity, Including Student Activity Outside School Hours
- Exploring the boundaries of a school’s duty of care in monitoring student online activity, including outside school hours
- Using monitoring software on student managed devices:
- what can you legally monitor and ensuring you have adequate consent
- to what extent should you have human monitoring/ escalation to humans?
- what is your legal exposure for an incident where a greater degree or availability of human monitoring could have prevented harm?
- what are your responsibilities to act where the information you collect indicates a student may be at risk, including when the information arrives outside school hours
Managing Challenges in Proving Bullying Conduct
- Managing Challenges in investigating and proving bullying conduct, including searches of student devices and files and interviewing students
Parent Demands or Dissatisfaction with School Response
- Dealing with parents seeking to dictate consequences for the perpetrator of bullying, including parents providing reports from psychologists or other professionals
AVOs Between Students
- Managing AVOs between students as a result of bullying allegations
Dealing With Students Targeting Staff Online
- Outlining the applicable laws and obligations where students target staff online, including:
- potential offences by the student and reporting to police
- obligations to staff, including psychosocial hazards
- navigating circumstances where it is not an offence, but potential bullying or breach of school values
Student Social Media Update: Navigating Social Media Age Limits and Learnings from School Experiences
- Examining the new laws regarding age limits on social media use, including examining exceptions
- Exploring the implications of the new laws for schools:
- exploring impacts on the duty of care
- 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
- Learnings from school experiences to date
- Updating school polices to deal with the changes in social media laws
Ben Tallboys, Principal, Russell Kennedy; Legal Counsel, Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA)
10.25 Break
10.50 Disability and Behaviour: Navigating Reasonable Adjustments, Support Plans, Risk Assessments, Suspensions and Expulsions
Current Legal Framework and Understanding What is “Reasonable”
- Exploring the range of disabilities encountered by schools impacting student behaviour
- Outlining the current laws affecting disability discrimination in schools
- Exploring circumstances where you can impute disability
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 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 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
- 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
- Dealing with parents who refuse to accept or cooperate regarding impacts of the student’s behaviour on staff or other students
- 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
- School discipline examples and case studies:
- managing ongoing discipline of a student with behavioural disability issues
- navigating suspensions
- expulsions – key considerations and navigating pitfalls
- Effectively documenting steps, communications, and decisions regarding expulsions to protect your legal position
Steven Troeth, Partner, Gadens
11.50 Student Harmful Sexualised Behaviours: Navigating Allegations of Sexual Assault Between Students, Including Historical Claims, and Responding to Sexting and Deep Fakes
Duties Regarding Sexualised Behaviours and Claims
- Exploring aged appropriate behaviours and legal definitions for sexual offences
- Outlining your obligations in dealing with allegations of harmful sexualised behaviours between students
Extent of The School’s Duties
- Examining the obligations of the school where an alleged incident:
- occurred outside school hours or activities
- involves students from other schools
- involves students who are 18 or over
Examining When Reporting Obligations to Agencies and Police Are Triggered
- Evaluating when legal obligations to report and notify police are triggered
- What steps should be taken where there are only rumours or suspicions?
