MO 1359 Part 1: The definition of “school environment”

14th February 2022 Author Cecelia Irvine-So, Skye Rose & Grace Appleford

A major change of the new Ministerial Order 1359 (MO 1359) – to come into operation on 1 July 2022 and replace Ministerial Order 870 – is the updated definition of “school environment”.

The definition of the “school environment” is critical to understand the extent of your school’s obligations to meet the Child Safe Standards. From 1 July 2022, the definition of “school environment” will change. MO 1359 includes greater detail as to the extent of the environment, following a pattern of expanding application of the child safe standards, far beyond traditional school hours. We have compared the old and new definition below.

MO 870	MO 1359
School environment means any physical or virtual place made available or authorised by the school governing authority for use by a child during or outside school hours, including: (a) a campus of the school; (b) online school environments (including email and intranet systems); and (c) other locations provided by the school for a child’s use (including, without limitation locations used for: – school camps; – sporting events; – excursions; – competitions; and – other events).	School environment means any of the following physical, online or virtual places, used during or outside school hours: (a) a campus of the school; (b) online or virtual school environments made available or authorised by the school governing authority for use by a child or student (including email, intranet systems, software applications, collaboration tools, and online services); and (c) Other locations provided by the school or through a third-party provider for a child or student to use including, but not limited to, locations used for: – camps; – approved homestay accommodation; – delivery of education and training such as registered training organisations, TAFEs, non-school senior secondary providers or another school; or – sporting events, excursions, competitions or other events.

MO 870

MO 1359

School environment means any physical or virtual place made available or authorised by the school governing authority for use by a child during or outside school hours, including:

(a) a campus of the school;

(b) online school environments (including email and intranet systems); and

(c) other locations provided by the school for a child’s use (including, without limitation locations used for:
– school camps;
– sporting events;
– excursions;
– competitions; and
– other events).

School environment means any of the following physical, online or virtual places, used during or outside school hours:

(a) a campus of the school;

(b) online or virtual school environments made available or authorised by the school governing authority for use by a child or student (including email, intranet systems, software applications, collaboration tools, and online services); and

(c) Other locations provided by the school or through a third-party provider for a child or student to use including, but not limited to, locations used for:
– camps;
– approved homestay accommodation;
– delivery of education and training such as registered training organisations, TAFEs, non-school senior secondary providers or another school; or
– sporting events, excursions, competitions or other events.

School environment now includes RTOs and TAFEs

The expansion of the definition of “school environment” to encompass locations of the delivery of education and training by registered training organisations, TAFEs and non-school senior secondary providers means the school’s duty of care, and all child safety obligations under the Child Safe Standards, applies in these contexts.

This means when students attend VET and VCAL subjects off campus, for example, at a local TAFE or RTO, the school cannot delegate its child safety responsibilities. Practically, this means schools may need to start to work with TAFEs and RTOs to manage child safety of their students, and implement risk controls and risk treatments.

Online Environments

The additional detail regarding online and virtual locations reflects the increased focus of the Child Safe Standards on child safety in physical and online environments. Moores has published information about online safety and the 2022 Child Safe Standards. Look out for more resources to help you school implement the necessary changes for MO 1359. Expressions of interest for an upcoming webinar can be made here.

How we can help

We can help you implement necessary controls and governance structures to manage the risk to child safety of your students when students attend TAFEs and RTOs.

Look out for subsequent additions to our MO 1359 series of articles summarising key changes to be aware of.