Department of Education : Discipline Guidelines

These guidelines outline a range of sanctions which are specified in the Education Act as possible responses by schools to unacceptable behaviour by students. The sanctions are: Detention, Suspension, Exclusion, Expulsion and Prohibition.

The guidelines specify certain processes which must be followed in each case. These processes are laid down in the Education Act or are required by the Department of Education. The non-negotiable instructions are written in bold type with "good practice" guidelines in regular type. They are intended to achieve the following objectives:

to protect the rights of the students, staff and learning community;
except for prohibition, to help find ways to negotiate with the student a plan for change to acceptable patterns of behaviour;
to keep the parents of the student informed and, if possible, engage them in the negotiations to secure a change to acceptable patterns of behaviour by the student;
to safeguard the right of teachers to be able to teach without unacceptable disruption;
to safeguard the right of other students to learn without unacceptable disruption;
to ensure that sufficient and suitable documentation of disciplinary action is made and kept;
to indicate sources of assistance for schools;
to adhere to legislative provisions about authority to act and about accountability and review;
to provide the school and its community with an explicit statement of disciplinary sanctions and procedures; and
to protect the Department of Education and its schools against charges of proceeding improperly.

The guidelines make clear that, in every case where a disciplinary sanction is under consideration, the impact on the student's education and welfare must be carefully assessed. The more serious the sanction under consideration, the more carefully must the school assess whether all other reasonable steps to deal with the situation have been taken and whether the proposed action is in fact in the best interests of the student and the school.

The guidelines should be read in the context, not only of the Education Act, but also of the school's own discipline policy. The guidelines may help schools to review or even frame their discipline policy.