As another eventful year draws to a close, School Governance invites you to join us in looking back on the most read articles from 2023. While we covered a lot of ground this year, it’s not surprising to see that, for many readers, risk, child protection and human resources remain front of mind.

If you're not already subscribed to School Governance, subscribe today to ensure that you keep up with the latest governance, risk, and compliance news for non-government schools. In the meantime, here are the ‘Top 10’ School Governance articles for 2023, along with some links to other helpful resources.

10. An Integrated Approach to Risk Management

In this article, we take a closer look at the steps you can take to help break down risk silos at your organisation by asking a few key questions.

This article was part of a series of articles in which we discuss risk silos and why they are a problem. Here are parts one, three and four of the series.

9. Mobile Phones in Schools: What’s the Current Status and What Can Schools Do?

The presence of mobile phones in schools is believed to be negatively impacting the educational, social and physical activity of students. Various strategies to circumvent this problem, such as widespread bans, have been canvassed and implemented, but there still appears to be some disagreement about the best way to resolve this problem. This article surveys the current landscape.

8. Do School Governing Body Members Need Child Safety Training?

This article discusses what kind of child safety training a school’s governing body (such as its board) members should have.

Last year, we also wrote an article that covers the training requirements of governing bodies more generally.

7. How should schools manage the increasing capability of Artificial Intelligence?

A year ago, most people would have associated Artificial Intelligence with turn-of-the-century sci-fi movies. AI was the fodder for much entertainment in the late 20th and early 21st centuries but seemed like the prospect of a far-off future. In the space of a few months, AI has gone from a seemingly hypothetical scenario entertained by literature and cinema, obscure bloggers, and the fringes of academia to a very real presence in our world. This article explains how schools can manage AI.

We also wrote an article this year that more broadly comments on digital transformation in schools and recently ran a webinar on how schools can digitise their risk and compliance processes.

6. The Privacy Obligations of School Counsellors

As part of their duty of care towards students, schools often employ counsellors to help students with academic, health and personal issues. As a result, counsellors inevitably become privy to the personal information of students. This article explores what obligations school counsellors have with respect to this information.

For more information, independent schools can refer to Independent Schools Australia and the National Catholic Education Commission’s Privacy Compliance Manual.

5. Human Resources Update: Parental Leave Changes from June 2023

This article examines the substantial changes to the Paid Parental Leave Scheme that took effect from 1 July 2023.

4. Public Facing Documents: What Are They and What Must Schools Do?

This article helps schools get a handle on their requirements to make certain documents available to the public.

3. The Top Four Trends and Predictions for Australian Schools to Consider in 2023

This article examines the key global trends and predictions for 2023 provided by Ideagen and picked out the key messages relevant for schools in Australia.

You can access the full Ideagen report here.

2. Changes to Employment Conditions Commencing in June and July 2023

This article covers the set of changes to employment conditions which commence on 1 July each year for 2023. The Fair Work Commission conducted the expected National Minimum Wage case but with a rather larger than expected increase in minimum wages. This year a very active federal parliament has added a number of other one-off changes that took effect in June or from 1 July 2023, such as paid parental leave, additional classes of employees who can request flexible working arrangements, and access to the Fair Work Commission for employees who are not satisfied with the outcomes of their request for flexible working arrangements or extensions to unpaid parental leave.

Check out our webinar from earlier this year for more information on some of these changes.

1. Key Child Safety and Workplace Relations Issues that Will Affect Non-Government Schools in 2023

Our most read article of the year was a summary of the key issues that affected non-government schools and their governing bodies in the child safety and workplace relations spheres this year.