Matríz de interpretación final

School Level

• Systemic and non-systemic schools & colleges - Archdiocesan legal firm • HR (employment, IR, WHS) • Student services

• School system leaders

• Education Officers (eg. ICT, Special learning needs)

• Specialist WHS staff

• Non-systemic colleges - Private legal advice

• Colleague principals • Policies & Guidelines

The data revealed three levels of support for government school principals. At the school level the DoE has extensive formal legal communication links and resources, policies and

guidelines, as well as a Legal Handbook. These sit alongside informal legal support from colleague school leaders. At a supervisory level, legal support is available from principal network leaders and other regional system staff. At DoE level, principals access legal support from specialist functional advisers, and lawyers within the Legal Services unit. Data indicated that the Legal Services unit is generally regarded very highly, although negative perceptions have been voiced. Interview data suggested that legal advice is sought in circumstances of principal doubt, and in ‘high stakes’ situations.

School level.

Interview data collected from Catholic school principals and a senior system leader identified several sources of legal decision support at the school level. A critical legal resource for Catholic principals was the suite of policies and guidelines (see Appendix T2). The interview data

concerning school legal policies and guidelines was limited.

Nonetheless, the importance of principals’ awareness of the policies and guidelines was recognised. For example, Principal Kelsey observed:

Legal matters tend to be quite complex, and it’s becoming more and more you know. You’ve got to abide by a large number of discrimination, enrolment policies, there’s a whole range of things. So you need to be reasonably across the board with all these things and make sure that occurs. (Personal communication, September 7, 2015)

Principal Drew pointed out that, “In terms of risk management, the system will provide policies and procedures and training and so on.” (Personal communication, June 13, 2014)

The reliance of Catholic principals on colleague school leaders for support in dealing with legal issues was another theme identified in the data. Reliance on colleagues was not merely a matter of younger principals seeking information and advice from older principals — although that was recognised — but rather, a more general situation of a principal not having previously dealt with a particular issue consulting one who may have done so. This form of legal support was noted by Principal Clark, who observed, “Another thing I would probably have done a lot of earlier on as a principal, was asking colleague principals, and particularly the experienced

principals. And now, a lot of people ask me.” (Personal communication, September 8, 2015) Principal Drew emphasised the benefits of discussing a legal problem with a colleague, regardless of relative time in the principalship:

There’ll be a fraternity or a sorority that you can access with a problem. And that’s what we do. “This is my situation.” There’s a good chance that one of us has encountered something similar. . . . It doesn’t matter what level of experience, everyone should still do that, and does do that. (Personal communication, June 13, 2014)

Consideration of the sources of legal support available to Catholic principals at the school level is not complete without some discussion of the different situations of systemic and non- systemic Catholic schools and colleges (Austen, Swepson, & Marchant, 2012; Casey, 2001). In Tasmania, systemic schools and colleges obtain legal advice through the TCEO, from the firm of

lawyers retained by the Archdiocese. Leaders of non-systemic Catholic schools and colleges can also use this firm but may also engage their own lawyer if they feel that is appropriate. Principal Chris advised, “We have an Archdiocese lawyer who we mostly use, but we would have the freedom to use someone else.” (Personal communication, June 13, 2014) Similarly, Principal Drew, another non-systemic school leader, noted:

We can move in and out of that system as well. Normally the advice is pretty sound that we would get from the Archdiocese or from its lawyers. Some things are very complex and unique, and X’s had a couple of those, where [they have] gone outside to find that particular expertise in Industrial Law or something like that, which has been very helpful. (Personal communication, June 13, 2014)

Supervisory management level.

A further source of legal decision support for Catholic school principals lay with the Northern and Southern Heads of School Service and regional TCEO staff. A number of specialist Education Officers support principals dealing with workplace health and safety, disability and racial discrimination, and pastoral care and wellbeing issues (including child welfare matters) (Tasmanian Catholic Education Office, 2014-15).

TCEO level.

Catholic school principals who require support in dealing with legal matters can also obtain assistance from experienced specialist administration staff within the TCEO who provide

information on various legal matters (Tasmanian Catholic Education Office, 2014-15) including:  students with disabilities and other special needs;

 maintenance compliance and facility risk management;

 workplace health and safety (including risk management), child protection, industrial relations and human resources; and

 information and communication technology.

System Leader Cameron outlined the role played by TCEO staff in advising principals about legal issues as follows:

I suppose we [the TCEO] try to be a bit of a filter, so if we can provide the advice, rather than going to the external lawyers, then we try and do that. So that’s essentially the arrangements we have. And XXX, the group who’ve been doing the work for us have been doing it for quite some time, so they’re familiar with our organisational structure

and so on. And they have various people skilled in particular areas, whether it’s Industrial Law or HR Law or Family Court, that sort of thing. (Personal communication, October 5, 2015)

Themes that emerged from the government system interviews were also reflected in the data collected from Catholic system participants. That is, in relation to the circumstances in which school principals seek expert legal advice, and their satisfaction with the legal support provided by the lawyers. Firstly, on the issue of when to consult lawyers about their legal

problems, participants provided both narrow and wide answers around the notion of uncertainty. Principal Clark’s explanation was narrowly constructed. “If you’re not sure about it; if in doubt it’s the old thing, talk to someone who’s a little bit more comfortable in that area. ‘Look, can you just interpret that for me? Explain to me what it really is saying’.” (Personal communication, September 8, 2015) Principal Chris addressed the issue in much more general terms:

