Audience
All state schools
Purpose
This procedure outlines the protocols to be followed by prospective mature age students and school staff in relation to applications for enrolment at mature age state schools.
Overview
Entitlement to enrol at a state school is subject to meeting the eligibility criteria of the school and the enrolment requirements outlined in the Enrolment in state primary, secondary and special schools procedure. For adults (i.e. persons aged 18 years and older), there are additional eligibility requirements that must be met before they can seek enrolment at a Queensland state school.
An adult may apply for enrolment at any state school (e.g. secondary state school) if they:
- have a student visa; or
- turned 18 while enrolled in school and they are a continuing student; or
- left school less than 12 months ago and (at that time) they were under 18 years of age.
If an adult does not meet the above conditions, they are able to apply for enrolment only at:
For the purpose of this procedure, an adult who wants to enrol at a mature age state school is referred to as a 'prospective mature age student'. When a prospective mature age student submits an application for enrolment they become known as an 'applicant'. An applicant becomes a 'mature age student' once the principal of the mature age schools has decided to enrol them.
An applicant will be subject to a criminal history check by the Queensland Police Service (QPS) when applying to enrol at a mature age state school.
Any adult, or an applicant who is refused enrolment at a mature age state school in accordance with the Refusal to enrol - Risk to safety or wellbeing procedure, may apply for enrolment at a state school of distance education. They will not be subject to a criminal history check by the QPS. If they have not previously been refused enrolment at a mature age state school, they may be required to pay a fee for the provision of that program of distance education. Further information and guidance can be found in the Enrolment in state primary, secondary and special schools procedure and the Distance education enrolment and fees procedure.
Responsibilities
Principal of mature age state school
- Provide relevant information to prospective mature age students and ensure it is accessible, and assistance is available for them as needed to complete forms.
- Request a criminal history check from the QPS for an applicant
- Review the criminal history check and assess if the applicant would pose an unacceptable risk to the safety or wellbeing of members of the school community, and if so, refer the application to the Director-General as per the Refusal to enrol - Risk to safety or wellbeing procedure
- Consider human rights when making an enrolment decision that is compatible with the
Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld)
- Make an enrolment decision.
Schools and Student Support Division
- Notify relevant mature age state schools when a notice has been received from the QPS advising that there has been a change to the criminal history of a mature age student enrolled at their school.
Prospective mature age student
- Consider range of available educational options.
Applicant
- Complete relevant forms and provide required supporting documentation
- Arrange for the payment of the criminal history check fee
- Inform the principal of the mature age state school of withdrawal of an enrolment application at any time before the enrolment has been decided.
Mature age student
- Inform the principal of the mature age state school of any change of name and/or address
- Disclose any changes to criminal history to the principal by completing the Mature age student criminal history change notice before next attending the school or participating in the school’s educational program.
Process
Image 1 - Flowchart for mature age student enrolment
Before an application for enrolment is made
- Prospective mature age student contacts the school to enquire about enrolment eligibility and requirements prior to applying for enrolment as a mature age student.
- Principal discusses study options and career goals with the prospective mature age student with reference to the Information for adult learners.
- Principal provides the applicant with the following:
Application for enrolment is made to mature age state school
- Applicant completes and provides to the mature age state school:
- Applicant provides proof of identity and pays the criminal history check fee to the school. If the applicant requests that the school pays the criminal history check fee, this can be considered by the school and recorded on the Mature age student criminal history check consent form. Applications should not be processed until the criminal history check fee payment is finalised.
- School makes copies of the applicant’s proof of identity for the criminal history check process, ensuring the Information asset and recordkeeping procedure is followed.
Assessing entitlement to enrol
The principal determines if the applicant is entitled to be enrolled at the school (refer to factors affecting entitlement to enrol), including calculating the applicant’s remaining allocation of state education.
Risk to safety and wellbeing
- Principal submits a request to the QPS for the applicant’s criminal history. Refer to Submitting a criminal history request to the Queensland Police Service.
- Principal refers to the Decision making flowchart for principals of mature age state schools: Assessing risk.
- If the applicant has a criminal history, using the Mature age applicant risk assessment guide, the principal considers the following in relation to each offence in the applicant’s criminal history as part of their consideration of whether the applicant’s attendance at the school would pose an unacceptable risk to the safety or wellbeing of the school community:
- whether the offence is a serious offence or an offence of concern
- when the offence was committed or alleged to have been committed
- the nature of the offence and its relevance to a person being a mature age student of a school
- for a conviction – whether a penalty was imposed and the nature of the penalty.
- Where necessary, the principal requests further information from the QPS using the Requesting further information from the Queensland Police Service template, or seeks supporting information (if available) from the applicant to assist in making an informed decision on their enrolment.
- For all applicants, the principal considers other relevant information that may indicate the applicant poses an unacceptable risk to the safety or wellbeing of members of the school community, for example if the person had a significant school behavioural record involving violence against other students/staff, was previously excluded from school, or had their enrolment cancelled.
- Principal advises the applicant if they reasonably believe that the applicant poses an unacceptable risk, and commences the Refusal to enrol process (student must be advised within five school days).
Making a decision on enrolment
Where an applicant is entitled to enrol:
- Principal advises the applicant of the decision as soon as practicable, and:
- records decision in the ‘For office use only’ section of the Application for student enrolment form
- discusses the enrolment agreement and seeks a signature from the applicant as acknowledgement of expectations of enrolment agreement, including the Student Code of Conduct, Student Dress Code and other school policies, programs and services. If not signed, principal makes a notation on the enrolment agreement that information has been provided and discussed.
