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Assessment 2: Research Essay

1500 words undergraduate

Describe, discuss and explain the legalities associated with the

South Australian teaching profession.

By entering the teaching profession, educators take on a high responsibility not just for the
day-to-day duties and tasks associated with the teaching role, but in understanding and
adhering to professional teaching expectations from both legal and ethical perspectives. The
roles of the South Australian teaching professional are not to solely provide and uphold a
duty of care towards students, including student mental health and wellbeing, but to strictly
follow and practice professional standards and regulations. These include following a code of
ethics as set by the Teachers Registration Board (TRB), appropriately responding to issues
regarding abuse and neglect and providing adequate care for youth under guardianship of
the Minister. Ultimately, the educator should comply with the professional standards and
terms of employment associated with the Education and Early Childhood Services
(Registration and Standards) Act 2011. Additionally, within particular teaching disciplines, lie
associated rules and regulations. Those specifically associated with the Drama discipline
include Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) standards as well as performance copyright
laws. These legalities will be explored and discussed in terms of their significance and effect
on the South Australian teaching professional.

In the Australian Education Act 2013, the principal national legislation for “the provision of
Australian Government funding to government and non-government schools”, the
legislation states that “…our schooling system must provide children with the skills needed
to participate fully in a knowledge-based economy.” (Australian Government, 2018, p. 1).
This is a nation-wide pledge encouraging all educators to equip students with the necessary
skillset for our 21st century dynamic and progressive society, contributing to a commitment
to enhance society across the commonwealth. More specifically, within South Australia (SA),
a standard structure for education services; the Education and Early Childhood Services
(Registration and Standards) Act 2011 encompasses the legislation for teaching professionals
to abide by. This legal document outlines specific regulations ensuring “… the provision of
education services and early childhood services for the purpose of maintaining high
standards of competence and conduct by providers…” and is the system used in reference to
legislative guidelines for education services (Government of South Australia, 2019, p. 1).

In accordance with SA education legislation, the government of South Australia’s mandatory

duty of care policy details the legal requirements behind teachers exercising a duty of care
towards those students in their “care and control” (DECD, 2016, p. 5). The policy declares
educators have an obligation to take active and sensible care in protecting their students
from “… all reasonably foreseeable risk of harm.” (p. 5). The responsibility of acting in loco
parentis means student diversity must be considered in terms of student individual needs and

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circumstances. A student with a physical disability or developmental disorder may require a

higher “standard of care owed” to allow for reasonable and equitable care of all students
across a diverse classroom (p. 6). In this case, the educator must professionally plan and act
accordingly by assessing possible risks and harms to the individual student, through
organising and practising protective protocols to respond to potential issues. The educator
must attempt to mitigate risks of harm and “what may constitute a breach of duty of care”
by, but not limited to, the following: providing supervision, complying with school policies
and procedures, implementing programs and rules to ensure safety, discouraging possible
dangerous behaviour and meeting contractual obligations (p. 5-7). Utilising these weighted
responsibilities provides strategies to alleviate possible harm and ensure the safety and
wellbeing of all students.

In addition to the responsibilities associated with a teacher’s duty of care, educators must
abide by a Code of Ethics set by the TRB of South Australia. Ethical practice refers to the
upholding of moral principals and values used in decision making and standards of behaviour.
In holding a SA teacher’s registration, educators must have “…a commitment to the
education, learning, protection and wellbeing of learners” by upholding the three key values
of “integrity, respect and responsibility” (TRB, 2019). The framework can be used by
educators to aid in responding to ethical dilemmas through associated decision making, such
as how to abide by privacy and confidentiality laws while still maintaining a duty of care.
Ethical knowledge can also be imparted onto students for personal learning and growth.
Within the English discipline, teachers can use the subject to allow students to safely explore
ethics through texts modelling real and fictional characters in relation to their ethical or
unethical behaviours, as outlined in the Department for Education and Child Development
(DECD) Ethics in English module (DECD, 2012).

As well as establishing a Code of Ethics, the TRB established a Teacher Registration and
Standards Act 2004 to ensure “…the teaching profession is of high quality and its members
are both competent educators, and fit and proper persons to have the care of children”
(TRB, 2018). The purpose of the TRB is to regulate teachers practising in SA; teachers must
be registered with the board in order to be employed in a South Australian school. Another
compulsory aspect to teaching in SA is undertaking Mandatory Notification Training by an
approved Department for Child Protection trainer (TRB, 2018). According to Mathews et al.,
“mandatory reporting statutes compel members of selected professional groups having
regular contact with children to report to authorities their knowledge or suspicion that a child
in their professional care has been subjected to abuse or neglect” (2006, p. 8). If an educator
has a suspicion on reasonable grounds of abuse or neglect, it is their responsibility to take
action and report the physical, emotional or sexual abuse or neglect by making a Mandatory
Notification Record in accordance with the Children's Protection Act 1993 (SA) (DECD, 2018).
By following the ARM acronym (Act, Record, Monitor) as set by DECD, educators can follow

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procedures sourcing site solutions and/or involving external services in accordance with
mandatory reporting guidelines (2018).

