The Victorian Government introduced a new scheme last year that it hopes will help curb violent and aggressive behaviour by adult members of the school community towards school staff. Here’s what you need to know.

What Is the School Community Safety Order Scheme?

The School Community Safety Order Scheme (Scheme) has been established under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic) (Act). The Scheme stems from recommendations made to the Minister for Education to prevent and reduce violence in schools. It aims to prevent and mitigate the risk of harm to school staff and students which arises from the harmful, threatening or abusive behaviour of parents, carers and other adults who interact with schools through the use of school community safety orders (CSOs).

What Are CSOs?

A CSO is an order which an authorised person can make that prohibits specific persons from engaging in harmful, threatening or abusive behaviour on school premises and school-related places.

CSOs can prevent parents, carers and other adults from entering or remaining on particular school-related places, approaching or contacting staff members, or using school communication platforms.

There are two types of orders:

1. Immediate orders – orders that prohibit a person from entering or remaining on any school-related places and remain in effect for a maximum of 14 days.
2. Ongoing orders – orders that can be made for up to a maximum of 12 months and prohibit a broader range of activity.

The major difference between the orders is that an immediate order is for instances where action needs to be taken immediately to manage a situation (e.g. where a parent is threatening to assault a teacher).

CSOs will usually specify conditions such as the duration of the order, the times when the orders do not apply (e.g. like at a school performance or awards ceremony), or specific actions that the person subject to the order can take to have the order revoked (e.g. attending a particular course or apologising).

Who Is Subject to a CSO?

An authorised person can issue a CSO to anyone other than:

• a person under the age of 18 years
• a staff member at the school; or
• a student at the school.

Who Can Make CSOs?

Only “authorised persons” are permitted to make CSOs. For non-government schools, authorised persons include the principal (including acting principals) or the proprietor of the school, if the proprietor is an individual.

The Secretary to the Victorian Department of Education and Training (Secretary) also has power to authorise any person or member of a class of persons to be an authorised person either on their own initiative or on application by a school, provided certain criteria is met. This may include persons such as the chair of the school board or the head of a boarding facility.

What Is a “School-Related Place”?

A “school-related place” is:

• any premises of the school and an area that is within 25 metres of the boundary of those premises
• any other premises on which there is an activity conducted by or in connection with the school and an area that is within 25 metres of the boundary of those premises
• for an activity conducted by or in connection with a school, if the activity or part of the activity is not conducted at a place described in the above two dot points any place where the activity is conducted and an area that is within 25 metres of the boundary of that place.

What Does an Authorised Person Need to Consider Before Making a CSO?

An authorised person can only make a CSO if:

• they reasonably believe that one or more grounds set out in the Act exist (the grounds differ for ongoing and immediate orders); and
• the CSO is reasonably necessary to address the grounds on which it is proposed to be made.

They must also consider:

• any vulnerability (of which the authorised person is aware) of the person in relation to whom the order is proposed to be made; and
• whether the CSO is the least restrictive means available to address the grounds on which the CSO is proposed to be made.

A failure to comply with these requirements may result in a CSO being deemed invalid or subject to a review.

Schools, as employers, should also bear in mind any additional occupational health and safety obligations that they may have before issuing an order, including to persons other than employees. This may include parents and other adults who are able to be issued CSOs.

How Does an Authorised Person Make a CSO?

CSOs are made by giving written notice to the person to whom they apply. Written notice means either personally handing the notice to the person or sending it to their postal or email address. A CSO comes into effect as soon as it is given to the person.

The Act sets out what information must be included when giving notice, such as whom the order applies to, the terms and conditions of the order and the grounds on which the order has been made.

Before making an ongoing order, the authorised person must also give notice to the person to whom the order applies of the proposal to make the order. The authorised person must attach the proposed order and then allow that person seven days to make submissions on the proposed order, which the authorised person must take into consideration before making the order.

In situations where immediate orders need to be made quickly, these can be made orally, however, the authorised person must give the person written notice of the order as soon as is practicable after the order is made.

If it is not possible to give written notice at all, the authorised person should instead keep a written record that the order was made and why written notice was not able to be given.

An authorised person should also consider whether any arrangements need to be made to ensure that the CSO is understood and can be responded to correctly (e.g. arranging for an interpretive service).

How Are CSOs Enforced?

In the first instance, schools should make sure that they have suitable procedures in place for monitoring compliance with CSOs. These procedures will vary according to the nature of the CSO. For example, if a person is prohibited from using a school’s Facebook page, the school may wish to assign a certain member of staff to monitor this page and let the principal know about any non-compliance.