- School enters the applicant's enrolment information in OneSchool (DoE employees only) ensuring the OneSchool Independent student status (DoE employees only) checkbox is selected.
Where an applicant is not entitled to enrol:
- Principal advises applicant in writing (may be done by using the notification template) as soon as practicable, including the reason/s why the applicant is not entitled to enrol, other education options which are available to them such as a school of distance education, and that information on the complaints process is available at:
- The decision should also be recorded in the ‘For office use only’ section of the Application for student enrolment form.
Information management
- School follows the Information asset and recordkeeping procedure to protect against loss, unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure or other misuse of the applicant’s information, including criminal history.
- School destroys criminal history advice and any copies of proof of identity documents as soon as practicable after they are no longer needed i.e. after the applicant’s enrolment has been accepted by the principal and QPS monitoring has been activated, or after the Director-General has refused the applicant’s enrolment.
Monitoring of criminal history of mature age student
Changes to criminal history of mature age student
- Principal, if notified by the QPS that a mature age student has been charged with an offence, may write to the student using the template to remind them:
- of their obligation to give the school a criminal history change notice before the student next attends the school or otherwise participates in the school’s educational program; and
- that it is an offence not to provide this notice.
- Principal forwards a completed Mature age student criminal history change notice if submitted by a student and the school has not already been advised of the change via the QPS monitoring process, to the QPS (pic.clo@police.qld.gov.au) for verification. QPS will provide verification of criminal history changes to Schools and Student Support Division who will provide this information to the relevant principal.
- Principal uses the Mature age applicant risk assessment guide to update the risk assessment on the student’s enrolment at the school:
- If the student’s attendance does not pose an unacceptable risk, the enrolment can continue.
- If the student’s attendance poses an unacceptable risk, principals can apply a disciplinary consequence such as exclusion (refer to the Student discipline procedure).
- School must destroy the QPS notice for that student once the risk assessment has been completed, and the notice should not be copied or kept under any circumstances.
Definitions
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Term
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Definition
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Adult
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A person aged 18 years or older.
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Applicant
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A prospective mature age student who completes and submits an application for student enrolment form.
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Charge
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Charge (Schedule 1 of Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld)) of an offence means a charge in any form, including, for example, the following:
- a charge on an arrest
- a complaint under the Justices Act 1886 (Qld)
- a charge by a court under the Justices Act 1886 (Qld), section 42(1A) or another provision of an Act
- an indictment.
Charge for an offence, in relation to a charge made outside Queensland, means any allegation of an offence made in a way that is the same, or substantially the same, as a charge under the law of Queensland.
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Convicted
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Being declared guilty of breaking the law, whether you admit to it or not, and regardless of whether the court formally records the conviction.
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Continuing student
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A student who has not completed their entire school education and (other than school holidays) has been continually enrolled in a school. For example, a student who has completed Year 11 in one school and at the start of the following school year changes to another school to complete Year 12, would be considered to be a continuing student.
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Criminal history
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Criminal history, of a relevant mature age student, means both of the following:
- every conviction of the student for an offence, in Queensland or elsewhere, whether before or after their commencement at a mature age state school
- every charge for an offence made against the student, in Queensland or elsewhere, whether before or after the commencement.
For a relevant mature age student who does not have a criminal history, there is taken to be a change in the student’s criminal history if the student acquires a criminal history.
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Criminal history check
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A mature age state school principal must, before deciding on an application for enrolment from a prospective mature age student, ask the police commissioner for a written report about the applicant’s criminal history.
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Mature age state school
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A state school listed on the department’s website as a mature age state school.
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Mature age student
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A person who is 18 years or older and actively enrolled in a mature age state school under the provisions of ss.155-156 of the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (Qld).
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Offence of concern
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This would include a violent offence, an offence that suggests the applicant has difficulty complying with authority, an extensive number of offences, a recent offence, and/or a pattern of offending.
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Proof of identity
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Applicants must provide documentation, which proves their true identity. One of the following forms of identification must be supplied to the mature age state school (copies of the original will be made at the school or original certified copies will be accepted):
- current driver’s licence
- current Proof of Age Card (18+ card)
- current passport (photograph and signature page).
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Prospective mature age student
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A person who is 18 years or older and seeking to enrol in a mature age state school.
Note: A person is not considered a prospective mature age student where they:
- turn 18 years of age while at a Queensland or interstate school and are a continuing student
- were previously enrolled in a state school or non-state school in Queensland or interstate; and
- on the last day of enrolment they were under 18 years of age; and
- the period between their last day of attendance at their previous school and the proposed first day of attendance at the state school is not more than 12 months (which may need to be verified with previous school).
- hold a student visa (certified copy of visa is required)
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Serious offence
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Serious offences are defined in Section 167 and Schedule 2 or 3, column 1 (subject to any qualification described in column 3) of the
Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Act 2000 (Qld). It may include offences of violence, sex offences or offences involving drugs.
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Unacceptable risk
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Unacceptable risk may be where there is evidence that the applicant has engaged in past activity that indicates they are a risk to the safety or wellbeing of members of the school community. This may include, for example, evidence the applicant:
- is a convicted child sex offender
- has been charged or convicted of offences involving violence
- has been charged or convicted of drug offences, such as selling drugs
- has previously been excluded from a school or schools in Queensland or another jurisdiction because of matters identified above
- has demonstrated a sustained pattern of directed, aggressive behaviour sufficient to cause harm to a person’s health or welfare, despite appropriate intervention and support.
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Legislation
Delegations/Authorisations
Other resources
Superseded versions
Previous seven years shown. Minor version updates not included.