This policy ensures that employees are aware of their obligations under the Working With Children Check (Criminal Record Checking) Act 2004 (the Act) and ensures that the Department maintains compliance with the Act.

Teachers and school psychologists have requirements and responsibilities in relation to maintaining professional registration with the respective regulatory bodies (Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia, Psychology Board of Australia) as a condition of their contract of employment.

Criminal history screening is the process of gathering relevant information to assist in making an informed decision about a person’s suitability for employment or continued employment with the Department.

The policy provides an operational framework to raise employees’ and line managers’ knowledge and understanding of entitlements and responsibilities related to leave eligibility, application and approval processes. It ensures that employees and line managers are informed about, leave procedures and leave management strategies under relevant Awards and Agreements.

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 Department of Education (the Department) supports high quality, ethical research where the findings have the potential to inform decision making and contribute to improvements in school education policy, staff competency, operational practices, student and staff wellbeing or student achievement and progress.