Excursions by State/Territory for Term 4 2020 – What Schools Can Do and How to Help to Ensure Safety

14/10/20

AAs we begin Term 4 across the country, it’s exciting to see that schools in every state and territory have returned to the classroom and many schools are returning to excursions and camps.

This article provides a snapshot of what schools are now permitted to do in each state and territory as well as links to resources to help ensure that school staff are making these activities as safe as possible.

Summary of Current Status of Excursions by State / Territory *

Jurisdiction	Permitted Activities	Not Permitted Activities
ACT	Outdoor excursions Indoor excursions to be limited
NSW	Excursions and day field trips within NSW Overnight activities School sporting events and activities can be held outside of the school site during school hours	Interstate excursions International excursions cancelled until further notice
NT	Incursions For other planned activities, need to speak directly with the school
QLD	Excursions and camps
SA	All intrastate camps and excursions All school sport competitions, sports days and carnivals, including inter-school competitions Inter-school choirs, bands and other performing art activities
TAS	Excursions All school sport and activities including competitions. It applies also to activities run by external organisations. Inter-school student events and competitions (sport, debating, public speaking, performing arts) School camps within Tasmania will be considered based on Tasmanian Health advice.	Interstate excursions cancelled until further notice. International excursions cancelled until further notice.
VIC	Regional schools can undertake school camps in regional areas outside metropolitan Melbourne Incursions (e.g. use of school facilities by sporting clubs): schools may approve the use of indoor and outdoor facilities on school property if: use is out of school hours any toilets are cleaned before the next school day compliance with current Department of Health and Human Services advice
WA	Excursions and interschool activities Sports training, games and interschool competitions School camps

While students and teachers are excited about taking learning beyond the classroom again, there is a shadow of COVID-19 which affects venue and supplier choices, infection control, food safety, provider due diligence, student-teacher ratios and more.

Some of these issues were explored in a recent article,

School Excursions and Camps: Practical Things Schools can be doing Now – Part 2

CompliSpace has been helping schools navigate these challenges with free resources such as a free Excursion Risk Management webinar series.

An Innovative Way to Solve Excursion Risk

CompliSpace has been helping schools in a practical way with an excursion workflow tool and excursion risk management solution that has been honoured by being listed on the 2020 AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies list.

The judges for the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies list look for critical problems that need to be solved, and award companies that offer innovative solutions to the problem. Excursion risk management is a critical problem, especially in today's climate.

Excursions are risky because they are complex (transport, venue, food, activities, student medical needs, etc.), with infection control now added to the risk due to COVID-19. To manage risk, schools do risk assessments. The problem that schools have is that risk assessments are usually completed by teachers – who are not risk experts. The result is incomplete, inconsistent and incorrect risk assessments that can put students, staff and a school’s reputation at risk. 80 per cent of the time, excursion approvers require amendments to teachers' risk assessments.**

Webinar: See Excursion Risk Innovation in Action

On October 23rd, CompliSpace is holding a free webinar to demonstrate its excursion planning and risk management solution.

Click here to register for the free webinar.

Click here to learn more about CompliSpace’s Safe Excursion Solutions.