ELSTERNWICK PRIMARY SCHOOL POLICY MANUAL
Mandatory Reporting and Other Obligations Policy
No. 408
Date passed by School Council: 17 October 2016
Rationale
All children have a right to feel safe and to be safe. Teachers have a legal and moral responsibility to respond to incidents involving abuse and neglect of students, and to report instances that they believe may involve physical abuse, sexual abuse or neglect.
Aim
To ensure that childrens’ rights to be safe are maintained and each child is protected against all forms of abuse
Action
· Teachers are mandated by law to report signs of physical and/or sexual abuse, and neglect. They have a duty of care to report all forms of abuse.
· All adults are required to report child sexual abuse, there are criminal sanctions for not reporting (failure to protect and failure to disclose offences). This includes all adults within the EPS school community. Any adult can report child abuse.
· EPS follows the Identifying and Responding to All Forms of Abuse in Victorian Schools Guidance and the four critical actions for responding to child abuse.
· New staff will be informed of their obligations including reporting responsibilities and procedures as part of their induction procedure.
· Staff will be reminded of mandatory and other obligations annually and will be required to complete the e learning module on the Department of Education and Training’s website www.education.vic.gov.au/protect .
· All concerns must be reported immediately to the Assistant Principal, or in his/her absence, the next most senior staff member in charge/ and/or the Child Safety Officer role.
· The Assistant Principal will keep a record of all discussions about a student with whom there is a concern. These records will be logged on the Sentral welfare system and maintained in accordance with current Privacy laws.
· EPS will use the DET PROTECT reporting template for reporting all incidents, disclosures and suspicions of child abuse, this will be used alongside the Sentral database to ensure that the person has formed a reasonable belief and can make a report to authorities. See www.education.vic.gov.au/protect
· If a reasonable belief has been formed by a teacher that any form of abuse has occurred including sexual or physical abuse a discussion between the teacher and the Principal Class Officer will take place. The Principal Class Officer should follow the protocol for making a notification.
· A written record will be made, using the reporting template and Sentral and the teacher and/or the Principal Class Officer will contact the Victoria Police/Department of Health and Human Services by telephone as soon as possible to make an official notification. See the four critical actions.
· Following the notification, the Principal Class Officer will keep the teacher informed as to the progress of the case. Support with case management can be provided through the Student Incident and Recovery Unit – see the four critical actions.
· Members of Victoria Police/the Department of Health and Human Services, or associated support or intervention services that visit the school following a notification, will interview staff and children only in the presence of a Principal Class Officer or his/her nominee.
· All reports, information sheets and subsequent discussions and information are to be recorded and remain strictly confidential and held in accordance with the EPS Privacy Policy.
· All incidents to be monitored, and any subsequent signs or indications of abuse are also to be reported. A new report needs to be made for each incident, disclosure or suspicion. These need to be filed safely in accordance with the school’s confidential record keeping.
· While only mandated by law to report incidents of physical and sexual abuse, and neglect; teachers have a duty of care to report incidents of emotional abuse or neglect. Any adult can report child abuse if they form a reasonable belief.
· Students who disclose to staff a desire to harm themselves or others must be reported by staff to the Assistant Principal.
Evaluation
This policy will be reviewed as part of the school’s three-year review cycle or as and when updates are provided by DHHS and DET to the School Policy Advisory Guide (SPAG) or other relevant legislation.