- Understanding the obligations and options of the school where the alleged victim does not wish the matter to be disclosed, investigated or reported or is not cooperative
Navigating Privacy Considerations
- Dealing with requests from students not to inform their parents
- Examining potential legal risks where the school counsellor is involved with both students
- Understanding the extent to which you can disclose allegations or investigations to staff
- Balancing privacy obligations with your duties to other students and parents
Dealing with Police
- Understanding rights and obligations in Police interviewing students or staff or police requesting your records or other information
Communicating with the Alleged Perpetrator, Survivor/Victim and School Community
- 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
Investigating Suspicions or Allegations
- Understanding when an investigation is required and the extent of any investigation
- Examining the potential limits on a school investigating while other agencies, such as police are involved
- Understanding the potential role of legal privilege
- Obtaining evidence from students – navigating rights and obligations and dealing with hearsay
Particular Issues with Historical Claims
- Examining particular challenges in responding and investigating where claims are made some time after students have left the school or the relevant staff are no longer at the school
Sexting and Deep Fakes-Applicable Laws and Obligations
- Reviewing the legal frameworks for young offenders with online offences including sexting, “sextortion” and deep fakes
- Examining the obligations of the school where staff are the subject of deep fakes
Responding to Deep Fakes and Sexting
- Understanding legal restrictions on the school copying, storing or sharing the offending explicit material, including deep fakes
- Exploring how schools should respond to material affecting students and teachers including:
- preservation of the images and collecting evidence
- reporting to agencies such as the eSafety Commissioner or police, including what information should be provided
- understanding the extent to which the school should conduct its own investigation
- obligations in managing wellbeing/psychosocial impacts
- Calibrating disciplinary responses by the school where police determine to take no action
Adam Foster, Partner, Colin Biggers and Paisley Lawyers
12.50 Chairperson’s Remarks
12.55 Lunch
1.40 Chairperson’s Remarks
Nikki Kirkup, Principal, The Knox School
1.45 Conflict Between Parents
Understanding and Interpreting Family Court Orders, Rights and Obligations Where There Are No Court Orders and Navigating Subpoenas and IVO’s
Rights and Obligations Where there are No Court Orders
- Understanding parent rights and responsibilities where 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
- Learning from examples of different Court Orders and Parenting Plans
Recent Law Changes Regarding Objecting to Subpoenas
- Understanding the new option to object to a family court subpoena based on “protected confidences” and how it may be used by schools
Challenges – Consent to Counselling, Information Requests by a Parent, Student Wishes
Providing Information to One Parent or the Other
- Examining factors dictating what information can be provided to 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
School Obligations – Providing Information to Non-Parents
- Understanding rights and obligations in providing information to:
- step-parents or grandparents; should you pass on messages to the student from grandparents?
- lawyers for the parent or Independent Children’s Lawyer
- family professionals providing reports, including Family Report Writers
Consent to Counselling
- Navigating circumstances where:
- one parent agrees to student school counselling but the other does not
- the parents do not agree to counselling but you assess that the student needs it
Pick-Ups, Drop-Offs and Student Wishes Contrary to Court Orders
- Navigating circumstances where:
- a parent is seeking to pick up their child from school contrary to Court orders
- the student does not want to go with or stay with one parent despite Court orders
Liability for Fees
- Clarifying respective parent obligations to pay school fees after separation
Family Domestic Violence Orders
Navigating Domestic Violence Orders and Obligations Where You Suspect Domestic Violence / Coercive Control
- Examining common orders made in Intervention Orders in the context of parent relationship breakdown
- Do they override other orders, such as interim Family Court orders?
- What steps should you take to ensure that the Intervention Order is current? Are you entitled to ask for a copy of the orders?
- Understanding your obligations where you suspect domestic violence or coercive control – what evidence do you require before escalating/reporting?
