Legal liabilities as a teacher

Professional Conduct and the Law

Australian law recognises teachers as having a special legal status because of their
professional education
Higher standard of behaviour towards young people, which means tougher penalties for
inappropriate behaviour
Teachers need to abide by a code of conduct (VIT in Victoria)
Also see Department of education and training A-Z guide
Proactive actions when dealing with students
o Always leave your door open when meeting with students on an individual basis
o Report concerns to someone in authority
o Dont solve all the student problems
o If an incident occurs, write down what has happened.

Mandatory Reporting

Teachers have a legal obligation to report suspicions of child abuse (emotional/

neglect/physical/sexual abuse)
Child abuse is the action that puts a child of a young person at risk of physical or emotional
hard by a parent/guardian through a single incident or over a period of time. Anyone under
18.
WHAT TO DO?
o Be aware of changes in your students
o Keep a record (with dates) and a paper trail
o Discuss/compare notes with a suitable senior staff member
o Familiarise yourself with policies and procedures
o Pass the information on to the relevant person/agency if it becomes necessary. They
will be able to assist that students family.
Information regarding this is in the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005
There is also a new Child Safety Code of Conduct this states that there should be no
encouraging touch that could by misinterpreted and investigated. This new code increases
the demands and pressures in schools.

Law of Negligence

Based on the notion that we all have a duty not to case injury to others by our actions or
inactions
Judged on a three-part test of what is reasonable:
o Did you owe a duty of care?
o Did you breach the duty of care? (foreseeable or preventable, safe environment?
supervision adequate?)
o Did the injury occur because of this breach? (must be related to your action
or inaction)
 Duty of Care

Safety and wellbeing of students

Applies wherever a teacher-student relationship exists
'Reasonable teacher' test - considers was supervision adequate, was it a safe environment,
was it foreseeable or preventable?
Ensure that acts or omissions do not cause reasonable foreseeable injury
Not applicable on placement - therefore you should always be supervised
Discrimination such as sexism, racism, homophobia, bullying and harassment need to be
addressed under Duty of Care. Therefore, if you see or hear a discriminatory behaviour or
comment you need to pull students up on this.

Restraint

Teachers can use reasonable force to stop students hurting themselves or anybody else.
Therefore, a teacher can break up a fight, but are not expected to put themselves in danger
to do so.

Know DEECD and school policies

o Internet usage
o Medication
o Copyright
o Supervising non-teaching staff
o Student travel in your car
o Sexual Harassment
o Risk assessment - risk and assessment document