Health and Wellbeing

Student Safety

Critical Incidents - Student Critical Incident Advisory Unit (SCIAU)

The Victorian Government is committed to providing safe and supportive learning environments for all students. Effective schools create learning environments that deliver the best possible educational outcomes for all students and ensure the creation of strong school communities.

The Student Critical Incident Advisory Unit was established in 2004 and is within the Student Wellbeing Branch of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. The Student Critical Incident Advisory Unit ensures appropriate supports are in place to maximise the health and wellbeing of all students involved in sexually related incidents.

The Student Critical Incident Advisory Unit will:

  1. Provide timely and appropriate advice
  2. Support regions and schools to respond to critical incidents
  3. Ensure schools meet their legal obligations and duty of care responsibilities
  4. Assist Principals and senior school staff to managed sexually related incidents in a manner that ensure adverse impact on the school community is minimised
  5. Monitor the progress of school management of such incidents
  6. Ensure that appropriate recovery measures such as counselling are provided to support those involved in allegations of sexual assault
  7. Facilitate the provision of a suitable level of support to school staff and members of the school community on whom the incident has impacted

The Student Critical Incident Advisory Unit also prepares statewide procedures for schools to ensure appropriate management of allegations of sexual assault. The Student Critical Incident Advisory Unit, the Regional Office and the school will manage incidents of sexual assault in partnership. The Student Critical Incident Advisory Unit works closely with other key agencies, such as Victoria Police and the Department of Human Services, and with organisations such as the Centres Against Sexual Assault, Childwise, the Australian Childhood Foundation, the Children’s Protection Society, the Royal Children’s Hospital Gatehouse Unit and the Child Safety Commissioner to support student wellbeing in schools.

See the Department's strategy Responding to Allegations of Student Sexual Assault - Procedures for Victorian Government Schools (PDF - 352Kb).