Eve Bignell, General Counsel, Xavier College
3.00 Break
3.15 Case Studies and Panel: Responding Effectively to “Vexatious” Parents “Bullying” Staff and Learnings from School Experiences Regarding Difficult Parents, Including What Polices and Training Schools Have Implemented
Vexatious Parents, Parents Bullying Staff, Complaints to Regulators
- Exploring the sort of parent conduct that can be considered “vexatious” or “bullying” of staff
- Understanding the applicable laws, including contracts, duty of care and new laws on managing psychosocial hazards to staff in schools
- Examining how the new laws on psychosocial hazards affect assessment and management of vexatious or bullying parents
- Dealing with vexatious complaints to regulators by parents, including responding to the regulator and managing your obligations o the staff member
- Understanding when and how you can implement more robust options:
- restricting or limiting communication with the parent
- restricting the parent from involvement in school activities
- banning a parent from a school
- terminating the enrolment of the student because of parent conduct
- Examining the school’s obligations in practice to students and staff
Principals Panel: Learning from Practical Experiences, Including Strategies Used to Prevent Escalation, Knowing When to Push Back and Training and Policies Schools Have Implemented:
The panel will discuss how they have dealt with a range of issues, what legal options have been relied on and what strategies and policies their schools are using. Aspects covered include:
- approach to dealing with complaints or issues, including the extent to which classroom teachers should deal with parents before management intervenes
- parents not listening and blaming staff such that the student cannot be properly supported by the school
- dealing with parents making vexatious “weaponized” complaints, including to regulators, about staff
- parents demanding information such as CCTV footage or other data relating to student incidents
- parents on social media, including parents posting school correspondence to them on social media
- what staff training/induction and policies schools have implemented and why
Cecelia Irvine-So, Practice Leader, Corporate Advisory and Education, Moores
Chrissy Gamble, Principal, Kingswood College
Mark Murphy, Principal, Whitefriars College
Nikki Kirkup, Principal, The Knox School
4.30 Chairperson’s Remarks
4.35 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. |
 | Steven Troeth has extensive experience in the education sector, including acting for independent and Catholic schools. He advises on employment, student and parent issues, including staff and teacher disputes, discrimination, bullying, cyber and social media issues, enterprise agreements and contractual disputes. |
 | Natalie Charles is Principal St Catherine’s School. Natalie was previously Principal of Mentone Girls’ Grammar, spending the last five years leading a culture of excellence, focusing on educational research, staff development, student empowerment and innovation. Prior to leading Mentone Girls’ Grammar, Natalie held positions of Head of Senior School at Carey Baptist Grammar School, and Director of Staff at Melbourne Grammar School. She was also the Head of Melbourne Grammar’s Indigenous Program for more than ten years and currently sits as a member of the Melbourne Grammar School Council. |
 | Adam Foster advises on policy and contract preparation and interpretation, unfair dismissals, terminations, workplace investigations, general protections disputes, enterprise bargaining and underpayment reviews. He offers experience across a range of industries including faith-based enterprise, education, manufacturing, construction and health. |
 | Nikki Kirkup is the Principal of The Knox School in Melbourne; an ELC – Year 12 co-educational independent school in Melbourne’s South-Eastern suburbs. With over 20 years of experience, Nikki, originally from the UK, has amassed a wealth of experience in the field of education having held significant leadership roles in schools in Switzerland, the UK and Australia. |
 | Eve Bignell is a specialist education lawyer, with experience in providing practical and strategic legal advice to schools across all areas of law impacting interactions with students, families, staff and regulators. Starting her career in business roles in the defence and aerospace sector, Eve worked as a junior lawyer in private law firms practicing medical negligence, discrimination, employment and insurance law. Eve then moved to government law at the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office, practicing primarily in employment law and human rights, before specializing in education law. Eve was an in-house lawyer at the Department of Education for 12 years. |
 | Cecelia Irvine-So is accredited as a specialist in Business Law by the Law Institute of Victoria. Cecelia works for a significant number of independent schools regarding joint ventures, corporate compliance, enrolment terms, and privacy compliance, including the new mandatory data breach reporting regime. Cecelia believes in best achieving change and compliance by drawing on the powerful values of each school. |
 | With almost 30 years of experience in independent schools across Australia, Chrissy Gamble has taught and led from Kindergarten through to Year 12. Her career spans classroom teaching, governance, advocacy, funding programs, strategic planning, and curriculum development. Chrissy holds a Master of Education from Murdoch University and a Bachelor of Arts (Education) from Curtin University. Her Master’s research focused on gifted and talented students and the role accelerated learning plays in supporting their development |
 | Mark Murphy has been an educator in Catholic Schools for over 36 years. The last 25 of which have been spent exclusively in Catholic boys’ educational settings. During this time, he has held positions of leadership in several schools in student wellbeing, Teaching and Learning and faith leadership. Mark was Principal at Marcellin College Bulleen for 11 year and was appointed to the position of Principal at Whitefriars College Donvale in 2020. |