When you are appointed to a governing council for a school or preschool (site) you might be an employer or the employing authority of non-teaching staff at the site.

What being an employer means

Employer and contracting out work – the difference

When we say ‘employer’ we’re talking about the council directly employing non-teaching staff. You will be responsible for:

• paying them
• checking their relevant history screening
• checking they completed the current and appropriate Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care (RRHAN-EC) training
• ensuring their work health and safety.

When you're a member of a council you might also need to contract work out. There are still responsibilities involved with this. For example, when you contract a third party provider of an out of school hours care service.

Who you can employ

You can employ

If your school or preschool has any of these services, the council might need to employ people for:

• out of school hours care (OSHC)
• residential facilities
• canteens
• bus driving
• land management
• building and equipment maintenance
• sports days and events that are outside usual school hours
• cleaning facilities
• administering awards and scholarships.

Example job description templates available are:

• Job description template – boarding house employees (DOC 69KB)

Example contracts available are:

• Letter of engagement template – full and part-time canteen employees (DOC 83 KB)
• Letter of engagement template – casual canteen employees (DOC 82 KB)
• Letter of engagement template – full and part-time OSHC employees (DOC 87 KB)
• Letter of engagement template – casual OSHC employees (DOC 83 KB)
• Letter of engagement template – casual bus driver position (DOC 82 KB)
• Letter of engagement template – full and part-time boarding house employees (DOC 86 KB)
• Letter of engagement template – casual boarding house employees (DOC 83 KB)

Email the Employee Relations Unit for help at Education.IRU [at] sa.gov.au.

You cannot employ

Your council cannot employ any teaching staff, including principals and teachers.

What you might need to do

As an employer on a council, you might:

• need to prepare a role description
• need to advertise a vacant position
• be on an interview panel
• need to assess the suitability of a service provider through a third party provider panel
• consult with the community and assess different models for employment, including as a:
  • provider, for example an out of school hours care service
  • self-managed service, for example a canteen.

Email the Site Governance team for help with these tasks at education.sitegovernance [at] sa.gov.au.

Important legal responsibilities

As the employer, you do have a wide range of responsibilities, but an important one that many councils need to be concerned about is relevant history screenings.

Work Injury Insurance

The council must register with Return To Work SA (RTWSA) within 14 days of becoming an employer. For more information about registering for work injury insurance email Return To Work SA or call 13 18 55.

Superannuation and Tax

Refer to the Australian Tax Office.

Long Service Leave

Long Service Leave is a state based provision administered by Safe Work SA.

Further information on employer obligations can be found at Fair Work Australia.

Although the council has responsibility, the site leader does the day-to-day management. The council’s responsibility is always about governance.

Changes to the Heavy Vehicle National Law

There are amendments being made to the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) which governs the safe operation of heavy vehicles.

These amendments apply to all school buses (20 seats or more), including those owned and/or operated by governing councils and school bus drivers employed by governing councils. As the employer of a bus driver, councils are required to ensure the safe transport of children and students whether for excursions or to and from school.

Local management of buses requires governing councils, and principals and preschool directors, as the legislated line managers of governing council employees, to ensure that prescribed vehicles are serviced and repaired and pre-journey checks are conducted. Drivers must be fully conversant with speed and fatigue management requirements. Drivers must also be inducted to the bus they will be driving and the particular workings of that bus. Heavy penalties may apply where breaches occur.

Governing councils, principals and preschool directors need to ensure that all relevant staff with responsibilities relating to the School Transport Policy are made aware and comply with the HVNL. This includes bus coordinators, transport services officers, department employed drivers (regular and relief), governing council employed drivers (regular and relief), volunteer drivers and contracted drivers.

For more information or questions, talk to your site leader (principal or preschool director).

School buses – heavy vehicle national law amendments – summary of changes (PDF 258KB)