the brief.
responding to psychosocial hazards faced by staff in schools.
tyson brennan. 06 november 2025.
responding to psychosocial hazards faced by staff in schools.
In accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act 2004 (Vic), employers are obliged to eliminate, manage or reduce psychological hazards and psychological harm in the workplace. In the education space, these obligations are particularly notable, as there are several features of schools that may present psychosocial hazards.
As outlined by the Victorian Government’s Psychological Safety and Risk Management Policy (updated 25 March 2025), work related psychosocial hazards in schools can include, but are not limited to:
- Students with challenging behaviours
- Work-related violence and aggression
- Sexual harassment
- Bullying
- Discrimination and racial, religious or cultural vilification
- Poor support
- Poor organizational change management
- High and low job demands
- Poor workplace relationships
- Exposure to traumatic events
what are psychosocial hazards and how are they relevant to schools?
WorkSafe defines psychosocial hazards as factors in the design or management of work that increase the risk of work-related stress and can result in psychological or physical harm. Psychosocial hazards can arise from or in relation to:
obligations for employers
School leaders, in consultation with school staff, and health and safety representatives, where they are elected, must:
- Identify hazards
- Assess risks
- Control risks
- Review control measures and prioritise psychological health and safety risks and hazards relevant to the school’s particular environment.
In determining the control measures for psychosocial hazards, schools should consider factors such as:
- The duration, frequency and severity of exposure to hazards;
- How psychosocial hazards can interact or combine (e.g. exposure to child abuse and other work pressures);
- The systems of work, including how the work is managed, organized and supported;
- Workplace interactions or behaviours;
- The information, training, instruction and supervision provided to employees.
A detailed in the Victorian Government’s Psychological Safety and Risk Management Policy, schools must identify psychological hazards in the school, implement effective controls and monitor and review hazards and controls in consultation with school staff who are, or are likely to be affected, including:
- Encouraging all staff to report psychosocial hazards, incidents and near misses
- Identifying and
As noted above, privacy clauses, such as those relating to consent for photographic disclosures are often presented as a pre-condition for the provision of services. For example, some clauses will state: ‘by completing this application form, you agree to use using your photograph in advertisements and other communications’. This effectively prevents parents and guardians from accessing any opportunity to deny consent – indeed, the implication of a provision such as this is that if a person seeks to succeed in their enrolment application, it is a requirement for them to agree to the school’s terms. Parents and guardians not hold the requisite bargaining power to decline the pre-conditions that form part of the enrolment agreement.
the issue with traditional methods
Plainly, reliance with the traditional approaches discussed above may not be lawful. Schools that lack valid consent for disclosure yet nonetheless publish a student’s image will very likely find themselves in breach of APP 6. This principle establishes that the relevant entity (i.e. the school in these circumstances), may only use or disclose personal information for the primary purpose for which it was collected, or if the individual has consented to that use or disclosure.
Schools operate to provide education and care, and will therefore necessarily collect student information to provide that education and care. An argument that the publication of student photographs on the school’s website or social media pages is within the primary purpose for the use of student information would is far-fetched.
the relevance of the school’s duty of care
When dealing with the personal information of students, it is important for schools to consider the duty of care owed to students. That is, to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of reasonably foreseeable harm occurring. This duty is particularly critical in circumstances where the publication of the student’s image would present risks to their safety, as is often the case where there is family violence or other complex issues with their protection. Thus, proceeding to publish photographs of students without valid consent may breach both APPs and the duty of care owed to students
elements of consent according to the Privacy Act
The Privacy Act establishes four elements of consent. Without the satisfaction of these elements, consent cannot be considered valid:
- The individual is adequately informed before giving consent;
- The individual gives consent voluntarily;
- The consent is current and specific; and
- The individual has the capacity to understand and communicate their consent.
As outlined previously, traditional approaches which treat consent as a pre-condition to student enrolment may no longer be appropriate as they often impact the voluntariness of the consent. Additionally, where the enrolment agreement spans for an extended period of time, it can be argued that the consent, at some point, ceases to be ‘current and specific’.
next steps
Schools should understand that many organisations are yet to catch up with modern privacy requirements. Nonetheless, schools should review their privacy policy and the relevant forms, noting the considerations set out in this article. Ultimately, schools must ensure that they have tailored and compliant consent mechanisms.
