VOLUNTEERING AT ST MARGARET’S
St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School acknowledges the important work that volunteers carry out within our school environment. Assistance, whether it is as a volunteer in the classroom, tuckshop, excursions, P&F activities or sporting carnivals, enhances the quality of your child’s teaching and learning experience.
To keep our students safe and comply with student protection and Work Health and Safety legislation, there are some requirements that must be addressed prior to commencing in a volunteering role.
On 31 August 2020 the Queensland Government made changes to strengthen and streamline the blue card system. The information provided below explains what this means for parents and non-parents volunteering within our school community.
Parent Volunteers
Under the parent volunteer exemption, parents of current St Margaret’s students do not require a Blue Card to volunteer in activities in which their own child is participating, unless:
- the activity involves an overnight camp or excursion; or
- the role includes close personal contact with a child, such as bathing, toileting, or dressing.
A Blue Card is required if a parent volunteers for an activity that their child is not directly involved in.
For the purposes of this exemption, a parent includes:
- a biological mother or father;
- a person exercising parental responsibility for the child;
- a person regarded as a parent under Aboriginal tradition; or
- a person regarded as a parent under Torres Strait Island custom.
Other relatives, such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles, are not considered parents under this exemption and therefore must hold a valid Blue Card to volunteer.
This exemption does not apply to restricted persons.
‘Restricted Persons’ and ‘Restricted Employment’
To further strengthen the blue card system, the No Card, No Start laws restrict certain people from relying on an exemption to work with children, in some circumstances.
Organisations have a responsibility to ensure all people working or volunteering with children, including those in restricted employment, are not a restricted person. They must also ensure anyone beginning to work or volunteer in restricted employment is not a restricted person before they start working or volunteering with children.
A restricted person is a person who either:
- has been issued a negative notice
- has a suspended blue card
- is a disqualified person
- has been charged with a disqualifying offence that has not been finalised, or
- is the subject of an adverse interstate Working with Children Check decision that is in effect
Restricted employment refers to the situations or exemptions that allow a person to work with children without a blue card, such as if they are:
- a parent volunteering
- a volunteer who is under 18
- paid or unpaid staff who work in regulated child-related employment for not more than 7 days in a calendar year
- a person with disability who is employed at a place where the person also receives disability services or NDIS supports or services, and
- a secondary school student on work experience who carries out disability related work under the direct supervision of a person who holds a blue or exemption card
It is now an offence for a restricted person to start, continue working or volunteering in restricted employment.
If you are a ‘restricted person’ you are not permitted to be engaged by St Margaret’s as a volunteer.
For the purposes of this exemption, a parent includes:
- a biological mother or father;
- a person exercising parental responsibility for the child;
- a person regarded as a parent under Aboriginal tradition; or
- a person regarded as a parent under Torres Strait Island custom.
Other relatives, such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles, are not considered parents under this exemption and therefore must hold a valid Blue Card to volunteer.
Home Stay and Accommodation Programs
Parent volunteers who provide home stay accommodation arranged by the school are not covered by the parent volunteer exemption. Any such arrangements will be managed on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the school.
Non-Parent Volunteers (including Grandparents)
Volunteers who are not parents of current students may not commence or continue in child-related activities unless they hold a valid blue card. This includes grandparents of current students. If a non-parent volunteer holds a valid blue card through another employer/organisation, their blue card will need to be linked to the School before they can commence volunteering. Please contact the school’s Risk and Compliance Officer at compliance@stmargarets.qld.edu.au to arrange for your blue card to be linked.
Blue cards (including Exemption Cards) expire three years from the date of issue and must be renewed prior to expiry to ensure continued validity. If a blue card is not renewed prior to its expiry date, the ‘No Card, No Start’ policy applies, and the volunteer will not be able to continue volunteering until their new blue card is received.
What to do next
All volunteers must be registered with the school. This is done by completing the online Volunteer Register form. By completing the online register form, you are stating that you have read, understood and accept the information provided and that you understand your reporting responsibilities as a volunteer. The school will record your name on the school's Employee and Volunteer Register.
All volunteers are required to complete the Volunteer Register form before commencing their volunteering engagement. Once you have commenced the form you cannot save or leave the page, it must be completed in its entirety. The form should only take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.
Click here to access the Volunteer Register
Once registered as a volunteer, every time you visit St Margaret’s to work as a volunteer, you must report to either the primary or main reception to record your name, time of arrival/departure and indicate that you are a registered volunteer within the school.
If you require assistance with this process, please contact our Risk and Compliance Officer SSA on compliance@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.
For more information please contact:
Nicole Devlin – Deputy Principal on ndevlin@stmargarets.qld.edu.au
Angela Drysdale – Head of Primary School on adrysdale@stmargarets.qld.edu.au
If you are no longer volunteering at the school, please email compliance@stmargarets.qld.edu.au and you will be removed from the register.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS