Executive Director’s Update to Principals #23 - 17 June 2024
Appointment of Principal, St Paul’s Primary School, Mildura
I am delighted to share with you that Melissa Sutherland has been appointed Principal of St Paul’s Primary School, Mildura.
Melissa will commence in the role at the beginning of the 2025 school year.
As a diocesan leadership community, I am sure you will join me in extending our heartfelt congratulations to Melissa on this well-deserved appointment.
While more will be said later, I also take this opportunity to thank Vince Muscatello for his dedicated service to Catholic education and leadership of the St Paul’s community since 2013.
Read the announcement to the St Paul’s community here.
Strategic Planning Principal Representatives
I am pleased to inform you of an exciting opportunity that emerged from last week's DOBCEL Board meeting concerning our Strategic Plan.
In alignment with our co-design model, the Board has requested the participation of two DOBCEL primary principals and one DOBCEL secondary principal in the upcoming Strategic Planning workshop on July 30th and 31st.
We are seeking nominations for principals who you believe would be best suited for this important role. Please consider nominating a principal who can contribute valuable insights and perspectives to the strategic planning process.
To nominate a suitable principal, please fill out this form, providing a brief explanation for your nomination. You may nominate any DOBCEL principal from across the diocese. I will then liaise with the nominees to check their availability.
Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your ongoing commitment to this co-design process.
Working With Children Check (WWCC) requirements
In response to the recent media focus on school events and when a Working with Children Check is required, we felt it timely to clarify the application of this legislation and our School Visitor Policy and Procedure.
As you know, the safety of all students in our care is a highly regulated area and remains at the forefront of our work. The Child Safe Standards, in effect since 2016, were further refined following the Royal Commission in 2022 to enhance both the legal requirements and the practical tools available to review our harm prevention strategies.
The WWCC is an essential element of the Child Safe Standards and our recruitment processes. We are legislated to ensure all staff and volunteers engaged to work with, or alongside, our students have a valid WWCC. It is our responsibility to act if notified by regulators of any change in WWCC status change.
A significant change to the standards in July 2022 was the expectation for organisations to involve families and communities in their efforts to keep children and young people safe. Specifically, Standard 4 requires schools to ensure: Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.
Schools are required to actively engage with families and find ways to promote diversity and inclusion, recognising family engagement as critical in safeguarding all students in our care.
There is a distinct difference between staff, volunteers, or professionals who attend for clear purposes involving duties or specific tasks - for example, volunteers may be working in our schools to support a reading program or an excursion, or we may have a psychologist or speech pathologist conducting an assessment for a student - and visitors, such as family members or carers, who attend for celebratory events.
When visitors attend our schools for the purpose of celebrating events, whole school prayer, assemblies, celebrating student achievements, grandparent’s activities/visits or participating in student lead events, they do not require a WWCC. Such events provide students with the opportunity to celebrate their individuality and cultures in a safe environment.
Therefore, it is not mandatory for visitors attending such celebratory events to hold a WWCC, as long they are supervised by a staff member for the entire duration of their visit to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our students.
School Visitor Policy and Procedure
The School Visitor Policy and Procedure, contextualised for your school, includes further information about managing visitors differentiating when a WWCC is required for those engaged in child-related work or when they may not be supervised while working onsite in the presence of students.
We encourage you to share all or parts of this communication with your staff and families as you see fit.
Jacinta Cook (Child Safe Manager) is available to discuss this in greater detail. We encourage you to consult with Jacinta in complex situations regarding Child Safety matters.
Expansion of the Reportable Conduct Scheme
From 1 July 2024, the Reportable Conduct Scheme (RCS) will be expanded to cover more types of employees. This includes labour-hire workers, secondees, directors of companies, and individual business owners.
Key Points
Responsibilities:
Employers already have responsibilities for their directly employed workers, volunteers, and contractors. These responsibilities will now extend to the newly included groups, regardless of whether they are employed directly or supplied by an external provider.
Executive Responsibilities:
The Executive Director of DOBCEL must comply with the RCS, which requires them to:
- Notify the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) if a reportable allegation is made.
- Investigate the reportable allegation appropriately.
- Provide updates to the CCYP.
- Report to the CCYP the findings of the investigation, the reasons for those findings, and any action taken in response to those findings.
Purpose of Changes:
These changes aim to ensure that allegations of harm and abuse by workers, irrespective of their type of employment, are properly reported and investigated. This will help create better safeguards for children in Victoria.
Extended Coverage:
The RCS will now include:
- Workers or volunteers provided by labour hire agencies, companies, or other providers.
- Secondees.
- Individual business owners who employ or engage staff.
- Directors of companies performing work for the organisations.
Criteria for Coverage:
These workers, volunteers, and secondees will be covered by the RCS if they meet all the following criteria:
- They are supplied to DOBCEL (School or Office) by labour hire agencies, companies, and other providers or are seconded to DOBCEL.
- They perform work in and as part of DOBCEL (School or Office).
- They are under the direction, supervision, or control of DOBCEL (School or Office).
This could include, for example:
- Casual relief teachers or agency nurses provided by a labour-hire agency.
- A teacher (or other role) usually employed in another Diocese or State school seconded to a DOBCEL school for a term.
- Administrative staff, gardening, maintenance, IT, or other staff performing supporting work at an organisation who are engaged through a labour-hire agency.
Critical Dates:
- Any allegations made on or after 1 July 2024 about workers and volunteers supplied by labour hire agencies, companies, and other providers and secondees may be covered by the RCS, even if the alleged conduct occurred before that date.
Action Required:
- Principals are required to share this information, as appropriate, with members of their leadership team and/or those responsible for the engagement of those to whom the extended coverage may apply.
Contact Information:
For questions or further clarifications, please contact Jacinta Cook, Manager: Child Safety.
Additional Resources:
Thank you for your continued commitment to child safety and well-being.