LawSense Navigating Student Social Media and Online Offences

Social Media Age Limits, Conduct Outside School, Student Monitoring, Deep Fakes, Sexting and Other Online Offences

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Program

12.00    LawSense Welcome

12.05    Opening Remarks

12.10    Student Social Media Update: Examining the Implications of Social Media Age Limits and Navigating Conduct Outside School and Student Monitoring

Examining the Extent of Your Duty of Care – Conduct “Outside” School

• Examining recent cases and scenarios and how the duty of care has evolved, including:
  • what is the extent of a school’s responsibility for student conduct outside school
  • when would a Court likely find that a school should have known about an issue or was on notice about it
  • exploring, in practice, what steps a school should take when it is on notice of an issue

Student Supervision/Monitoring

• Exploring the boundaries of a school’s duty of care and obligations to monitor student online activity, including outside school hours
• Using monitoring software:
  • 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

Impacts of Social Media Aged Limits & Other Reforms

• 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
• Updating school polices to deal with the changes in social media laws

David Scanlan, Senior Employment Lawyer – WA, Mapien Law; former Director of People & Culture, St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls

1.20      Break

1.30      Deep Fakes, Sexting and Other Online Offences: Examining School Obligations, Options and Investigations

Deep Fakes-Applicable Laws & Obligations

• Exploring how deep fakes have emerged in the school context, including “nudify” apps and other tools
• Examining the law relevant to deep fakes, including with AI generated explicit images
• Examining the obligations of the school where staff are the subject of deep fakes

Sexting and Other Online Offences

• Reviewing the legal frameworks for young offenders with online offences including sexting, and “sextortion” – reviewing key laws and recent updates

Responding to Deep Fakes & 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 such a screenshot, links, usernames
  • 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

Ben Tallboys, Principal, Russell Kennedy; Legal Counsel, Association of Heads of Independent Schools Australia

2.40      Closing Remarks from the Chair

2.45      Event Close

Presenters / panelists include:

	David Scanlan is currently a Senior Employment Lawyer at Mapien Law heading up their WA office, having commenced in September 2025. He has just recently left the role as the Director of People & Culture at St Hilda’s, which he held since 2020. Prior to joining St Hilda’s, David worked in private practice as lawyer.
	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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