Placements can present stressful situationss and expose students to a variety of hazards. While we work to mitigate as many of these risks as possible, it is important to be prepared should an incident occur. 

Placement incidents

Placements expose students and staff to a large range of potential hazards that can lead to incidents including:

• Near misses and minor injuries that can be treated with first aid through to major injury requiring hospitalisation, and in rare cases death
• Mental health concerns
• Bully and harassment from peers, provider staff and clients
• Sexual misconduct

While each incident is unique and may occur in different locations and circumstances, they are managed through the same protocol to ensure safety and compliance.

Critical incidents

The Student Critical Incident Procedures 2024 defines a critical incident as an event or situation (or the imminent risk of such) which causes serious illness, fear, harm, injury, extreme stress, or other trauma to the person. Some examples of a student critical incident can be found via the Students of concern and critical incidents.

University staff must escalate all student critical incidents to the Student Wellbeing team via email [email protected]. The Incident Manager (Student Wellbeing) will coordinate the University's response to the incident, and if required will convene the Student Critical Incident Response Team (SCIRT). SCIRT will bring together key stakeholders to clarify what has occurred and determine the appropriate actions required.

For more information about the University's commitment to Student Wellbeing refer to Student Wellbeing.

Sexual misconduct

The Safer Communities Office provides support to students and staff exposed to sexual misconduct. Any incident involving sexual misconduct is serious. If you become aware of such an incident within 48 hours of occurrence, it must be managed as a critical incident. Refer to the "How to Manage Placement Incidents" flowchart below. Staff can contact the Safer Communities Office for assistance via phone 8627 6808 or via email [email protected].

For more information about the University's response and the available support in relation to sexual misconduct, refer to Safer Communities Office & Sexual Misconduct.

Reporting incidents

All incidents should be reported via Riskware within 24 hours. The Safety and Wellbeing team will review the report and respond to each case as appropriate.

The Safety, Health and Wellbeing team can support staff and students in response to hazards, incidents and injuries associated with University activities (including approved placements). Staff can contact the team directly via email [email protected].

For more information about the University's commitment to Student Wellbeing, refer to Student Support.

The University is responsible for:

• Supporting the wellbeing of students while on placement.
• Conducting due diligence to confirm a placement provider is appropriate.
• Ensuring each placement is covered by a fully executed Student Placement Agreement, which references Health and Safety responsibilities.
• Ensuring placement providers and students understand their responsibilities.
• Reporting any placement incident via approved University's processes. 
• Providing students and placement providers with appropriate contact details to use in the event of an incident. 

Placement providers are responsible for:

• Providing students with a safe environment while on placement.
• Providing students with a Work Health and Safety induction to their facilities on the first day of placement. 
• Informing students of any relevant health and safety issue before the placement commences.
• Notifying the University if any health and safety concerns arise during the placement.

Students are responsible for:

• Informing the University of any health and safety concerns that arise during their placement.
• Complying with all relevant University and placement provider policies and procedures, including Work Health and Safety requirements, placement-related policies, codes of conduct, professional standards, confidentiality obligations and reasonable directions issued by the University and or placement provider in relation to their placement. 
• Behaving in a manner that promotes the health, safety, and wellbeing of themselves and others, including clients, patients, staff, supervisors and fellow students and refraining from conduct that may place themselves or others at risk.

All placement incidents, whether critical or minor, should be taken seriously and reported promptly. 

Download the Incident on Placement Process flowchart. A guide to help you navigate supporting a student who has experienced an incident during a placement. 

Download the alternative text for the incident on placement process (docx, 21KB).

Note in the flowchart: Target academic may vary by faculty and school. Locally agreed responsibilities should be outlined in the School or Faculty's Local Provisions. 

Student Wellbeing Care report

After a referral is submitted via a Student Wellbeing Care report, you will receive confirmation via email. The Student Wellbeing team will manage the student's wellbeing needs and collaborate with the appropriate team members.

If you are unsure about something, try asking the University's Specialist Advice and Support for Students AI Assistant (chatbot).

Our Student Critical Incident Procedures 2024 indicates that the Student Critical Incident Response Team will contact a student's next of kin in response to a critical incident.

For non-critical incidents, staff are strongly encouraged to first consult with the Student Wellbeing team.

Health and Safety privacy considerations are applied in the same way as any other context. For more details, refer to the Data Privacy & Retention. Key points to consider when recording information about incidents include:

• Limit information sharing: Only share incident information with relevant personel who need to know, this extends to where data is recorded. Consider who can access the system before entering the information. For example, data entered in Sonia is visible to anyone with Client access to your Instance.
• Secure record keeping: Outside the University's Riskware and the Student Wellbeing Care Report, incident details should only be recorded in a secure TRIM record.
• Placement allocation changes: If placement allocation change is required, create a Sonia Placement and or Student Note indicating that a change occurred, including approver and the comment "For details see TRIM / Riskware / Student Wellbeing Care Report reference XXX."
• Placement termination: If the Unit of Study Coordinator and Head of School determine that a placement provider should no longer host placements, create a Sonia Site Note including the date, authorisation, and where necessary include the comment "For details see TRIM / Riskware / Student Wellbeing Care Report reference XXX."
• Accuracy and legal considerations: All notes or records can potentially be subpoenaed and be used in legal proceedings. Ensure that all entries are accurate and factual.

As a placement officer, you may be the first point of contact for students experiencing distress. The University offers a range of mental health training opportunities to support your own wellbeing and to help you effectively assist others. To explore available courses, visit the Workday Learning catalogue.

Support for staff

Confidential, 24-hour support is available free of charge to all staff and their immediate family members through the University's Employee Assistance Program EAP.

For more information, visit the Safety and Wellbeing page. 

Support for students

A student is not required to be involved in an incident for you to have concerns about their wellbeing. A Student Wellbeing Care Report can be submitted at any time.

You may also offer to assist the student to connecting with Student Support.

Who to contact for help

If you require further assistance, please contact Safety Health and Wellbeing or Student Wellbeing.