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 Employee Performance and Development 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.

The Department of Education provides inclusive and equitable work and learning environments, services and management practices free of unlawful discrimination and harassment. This includes the prevention and effective management of discrimination and harassment.

School dress requirements are tangible evidence of the standards expected of students. A school’s dress requirements play an important role in promoting a positive image of the school and creating a sense of identity among students.

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.

The Workplace Bullying policy affirms the Department’s commitment to safe, equitable and non-discriminatory workplaces, and guides employees and line managers in the prevention and effective management of bullying in the workplace.

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.

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.