The Western Australian Minister for Education has released new Standards for Non-Government Schools (the Standards) which will take effect from 1 July 2018. There are now 17 Standards, rather than 14, and the three new Standards relate to new requirements for the minimum age for enrolment, modes of curriculum delivery and provisions for numbers of students enrolled at a CARE school. Significant changes have also been made to the Standards relating to preventing and responding to child abuse, specifically to include grooming, annual training requirements, staff code of conduct and complaints processes.
The Minister has also announced that an updated guide to the Standards and requirements for non-government schools will be available to schools on the Department of Education Services website "in the near future".
While the substance of the initial 14 Standards remains very much the same, the three new Standards relate to:
Other changes to the Standards include the rearrangement of Standards including:
Additionally, Standard 14: Methods of Discipline and Punishment has been renamed Behaviour Management, and includes definitions of "child abuse", "corporal punishment" and "degrading punishment".
The theme of child protection is constant throughout the Standards. Child protection has a renewed focus in Standard 12, and this includes implementing a preventative approach to child protection incorporating a child safe organisational framework and revised requirements for acodes of conduct for staff and students.
Apart from the initial child protection amendments introduced on 1 January 2017, small but significant changes have been made to the Standards relating to child protection including:
A key focus of the new amendments in this Standard is that the School Board, and all staff, volunteers and students, understand and maintain the school's culture of child safety, including:
In particular, Standard 12 mentions an "authoritative and context appropriate child safe organisation framework" as the basis for a school's child protection policies, procedures, practices and strategies. School Governance has confirmed that the particular framework which is considered appropriate is the Child Safe Organisations WA: Guidelines. These guidelines are based on the principle of a child safe and friendly organisation with the nine core domains of:
If a school's child protection policies and procedures do not address the Child Safe Organisations WA: Guidelines, schools should understand what changes are required to ensure compliance before 1 July 2018.
Standard 9: Critical and Emergency Incidents has been updated to include a new definition of "critical incidents". This definition now includes child abuse allegations and grooming incidents by a staff member as part of a school's critical and emergency incidents policy and procedures.
The changes to the Standards generally aim to ensure the enhanced safety and protection of all students in a school, from early learning to Year 12. The changes also reflect Western Australia’s commitment to ensuring child safe environments in all non-government schools and follow the child protection and safety regulatory focus across Australia, especially after the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Although new Guidelines for the Standards are not yet available, schools should understand the new Standards, and the changes outlined above, now.