DEi incident management procedure

Audience

Department of Education International (DEi) staff, school staff, students, homestay providers, international partners, teachers, chaperones, parents/legal custodians/Department of Home Affairs (DHA) approved guardians of students and their agents.

Purpose

To outline the process for managing incidents involving a student where the incident occurs outside school hours and where the activity is not organised by the school.

Overview

The health and safety of overseas students at all times is a priority for the Department of Education (DoE). This procedure supports DoE staff to identify, classify, escalate and manage incidents involving overseas students outside of school hours and activities. It also provides parents, homestay providers, agents and chaperones with contacts and processes that are followed for different types of incidents.

The processes under this procedure are determined by the classification of an incident. The three classifications are:

• Level 1 – Extreme – welfare at risk
• Level 2 – High and Medium – welfare possibly at risk
• Level 3 – Low – welfare not at immediate risk.

Following these classifications allows DoE to put in place reports, notifications, support and follow-up for incidents are appropriate to the circumstances. Investigations and review of incidents allows DoE to improve conditions and processes to support the health and safety of students.

DoE’s international student hotline, 1800 QSTUDY, plays a key role in receiving incident details and initiating response processes. Students, agents, parents, homestay providers, teachers and chaperones can contact 1800 QSTUDY (+61 1800 778 839) at any time to notify of an incident or request advice.

Responsibilities

All

• provide first aid assistance and minimise risk of further injury where practicable
• report the incident 1800 QSTUDY, and to emergency services if appropriate
• participate in any investigation and subsequent implementation, monitoring and evaluation of actions.

DEi staff

• support DEi first responder and cluster support officer to manage the incident
• manage incidents during school holidays
• maintain and update scripts and information for the 1800 QSTUDY Service
• provide appropriate information and training to 1800 QSTUDY Service, DEi first responders and cluster support officers
• maintain accurate and up-to-date records including the DEi incident register
• conduct quarterly incident trend analysis, and where relevant identify, implement, monitor and review corrective actions.

School staff

• provide students and homestay providers with incident management information during orientation and as needed afterwards
• follow up on issues raised and ensure appropriate intervention is provided under direction of school principal and DEi
• maintain accurate and up-to-date records.

Homestay provider

• contact 1800 QSTUDY to notify of incidents involving students that occur either outside of school hours or during non-school organised activities.

1800 QSTUDY service

• determine incident level classifications and escalate as appropriate
• use approved scripts and criteria to triage incidents and provide advice.

DEi first responder

• coordinates response to incidents, including informing and liaising with the principal, parents, agents and service providers
• reclassifying incidents if needed
• follow the guidance and criteria in the 1800 QSTUDY handbook for on-call staff (DoE employees only)
• maintain accurate and up-to-date records.

Chaperone / Teacher

• liaise with staff, parents and homestay providers and provide assistance when required.

Cluster support officer 

• respond to incidents and escalate to DEi first responder as needed
• respond to incidents escalated by DEi first responders as needed, including conducting site visits
• initiate emergency homestay placements
• follow the guidance and criteria in the 1800 QSTUDY handbook for on-call staff (DoE employees only).

School principal (or delegate)

• report relevant incidents to line manager and determine further reporting based on the nature of the incident
• determine if, and how, incidents should be investigated
• implement required corrective actions and on-going student support
• provide appropriate information, instruction, supervision and training to school staff.

Director, DEi

• support principal with corrective actions and on-going student support
• conduct a quarterly analysis of incidents and prepare a report for DISSC.

Department of Education International State Schools Committee (DISSC) members

• oversee incidents at quarterly meetings and keep relevant stakeholders informed of analysis and decisions.

Process

Image 1 : Incident management process

Note - Many of the requirements identified in this process may occur concurrently.

1. Classify and escalate

• DEi staff manage incidents during school holidays and support DEI first responders to manage incidents ensuring stakeholders are well informed about how the processes work and how they must act in case of an incident by:
  • providing appropriate information and training to 1800 QSTUDY Service, DEi first responders and cluster support officers to enable them to implement this procedure.
  •  maintaining and updating detailed scripts provided to 1800 QSTUDY service
  • providing regular feedback to 1800 QSTUDY Service
  • maintaining and updating 1800 QSTUDY handbook for on-call staff (DoE employees only) available to DEi first responders and cluster support officer containing information to support incident management.
• School staff provide students and homestay providers with information during orientation on how to respond to an incident and ensure they remain clear on how to respond to incidents for the duration of the student’s enrolment and stay.
• Homestay providers adhere to the ISP terms and conditions for homestay providers by notifying DEi if a student suffers harm, illness or injury.
• The first person aware of the incident (included but not limited to student, homestay provider, agent, or chaperone) must:
  • take immediate steps to minimise the risk of further injury or damage and in life-threatening or emergency situations:
    • calls triple zero (000), or emergency number of country where the incident has occurred
    • follows instructions from emergency services personnel.
  • call 1800 QSTUDY (+61 1800 778 839) to:
    • provide details of the incident, including the name of the student/teacher, contact phone number, and person/s involved
    • respond to questions from the 1800 QSTUDY service.
• 1800 QSTUDY service applies decision tool to classify the incident level:
  • Extreme – welfare at risk (Level 1)
  • High and Medium – welfare possibly at risk (Level 2)
  • Low – welfare not at immediate risk (Level 3).
• 1800 QSTUDY service refers to 1800 QSTUDY script provided by DEi staff to determine the appropriate incident escalation.

Level 1 incidents

• 1800 QSTUDY service calls the number/s provided by DEi to notify the DEi first responder and provides the following information:
  • date and time of incident
  • name of student/s or teacher/s
  • details of the incident
  • for a Study Tours or Global Engagement Programs student/teacher: the group name, host school name and the student’s nationality
  • for Queensland students/teachers travelling globally, what country and town they are in.
• DEi first responder calls school principal immediately on becoming aware of the incident and advise:
  • Director, DEi
  • parent/agent/homestay provider/chaperone or emergency contact providing access to interpreters, if required.
• School principal reports the incident to line their manager immediately on becoming aware of the incident to advise of the details.
• For student protection matters, the school principal:
  • refers to Student protection procedure and determines if the matter reaches the threshold for reporting
  • reports any incidents that do meet the reporting threshold in accordance with the student protection procedure records matter.

Level 2 incidents

• 1800 QSTUDY service notifies the DEi first responder as per Level 1 incidents above.
• DEi first responder:
  • contacts parent/agent/homestay provider/chaperone or emergency contact to advise of incident, providing access to interpreters, if required
  • reports to the school principal, if required.

Level 3 incidents

• 1800 QSTUDY service (where it is decided not to escalate the incident to the DEi first responder) emails 1800Qstudy@qed.qld.gov.au if the caller asks for the school to be notified or when the school is required to respond to a query.
• DEi staff forward email and liaise with school staff regarding request.
• School staff contact caller to resolve the issue or provide information requested.

2. Respond

Level 1 and 2 incidents

• DEi first responder coordinates response to incident by liaising with relevant people and organisations to provide appropriate support and escalate issues if required. Response actions may include, but not limited to:
  • reclassifying the incident level, if needed, using the decision tool:
  • liaising between the cluster support officer, the student and their homestay provider or chaperone
  • providing assistance to access interpreters
  • providing access to welfare-related support services
  • liaising with hospitals or medical staff to ensure parents are contacted to provide consent for medical intervention
  • requesting the homestay provider to call the police or emergency services
  • contacting the student’s agent
  • contacting the Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) provider
  • contacting GoSafe travel insurance, in relation to Qld students and teachers on a global immersion program. For more information see Travel insurance (DoE employees only)
  • contacting the consulate or other government departments
  • evaluating the situation to determine if a site visit is required by the cluster support officer/s.
• School principal and chaperones (for incidents occurring outside of Australia) support the DEi first responder to manage the incident, including providing assistance with actions to be undertaken, following the student protection procedures and guidelines, and liaising with relevant organisations and stakeholders regarding the incident, if required.
• For incidents that occur outside of Australia, chaperone will take an active role in response management by coordinating local services and supports, as instructed by the DEi first responder.
• Cluster support officer:
  • supports DEi first responder to resolve incident and attend scene of incident, if required
  • identifies emergency homestay provider and initiates placement as per the DEi student homestay placement procedure, where a student is to be removed from homestay
  • escalates incidents where welfare is possibly at risk to DEi first responder when all attempts to resolve incident have not been successful
  • inform the DEi first responder of actions taken, maintains communication with the DEi first responder and advises when arrived safe at home after site visit.

Level 3 incidents

• No further action is necessary but if a Level 3 incident is escalated, follow the relevant parts of the process for level 1 or 2 incidents above.

Further response

After responding to the incident, it may be reclassified if new information emerges or if the incident is resolved.

• DEi first responder applies the decision tool again to reclassify the incident, if needed.
• If the incident is reclassified to a higher level, the DEi first responder must ensure they have completed all actions within the previous sections that relate to the new level of classification.

3. Record and notify

All staff must report and record incidents in line with the Action Summary Table.

Level 1 incidents

• For student protection matters, the school principal:
  • submits a student protection report via OneSchool as soon as practicable
  • record matters that do not meet the reporting threshold for a student protection report in the incident management system.