If a person does not comply with a CSO, the school may then take action to enforce it. For minor breaches, a school may decide to issue a verbal or written warning to the person informing them that they have breached the CSO and that the school may take further action if it happens again.

For serious breaches, for example, where the breach results in a staff member or student being injured, schools can apply to the Magistrate’s Court for an order to compel the person to comply, pay a civil penalty or some other appropriate order.

In some cases, schools may also rely on other measures, such as a trespass warning notice (TWN), to enforce compliance with CSOs.

Since the Scheme is a civil penalty scheme, schools should not contact the Police when a person breaches a CSO. However, schools should always contact the Police or emergency services if an emergency, urgent threat, or criminal conduct arises.

Can A Person Request a Review of a CSO?

Yes. A person to whom an ongoing order applies may ask for an internal review of the decision to:

• make an order
• vary the order
• refuse to vary the order; or
• refuse to revoke the order.

In this case, the principal or proprietor of the school must appoint a reviewer to review the decision in line with the procedures set out in the Act. On completion of their review, the reviewer must provide the applicant with a written statement setting out the outcome of the review, the reasons for their decision, and the person’s entitlement to seek an external review at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. An ongoing order will continue in force for the period specified in the order until the review is completed.

Immediate orders do not follow the same internal and external review procedures as ongoing orders. Instead authorised persons must, within the 14-day period, review the order to determine if there are grounds to issue an ongoing order. If there are, then they must follow the process for making an ongoing order. If no grounds exist, the immediate order must be revoked.

How Does an Authorised Person Vary a CSO?

An authorised person may vary an ongoing order that they have made, either on their own motion or on the request of the person to whom the ongoing order applies.

The authorised person can:

• vary or revoke existing conditions on or exceptions to the order
• impose new conditions on the order
• provide for new exceptions to the order.

When varying an ongoing order, the authorised person must adhere to the same procedures that they followed for making the order.

In some cases, it will not be possible to vary an ongoing order, for example, varying an ongoing order for more than 12 months. In these instances, a new ongoing order will need to be made.

Immediate orders are also not able to be varied. These can only be replaced with an ongoing order or revoked.

An authorised person can also revoke an ongoing order. They may choose to do this if the person to whom the order applies has fulfilled the conditions set out in the order (e.g. they have apologised) or for any other reason.  

Can a Parent/Carer Who Is Issued a CSO Still Be Involved in their Child’s Education?

Where a CSO is made in relation to a parent or carer of a student, the Act requires schools to make arrangements to ensure that these persons are still informed about their child’s education and for the child to continue to safely access the school.

This may include implementing measures such as arranging for parent teacher meetings to be held online instead of face to face or ensuring that the parent or carer can still drop off and pick up their child safely.

Schools should also be mindful of the student’s mental health and wellbeing and provide any support, such as counselling, as necessary, and also consider any vulnerabilities of the particular student (e.g. if the student requires the use of a wheelchair).

Once the CSO has ended, schools should try their best to reincorporate the parent or carer back into the school community to continue to support the child’s education.

Do Schools Need to Keep Records of CSOs?

It is very important that all records relating to CSOs are kept and stored securely for the appropriate periods. These are needed to satisfy any reporting obligations to the Secretary that schools may have or help in any legal proceedings (e.g. records of any non-compliance may help with any enforcement proceedings).

How Do CSOs Differ from Other Existing Measures?

CSOs can be used alongside or in place of existing measures for dealing with abusive or threatening behaviour such as personal safety intervention orders or TWNs. However, it will be up to the school to consider what approach they should take in any given situation.

For example, where the grounds for an intervention order are not met to manage certain behaviour, a school may choose to use a CSO to deal with an abusive or threatening adult instead.

As mentioned above, a school may also decide in a particular case to rely on a TWN as an additional enforcement measure when a person is not complying with the CSO.

Importantly, schools should not abuse their power to issue CSOs. They should only issue CSOs as a last resort, after having considered other less restrictive options (e.g. resolving an issue through the school’s complaints handling process or sending the person a letter) and when all of the requirements for issuing an order have been met.

What Are the Next Steps?

Schools will need to ensure that their school policies and procedures are amended to incorporate these new orders and that they are across all of the requirements relating to CSOs. For further information on CSOs, schools should consult the Act and the School Community Safety Order Scheme Ministerial Guidelines. Authorised persons must consider the requirements found in these documents, along with any other requirements or relevant policies, when making a CSO.

They must also ensure that their obligations under the Scheme do not interfere with their compliance with other schemes like the Reportable Conduct Scheme which requires them to respond to and report allegations of child abuse.

References and Resources

• Victorian Department of Education and Training, School Community Safety Order Scheme Ministerial Guidelines.