Document your actions

How school staff should keep records related to incidents, disclosures and allegations of child abuse.

Schools

Child safety guidance for teachers, educators and staff working in schools.

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Document your school’s actions in line with your school’s record management policy. For government schools, this is the Department of Education’s record management policy.
If the situation does not meet the threshold for a report, you still need to document the incident, disclosure or allegation. You should include the reasons for your decision.
You can use optional identifying and responding to child abuse templates to keep records. These templates help you record your actions and report to the relevant authorities.
Store all notes or records in a secure place. Make sure to apply the relevant access controls.

Records relating to incidents, disclosures and allegations of child abuse

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Government schools

The records you create as part of your response will help you and the school to:

make a report of the abuse to the relevant authorities
assist in making a referral to external services
document all actions taken to respond to an incident, disclosure or allegation
communicate with parents and carers
support students
review the management of the incident and improve school practices, where applicable. If you do not use the template provided, you must still ensure you collect, record and securely keep all the information required.

This information may be sought later if the matter is the subject of court proceedings. These notes may help you if you need to produce documents or attend court and give evidence to support your decisions.

You typically get a subpoena or witness summons if one party in a legal matter thinks you have relevant information or documents.

Schools must regularly dispose of records lawfully. This helps schools avoid the over-retention of personal information and to keep record holdings to a minimum. The school records retention guide (staff login required) shows how long to keep various records. This helps schools decide when records can be destroyed.

Catholic schools

All Catholic schools should follow their policy and procedure to document and report all child safety incidents. You should notify school leadership and your relevant governing body.

Fill out the identifying and responding to child abuse template to keep a record of how you managed the incident. This is the official record of the incident.

These records will help you and the school to:

make a report of the abuse to the relevant authorities
assist in making a referral to external services
document all actions taken to respond to an incident or disclosure
communicate with parents and carers
support students
review the management of the incident and improve school practices, where applicable. If you do not use a template provided, you must still ensure you collect, record and securely keep all the information required in the template.

This information may be sought later if the matter is the subject of Court proceedings. These notes may help you if you need to produce documents or attend court and give evidence to support your decisions.

You typically get a subpoena or witness summons if one party in a legal matter thinks you have relevant information or documents.

Independent schools

The way that records are managed in relation to incidents, disclosures and allegations of child abuse may vary from school to school.

For further information or support, please contact isComply. or contact Independent Schools Victoria.

Call: 03 9825 7200
Email: enquiries@is.vic.edu.au.

Records storage, security and access

Ministerial Order 1359 says all schools must create, maintain and dispose of records about child safety and wellbeing in accordance with the Public Record Office Victoria Recordkeeping Standards. This includes minimum retention periods.

All records need to be kept in safe and secure locations. This ensures they stay intact and accessible. The appropriate access controls should also be in place.

All schools must:

create a policy or statement that outlines how your school will manage records to meet the required standards. For Government schools, this is the records management – school records policy.
make sure records relevant to child safety and wellbeing are created, maintained and disposed properly. You must follow your school’s record management requirements.
follow the family violence record keeping guidance for advice on storing information and tools related to family violence.
make sure school staff and volunteers know what they need to do for sharing information and keeping records.

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Government schools

For guidance on managing records, such as storage, security and access, see records management.

Catholic schools

Refer to your relevant governing body’s recordkeeping policy and procedures. This is in line with Child Safe Standard 2 – leadership, governance and culture guidance.

Independent schools

For further information about records storage and access, please contact Independent Schools Victoria.

Call: 03 9825 7200
Email: enquiries@is.vic.edu.au

Schools must also keep records when using the Child Information Sharing Scheme and the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme. There are different record keeping requirements for each scheme.

For details on record keeping, see tools for staff who use CISS and FVISS.

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Updated 2 April 2026

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