Animals can enrich students’ learning experiences, however schools must adhere to consistent and high quality practices for the care and use of animals. Staff are to adhere to the processes of the Schools Animal Ethics Committee for the use of animals for any scientific teaching activity and/or adhere to the processes of Agricultural Education for the use of animals on school farms.

This policy explains what ‘duty of care’ means, how teaching staff may discharge their duty of care to students, and circumstances in which non-teaching staff, external providers and volunteers may owe students a duty of care.

The policy requires all employees to manage risks. It provides guidance on risk management and business continuity planning by integrating risk identification, assessment and reporting into everyday operations.

Details the approval process for external parties wanting to conduct research on Department sites and information requirements for research projects regarding consent, participation, withdrawal, required checks and confidentiality.

The Conflicts of Interest policy and procedures apply to all employees and contractors of the Department of Education and describes the reporting and management obligations related to actual, perceived and potential conflicts of interest.

The Employee Performance policy and procedures are directed at building a high performance, high care culture across the Department through a focus on improvement. The procedures specify, for all groups of employees, a procedurally fair approach that balances development requirements with accountability, in accordance with the role being performed.