A/9.4 Children on campus

Policy Owner	Director, Health, Safety and Environment
Approval Date	23/10/2020
Approval Authority	Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar
Date of Next Review	31/10/2023

9.4.1 Purpose
9.4.2 Application
9.4.3 Roles and responsibilities
9.4.4 Children on Campus
9.4.5 Permission and Approval
9.4.6 Authority to drect carers to remove a child from the area or unattended children
9.4.7 Definitions
Related Documents
Modification History

9.4.1 Purpose

This policy outlines expectations when staff, students or other members of the QUT community have an occasional need to bring a child or children onto campus to balance work or study with their family responsibilities.

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9.4.2 Application

This policy applies to any member of the QUT community bringing children to a QUT campus while engaging in work or study-related activities. The University also reserves the right to apply this policy to any person utilising a QUT campus.

This policy does not apply to:

situations where a child is brought to a QUT campus for the purpose of attending a registered childcare facility, health clinic or other support and outreach service offered to children by the University, other approved program, performance, or community engagement activity
staff conducting University business working from home.

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9.4.3 Roles and responsibilities

Position	Responsibility
Managers, supervisors	consider and approve if appropriate, a request for a child to attend a QUT campus.
Members of QUT community acting as carers at a QUT campus	take reasonable steps to consider, and safeguard against, potential risks to: the health and safety of any child in their care while at a QUT campus the health and safety of others that may come from bringing a child into a work or study environment request permission from the relevant manager/supervisor prior to, or as soon as practicable after, bringing a child to a QUT campus if requested to remove a child from the environment/area, or if permission is not granted for a child to attend QUT campus, to remove the child as soon as practicable ensure children do not access restricted or high-risk areas ensure children are always under direct, active supervision be responsible for the behaviour of any child in your care so as not to endanger, inconvenience or otherwise disrupt the activities of other QUT community members
QUT community	after ensuring the child’s immediate safety, report to QUT Security or a supervisor, any child who is: unsupervised or lost (unattended) in an unsafe or high-risk area acting in an unsafe manner or participating in an unsafe or high-risk activity

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9.4.4 Children on campus

QUT recognises that, when balancing work, study and family responsibilities, a member of the University community as the carer of a child may occasionally need to bring the child onto campus. The University acknowledges that, due to the nature of the activities undertaken on campus, there are potential health and safety risks for anyone on campus, including children, and children may be brought onto campus on the following conditions:

Children must always be actively and directly supervised by a responsible adult while on campus and must not be allowed to interfere with the work or study responsibilities of other staff or students.
Carers must ensure that a child is not exposed to any inappropriate materials (including lecture/tutorial content or other learning materials) that are inappropriate for children.
The University does not permit carers to bring children routinely onto a QUT campus as an alternative to regular, organised childcare arrangements. All reasonable attempts should be made to arrange alternative childcare before bringing a child onto a QUT campus.
In the interests of public health, sick or infectious children must not be brought onto a QUT campus.
Children must not be taken into high-risk working environments (e.g. laboratories and workshops) where potentially dangerous equipment or hazardous substances are present, or areas that are subject to particular statutory or local regulations (e.g. areas licensed to sell alcohol or rooms where formal examinations are being held).
Children should not be on campus in the care of a person who has high-vigilance tasks (e.g. working in a laboratory with hazardous chemicals or in a workshop with machinery or power tools) which may potentially lead to error, or health, safety and environmental risks if distracted by child supervision responsibilities.

The University reserves the right to deem any part of a QUT campus as unsuitable for children.

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9.4.5 Permission and approval

Permission to bring children onto a QUT campus is at the discretion of the relevant supervisor, manager or person in authority (A/9.4.7).

Wherever possible such permission should be sought prior to bringing a child into the work/study environment or if this is not possible, as soon as practicable after arriving.

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9.4.6 Authority to direct carers to remove a child from the area or unattended children

The University, through QUT Security, a manager or supervisor, can direct a carer to remove their child from a QUT campus if:

the child’s health or safety is at risk
the child is presenting a health or safety risk to others, for example they are unwell or have an infectious or communicable disease
the child's behaviour is causing disruption to others, or
the presence of a child is inappropriate.

In public areas such as libraries, any member of QUT staff on duty has the authority to direct the child be removed from the area.

In teaching and learning environments such as lectures, practicals and tutorials, the lecturer or person in charge of the area/activity has the authority to direct the child be removed from the area.

If a child is deemed to be unsupervised/unattended and the carer is not present, University staff may engage with the child so that they remain in a safe environment and then:

take all reasonable attempts to find the carer
if the carer cannot be found, notify QUT Security.

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9.4.7 Definitions

Authorised visitors is defined in the Health, safety and environment policy (A/9.1).

Carer means parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult with guardianship of the child and who is charged with the care and supervision of the child.

Child/Children (used interchangeably) for the purposes of this policy means a person/s under the age of 18 years.

Manager and supervisor means any person who is responsible for supervision, direction or oversight of the QUT community, QUT facilities, or QUT operations and activities whether on or off campus. For the purposes of this policy manager/supervisor also applies to a person in charge of a facility, activity, area, work or study environment (e.g. lecturer, tutor, librarian, laboratory/workshop technician etc.) including QUT campuses and off-campus locations (definition below).

QUT campus means places managed or controlled by the University including: QUT campuses (H/1.2 Site); primary and associated distributed sites (H/1.2 Site); QUT vehicles. It also applies to off-campus locations (such as field work, research sites, or travel on University business) where the University conducts its operations.

QUT community is defined in the Health, safety and environment policy (A/9.1).

Staff for the purposes of this policy, refers to both paid and unpaid persons working for or conducting work for or on behalf of, the University.

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Modification History

Date	Sections	Source	Details
23.10.20	All	Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar	Revised policy
11.10.17	All	Director, Health, Safety and Environment	Revised and simplified policy
02.09.15	A/9.4.1, A/9.4.2	Director, Health Safety and Environment	Revised policy to include environmental references
12.03.14	A/9.4.5	Council	Revised policy to reflect approved new department titled Health, Safety and Environment and new appointment of Director, Health, Safety and Environment
18.02.13	All	Registrar	Revised policy
18.11.09	All	Associate Director, HR Health and Safety Advisory Services	Periodic review – minor revisions only
10.06.05	All	Registrar	Policy reviewed (no change required)
02.07.04	All	Registrar	Policy reviewed and links updated
23.06.03	All	Registrar	Updated to combine separate policies for children of staff and children of students into one policy
18.06.00	All	Vice-Chancellor	New policy relating to children of students on campus (endorsed by Vice-Chancellor's Advisory Committee 10.8.00 and 18.5.00, and University Health and Safety Committee 19.8.99
19.11.98	All	Vice-Chancellor	New policy relating to children of staff on campus (endorsed by Vice-Chancellor's Advisory Committee 19.11.98 and University Health and Safety Committee 28.5.98)

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