Level 1, 2 and 3 incidents

• DEi first responder emails relevant people according to incident level (Director, DEi or DEi business unit) as soon as practicable to notify of the incident and action taken.
• DEi first responder maintains accurate records of the incident and actions taken, including completing a Record of Contact in OneSchool as soon as practicable and ensuring all school staff managing the student are included in referrals to ensure they are notified of the Record of Contact.
• For students who do not have a student profile record in OneSchool (for example, Study Tours students or Global Engagement Programs students), DEi first responder enters all information into the DEi offline record of contact (DoE employees only) email template and sends it to the relevant DEi business unit.
• DEi first responder applies appropriate restricted access to records when entering details that contain sensitive information.
• DEi first responder ensures all incidents are entered into the DEi Incident register on the next business day (CM - 23/553717 DoE employees only).
• School principal follows the School alerts procedure and Alert thresholds to advise DoE senior executives of the incident (Refer to Infection control procedure and Management of contagious conditions procedure if required).
• DEi first responder debriefs with school staff and relevant business unit on the next business day.
• DEi staff (Study Tours and Global Engagement Programs) notify and debrief with relevant school staff and business unit incidents.
• DEi staff monitor 1800QStudy@qed.qld.gov.au inbox and forward emails from 1800 QSTUDY service to the DEi school or DEi business unit to respond to queries.
• School staff review the record of contact after receiving the OneSchool notification or the DEi offline record of contact (DoE employees only) and contacts the DEi first responder and/or cluster support officer for further information.
• School staff ensure the school principal is aware of incidents where a student's welfare is at risk.
• School staff respond to queries sent from 1800QStudy@qed.qld.gov.au.

4. Post incident follow up

• School principal reviews the entry in OneSchool or the DEi offline record of contact (DoE employees only), determines if the incident needs to be investigated, and if so, initiates the investigation to be conducted by the health and safety investigator as per the Health, safety and wellbeing incident management procedure. The minimum level of post incident investigation is as follows:
  • Level 1 (Extreme) – Welfare at risk – School principal to initiate a detailed investigation as soon as practicable on becoming aware of the incident, and follow the Student protection procedure for student protection matters
  • Level 2 (High and Medium) – Welfare possibly at risk – School principal to initiate a standard investigation or quick assessment as soon as practicable
  • Level 3 (Low) – Welfare not at immediate risk – investigation not required.
• School principal prepares and implements suitable corrective actions to reduce the risk of the incident re-occurring and informs people associated with the incident about these corrective actions (for example: school staff, homestay providers, students, and parents).
• The school principal regularly updates the Director, DEi and/or school/DEi staff with outcomes of the corrective actions implemented ensuring the OneSchool record of contact is maintained.
• The Director, DEi:
  • supports the principal with the required corrective actions and on-going student support, if required
  • ensures all corrective action is taken and relevant policies, procedures and documents are reviewed and amended, where required.
  • ensures that DEi maintains a written record of any critical incident and remedial action taken by DEi for at least two years after the student ceases to be an accepted student.
• School staff liaise with the student, parent or DHA approved guardian, homestay provider, teacher and/or chaperone regarding the incident.
• School staff follow up on issues raised and ensures appropriate intervention is provided, including an opportunity for student to access welfare-related support services.
• School staff provide opportunity for the homestay provider to access welfare-related support services, for example by referring homestay providers to the department’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) (DoE employees only) provider, which is available to homestay providers that are part of DEi programs.
• Where the student is at risk of not meeting attendance or course progress requirements due to the incident, school staff refers student to Attendance procedure or Course progress procedure and considers if circumstances warrant escalation to Director, DEi for changes to the student's enrolment as per the Student management procedure.
• School principal liaises with school and/or DEi staff regarding the incident and any issues raised and ensures appropriate intervention is provided, including an opportunity for staff to access the department’s EAP or Headspace’s Principals Coaching and Support Service (PCSS).
• School principal supports the ongoing welfare and wellbeing of the student.
• Director, DEi liaises with staff, including staff rostered as DEi first responders and cluster support officers, regarding the incident.
• Director, DEi actions any issues raised by staff and ensures appropriate intervention is provided, including an opportunity for staff to access department’s EAP.

5. Monitor

• DEi staff:
  • maintain the DEi incident register (CM - 23/553717 - DoE employees only)
  • conduct a quarterly incident trend analysis, and where relevant identify, implement, monitor and review corrective actions
  • report to Director, DEi on incident activity for presentation to DISSC.
• Director, DEi carries out quarterly analysis of incidents involving students, teachers and/or homestay providers to identify incident trends and uses this information to identify, prioritise and manage risks.
• Director, DEi prepares a quarterly incident report and submits it to the DISSC for review and to inform strategic planning to manage risks to students and homestay providers.
• DISSC members review the quarterly incident report, agree on prevention strategies to be implemented and communicate incident analysis findings to relevant school-based staff and DEi staff involved in delivery of DEi programs.
• DISSC members report findings to principals for action.

Definitions

Legislation

• Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (Cwlth)  
• National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 – Factsheets 

Delegations/Authorisations

• Nil

Other resources

• Conducting homes visits procedure 
• National principles for child safe organisations 2019
• Child and Youth Risk Management Strategy 
• Employee Assistance Program  (DoE employees only)
• Headspace’s Principals Coaching and Support Service  (PCSS)
• Health, safety and wellbeing incident management procedure 
• Infection control procedure 
• ISP standard terms and conditions 
• ISP terms and conditions for homestay providers 
• Management of contagious conditions procedure 
• School alerts procedure
• Student protection procedure 
• 1800 QSTUDY handbook for on-call staff (DoE employees only)
• 1800 QSTUDY support (DoE employees only)

Superseded versions

Previous seven years shown. Minor version updates not included.

1.0 EQI Critical incident procedure

1.0 DEi incident management procedure