When there is an issue that you identify, you’ll either know innately that you’ve got the capacity to deal with it through experience, or there may be a question mark. . . . If we have a question mark, the way the law is shifting with regard to the big ones around discrimination and harassment and all the rest of it, is that even though you might have 99 per cent confidence that you’re right, I have learnt that it is far better just to check. Because inevitably, whilst you thought you were on safe ground, some aspect of the law is presented back to you that makes you step back and maybe readjust. (Personal

communication, June 13, 2014)

In addition to doubt impelling participants to seek legal counsel, Principal Kelsey discussed the need for legal advice arising from the involvement of external parties in a dispute, “So we had what I viewed as the unholy quadrella: the Union, Workers’ Compensation, the Police and the Teachers’ Registration Board” (Personal communication, September 7, 2015) — the very embodiment of a high stakes issue warranting legal advice.

In terms of participants’ satisfaction with their legal support the data were limited and divergent, with examples based on particular fact situations. On the positive side, Principal Clark sought insurance advice following an incident in which a student was bitten by a farm animal, “The lawyer gave us good advice, and all she wanted was . . . to make sure that all the boxes had been ticked and that we were operating well within the rules of what we should” (Personal

communication, September 8, 2015). A less positive experience was reported by Principal Chris, who described his legal support concerning a serious workplace harassment case:

Extremely difficult to deal with. Very complicated and yes, again, required really

significant legal support. And in that circumstance there was conflict in terms of the legal advice that happened. So sometimes you end up trying to find your way through

something that’s already difficult, and then trying also to discern which way you go. (Personal communication, June 13, 2014)

A further negative perspective on obtaining legal advice was provided by Principal Kelsey, referring back to her nightmare of the “unholy quadrella”: “Hopefully it doesn’t happen too often, because the school foots the bill. And as you can imagine, the amount of money involved in legal fees, starts to mount up.” (Personal communication, September 15, 2015)

Summary — Research Question 1.3 Sources of legal information.

A summary of qualitative findings regarding Catholic school principals’ sources of legal information is at Figure 55.

Independent schools

The researcher interviewed nine principals and administrators of Independent schools. All were members of Independent Schools Tasmania (IST), a mutual association of non-government schools which represents, advises, and supports its membership. Two of the participants

The interview data also revealed three levels of support for Catholic school principals. At the school level Catholic principals reported relying on formal policies and guidelines, as well as informal support from colleague principals. Leaders of non-systemic Catholic schools can obtain advice direct from legal practitioners in private practice. At a supervisory level, support is available on legal issues from regional TCEO staff. Functional advisers are also available at TCEO level, and those staff can facilitate legal assistance required by principals. Like their government counterparts, data indicate that Catholic principals seek advice when in doubt, or if possible consequences are serious.

interviewed (Principals Chris and Drew) were principals of Independent Catholic non-systemic colleges and their responses have been considered with those of other Catholic school principals. Of the remaining participants:

 one was a senior administrator within the Independent education sector;  one led the management of a grouping of Independent faith-based schools;  two principals were leaders of large faith-based Independent schools with high

proportions of students assessed as having educational advantage (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2015) (higher EA schools);  three principals were leaders of small faith-based Independent schools with average

to low proportions of students having educational advantage (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2015) (lower EA schools).

The dominant message from the data was that of the Independent school leader bearing ultimate responsibility for legal issues arising in his or her school. That situation was contrasted with government and Catholic system school principals operating within a framework of bureaucratic accountability. The position was summed up by Principal Sydney:

My responsibilities as the Executive Director of the school – the CEO if you want to put it that way - where ultimately I’m responsible for the execution of all the business rules and regulations. . . . Understanding that in the end if something does go wrong, that’s where it finishes up (pointing to her desk and chair). You can’t pass it up the line. (Personal communication, November, 11, 2015)

The contrast with systemic legal arrangements was described by Administrator Taylor, who pointed out that:

Government schools and Catholic schools are within a system, so the system management, if you like, provides the framework for compliance with those things. Individual school principals, whilst they’re the people on the ground who actually monitor and refer issues to their senior management, it’s those senior management who are responsible for the compliance. But in the Independent schools there’s no such system, so individual school principals really do have this compliance burden and responsibility solely on them. (Personal communication, November 10, 2015) Notwithstanding the perception that “The buck stops here” (Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, 2016), the data revealed that Independent school principals also secure legal decision

support from a range of sources located within their internal and external legal environments, as shown in Figure 56.

School level.

The data revealed that, while a government or Catholic school’s library of policies on legally- related matters constitutes an important source of legal decision support for principals within those systems, this also applies to principals of Independent schools. Although perhaps self- evident, it should be noted that Independent schools in Tasmania are largely10 stand-alone institutions, each with its own school principal and leadership team, and governed by its own Board. As a consequence, Independent schools (to a degree), adopt their own policies and guidelines appropriate to their mission and context.

Figure 56. The levels of legal support available to Independent school principals.

Even though there are no system-based legal policies for Independent schools, all non- government schools in Tasmania must be registered under section 144 of the Education Act 2016 (Tas), by the Registration Board. That Board requires schools applying for registration to meet certain specified standards, including the provision for certain matters in their policy documents (Schools Registration Board, 2015). Matters which must be addressed include:

 enrolment, attendance, and participation procedures;

10 _{The exception is the cluster of four Christian faith-based schools located in Southern Tasmania (Christian Schools} Tasmania). Each of these schools is led by a principal, but they are governed by a single common Board, and share higher level administrative support.