As the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse sits in Perth, schools are bracing themselves for the reforms that may come from the Commission’s report. The Catholic Church has already announced plans to appoint child safety officers to parishes in Perth. In other media, there are constant stories of child abuse, often perpetrated by teachers or caregivers. With the Royal Commission’s report likely to be some years away, some schools are already taking action to minimise the risk of such harm happening.

In a recent case before the Fair Work Commission, the right of a school to direct that a teacher have no contact with students outside of school has been affirmed.

Mr King was a teacher at a college in Blacktown, having been employed there from 1976 to 2013. The college had affiliations with a surf lifesaving club, which Mr King initiated and organised. From time to time, on school days and on weekends, Mr King would drive students from the Blacktown area to the surf lifesaving club to participate in activities.

In March 2012, in the wake of other investigations into child abuse, the college directed Mr King that he was not permitted to have students in his car, and that he should no longer be involved in activities at the surf lifesaving club with students at the college. Mr King failed to comply with these directions on several occasions and was subsequently dismissed. On appeal, the right of the college to make such a direction was upheld.

The focus of the decision by the Fair Work Commission was whether such a direction could be properly made, given that it related to activities outside of school hours. The Commission found that because any interaction between a student and a teacher had a significant connection to the college’s interests (in protecting its students, and its reputation), the direction could be properly made.

Traditionally, employers have not had the right to make directions about an employee’s after work activities. What employees did in their spare time was a matter for them (although this is changing as social media is blurring the lines between employees work and personal lives – Refer to "An Employer's Guide to Managing Social Media Risks in the Workplace" Ebook for more information).

Teachers and students however have a fiduciary relationship. This means teachers hold a unique position of influence and trust and as such, their fiduciary duty requires them to exercise their rights and powers in good faith and for the benefit of the student.

By going beyond the boundaries of a professional relationship with students, teachers face the risk of students misinterpreting their relationship as having a personal rather than professional interest. This can compromise or breach the teacher’s fiduciary duty to, and professional relationship with, their students.

Whilst Mr King’s dismissal appears to have resulted from his failure to follow clear directions to cease a particular activity, this case also highlights the importance of the need for schools to have clear policies and procedures setting out their expectations as to the management of relationships between teachers and students outside school.