Navigating Images on School Websites and Social Media, Biometric Data, Glasses, AI and Consent in a Changing Environment
| Date | 30 October 2026 |
| Time | 12.00pm-2.55pm AEDT (Syd/Melb time) |
| Venue | Live Online with recording - recording access expires 30 November 2026 |
| Pricing | $295 Price includes gst. |
| Sector | Non-State Schools |
| CPD | Addresses 7.2 of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers |
| Other related LawSense Events |
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Program
12.00 LawSense Welcome
12.05 Chairperson’s Introduction
Natalie Charles, Principal, St Catherine’s School, Toorak
12.10 School Websites and Social Media, Biometric Data, Deep Fakes, AI Glasses: Navigating Obligations to Students and Staff and Determining Optimum Policies for Your School
Deep Fakes, Unlawful Images, Biometric Data, AI Glasses-Applicable Laws
- Exploring the latest challenges emerging in the school context, including deep fakes, sextortion and AI/recording glasses
- Outlining criminal laws relevant to deep fakes, other unlawful images and sextortion
- Outlining key rights and obligations with AI glasses
- Understanding legal restrictions on the school copying, storing or sharing the offending explicit material, including deep fakes
- Understanding laws applying to the use of biometric data in schools, including with CCTV
Obligations to Staff and Students
- Examining key obligations to staff and students arising from images, deep fakes and biometric data,
- Examining requirements and guidance from school regulators and reviewing a recent advisory from the e-Safety Commissioner
Schools Obligations with Activity Occurring Outside School
- Understanding the extent of a school’s obligations where the activity happens outside school including where material:
- is generated or sent by a student outside the school
- relates to parties or events which are not school activities, but include students at the school
School Websites and School Social Media, Consent
- Examining the extent of your obligations and legal exposure in having images of students or staff on school websites or social media. Should you remove images that identify students and staff? Is consent enough to meet your obligations and address your legal exposure?
Optimising Policies – School Websites, Social Media, Biometric Data
- Examining what policies schools have adopted and assessing optimum policies for your school regarding:
- images on school websites and social media
- use of biometric data in schools
Ben Tallboys, Partner, Russell Kennedy; Legal Counsel, Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA)
1.25 Break
1.35 Consent Update: Ensuring You Obtain Valid Consent, Including for Images, Social Media, AI and Biometric Data
Examining The Current Risk Environment, Areas and Expectations Regarding Consent
- Examining key areas where schools require consent – use of images, health Information, camps and activities, AI
- Have legal or regulator expectations regarding consent heightened in the current environment?
Proposed Changes – Children’s Online Privacy Code
- Outlining changes affecting consent from the proposed Children’s Online Privacy Code
Student and Parent Consent – Requirements for a Valid Consent
- Examining the key elements of informed consent
- Evaluating express versus implied and oral versus written consent
- How is age considered in assessing consent in different circumstances? When can a student provide consent
- Challenges with consent:
- what level of information and detail is required to make it “informed” consent?
- when is a “blanket” consent adequate?
Managing Consent in Practice
Consent in Enrolment Contracts versus Specific Consent
- Exploring the extent to which you can cover consent in your enrolment contracts, including for:
- collection of parent data
- use of images, including photos/videos or school marketing. Does the risk of deep fakes require more detail in the consent clauses?
- collection and sharing of medical or mental health information
- collection and use of biometric data
- school use of AI
- Exploring when you should obtain specific consents to collect and use data, including student images.
- Should you obtain additional consent from the student when they turn 16?
Opt in; Opt Out?
- Deciding between opt-in and opt-out in different circumstances of consent in schools
Consent from Parents, Including Separated Parents
- When should you also get consent of parents, even where a student has capacity to consent?
- Separated parents -when is consent from only one parent adequate
Online Forms, Tick Boxes and Digital Signatures
- Examining online consent:
- What are the challenges in establishing and proving valid online consent?
- Exploring matters to consider, including:
- exploring the extent to which the information needs to be reviewed by the person consenting
- the extent of measures you should implement to check the identity of the person giving consent
- electronic signatures, tick boxes or logins – exploring how to optimise consent
David Scanlan, Employment Law Lead – WA, Mapien Law; Former, Director of People and Culture, St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls, WA
2.50 Closing Remarks
2.55 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. |
 | 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. |