Under the same Children's Protection Act 1993 (SA), guidelines are provided for youth under
guardianship of the Minister. According to the Department for Families and Communities,
“Young people who are taken into foster care arrangements until they are aged 18 are under
guardianship of the Minister for Families and Communities” (2008, p. 3). The South
Australian Government developed a child protection reform program entitled Keeping Them
Safe, “which recognised the need to prioritise the improvement of standards of care and
quality of outcomes for children and young people under Guardianship.” (Foster, Lawrence,
& Henderson, 2013, p. 76). By law, children under guardianship of the Minister must have
access to an Individual Education Plan (IEP), as a part of the ‘Rapid Response Framework’
ensuring “children and young people under the guardianship of the minister have access to
the government services they need” (sa.gov.au, 2019, p. 1). An educator with a student under
the guardianship of the Minister must follow this protocol in negotiating an IEP for the
student through offering extra support and liaising with the relevant range of government
services available.

Various legalities are associated with safe and inclusive teaching of the drama discipline. As
mentioned in the DECT Duty of Care Policy, certain activities and circumstances will have a
greater risk or harm for students: “The greater the risk of harm, and the more serious the
possible harm, the higher the standard of care owed.” (2016, p. 6). In the drama classroom,
a higher standard of care is owed due to the prominent physicality of the subject and hence
strict OHS standards. When a student is situated on a set or object that reaches one metre in
height (or above), a safety rail must be provided for the student to use. OHS standards are
put in place to foresee possible risk or danger and in an attempt to mitigate or eliminate risk
of harm (DECD, 2016). Similarly, when stage rigging set, props or objects overhead, specific
protocols must be followed in terms of “the hardware used to lift, lower, and hold
performance equipment on or above a stage” (Stagecraft Industries, 2015). Understanding
and appropriately following these regulations can be a topic of professional development or
discovered through the peak body for drama in education, Drama South Australia.

Another legality associated with the drama discipline is the gaining and purchasing of
performance rights for an existing play or musical, a lengthy process where rights must be
obtained legally. An educator “…will normally be required to pay production royalties, which
can vary and must be negotiated with the playwright or the playwright's agent.” (Australian
Plays, 2019). The educator must write to the correct publisher of the text to discover who is
in ownership of the performance rights, then approach the owner of these rights to gain
permission to hold performances of the show or musical across specific pre-planned public
performance dates. This is often a lengthy process and may involve approaching
international rights holders. Therefore, educators should apply for performance rights as

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soon as a text has been chosen to avoid breaching copyright laws associated with the public
performance of copyrighted texts.

With increasing professional responsibilities for the South Australian educator in today’s
teaching climate, educators must operate in various legal contexts due to the versatile
nature of the profession. When following and abiding by State Government legislations,
equity can translate across government, catholic and independent schooling sectors. The
often challenging legalities discussed in this essay place significant responsibilities on
educators and can often seem overwhelming. Today’s educators should be encouraged to
keep up-to-date with changing or new state legislation associated with the vocation, and
engage in professional experience to explore the most prominent legalities relevant to their
role.

Word Count: 1583

Reference List:

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australianplays.org. (2019). Production Rights. Australian Plays,

https://australianplays.org/producing-a-play

Code of Ethics. (2019). For the teaching profession in South Australia. Teachers Registration
Board of South Australia, https://www.trb.sa.edu.au/sites/default/files/Code-of-Ethics.pdf

Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Act 2011 South
Australia. (2019). Version 1.7.2019. Government of South Australia.

ETHICS in English – Module 2. (2012). Teaching Ethical Behaviours: a How to guide.

Department for Education and Child Development, Government of South Australia.

Federal Register of Legislation. (2018). Australian Education Act 2013. Australian

Government, https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00012

Foster, S., Lawrence, D., & Henderson, L. (2013). Good intentions, devils and details:
Implementation of the South Australian health standards for children and young people
under the guardianship of the minister. Developing Practice: The Child, Youth and Family
Work Journal, (35), 75-85.

Mathews, B., Walsh, K., Butler, D., & Farrell, A. (2006). Mandatory reporting by Australian
teachers of suspected child abuse and neglect: Legislative requirements and questions for
future direction. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Law and Education, 11(2), 7-22.

Policy: Duty of Care. (2016). Department for Education and Child Development.
Government of South Australia,
https://www.education.sa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net691/f/duty-of-care-policy.pdf

Responding to abuse and neglect participant’s handbook. (2018). Education and care
training. Department for Education, Government of South Australia.

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sa.gov.au. (2019). Support and Services: Educational supports for children in care.
Government of South Australia, https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/care-and-support/foster-
care/support-and-services/support-at-school

Stage Craft Industries. (2015). Site Glossary. Stagecraft Industries Inc.,

http://www.stagecraftindustries.com/siteglossary.php

TRB.sa.edu.au. (2018). Professional Responsibilities: Professional Conduct Overview,

Teachers Registration Board of South Australia, https://trb.sa.edu.au/professional-conduct

Youth Under Guardianship of the Minister: Policy & Procedures. (2008). Version 2. Housing
SA, Community Partnerships and Growth. Department for Families and Communities,
Government of South Australia,
https://www.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/10186/Youth_under_the_guardianship
_of_the_minister_policy_community_housing.pdf