Part 1Preliminary

Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title This Act may be cited as the Education and Children's Services Act 2019. 3—Interpretation (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears— approved learning program means a program that— (a) consists of secondary education provided under this Act; or (b) counts towards, or is otherwise required for, the award of a degree, diploma or other award provided by a university declared by the regulations to be a university or class of universities that is within the ambit of this paragraph for the purposes of this Act; or (c) consists of technical and further education provided by TAFE SA; or (d) consists of an accredited course provided by a registered training organisation (within the meaning of the South Australian Skills Act 2008) or a law of the Commonwealth or another State or a Territory of the Commonwealth relating to higher education, vocational education and training and adult community education (other than a course or training organisation excluded from the ambit of this definition by the regulations for the purposes of this Act); or (e) is an apprenticeship or traineeship undertaken with a registered employer (within the meaning of the South Australian Skills Act 2008) (and any relevant work undertaken as part of the apprenticeship or traineeship will be taken to form part of the program); or (f) is a program of a class declared by the Minister by notice in the Gazette to be an approved learning program; or (g) complies with any other requirements set out in the regulations; authorised officer—see section 126; Chief Executive means the Chief Executive of the administrative unit of the Public Service that is responsible for assisting a Minister in the administration of this Act; child of compulsory education age means a child who is 16 years of age; child of compulsory school age means a child who is— (a) of or above— (i) if the regulations prescribe an age for the purposes of this paragraph—that age; or (ii) if the regulations do not prescribe an age for the purposes of this paragraph—6 years of age; and (b) less than 16 years of age; children's services includes services of the following kinds (being services provided to, or for the benefit of, children): (a) preschool education; (b) child care provided on a not for profit basis that is wholly or partly Government-funded; (c) any other service of a kind prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this Act; children's services centre means a children's services centre established under this Act (being a place at which children's services are provided); Department means the administrative unit of the Public Service that is responsible for assisting a Minister in the administration of this Act; director, of a stand‑alone preschool or children's services centre, means the person for the time being designated by the Chief Executive as the director of the stand‑alone preschool or children's services centre (as the case requires); disability, in relation to a person, means— (a) total or partial loss of the person's bodily or mental functions; or (b) total or partial loss of a part of the body; or (c) the presence in the body of organisms causing disease or illness; or (d) the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing disease or illness; or (e) the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of the person's body; or (f) a disorder or malfunction that results in the person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction; or (g) a disorder, illness or disease that affects a person's thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgment or that results in disturbed behaviour, and includes a disability that— (h) presently exists; or (i) previously existed but no longer exists; or (j) may exist in the future (including because of a genetic predisposition to that disability); or (k) is imputed to a person; governing authority, of a non-Government school, means the person, board, committee or other authority by which the school is administered; governing council, of a stand‑alone preschool or children's services centre, means— (a) in the case of a children's services centre to which Part 4 Division 3 applies—the management committee of the children's services centre continued as the governing council of the children's services centre or stand‑alone preschool (as the case requires) under section 26; and (b) in any other case—the governing council for the preschool or children's services centre established under section 19; governing council, of a school, means the governing council for the school established under section 34; Government preschool means a school‑based preschool or stand‑alone preschool; Government school means a school established under this Act or a repealed Act and includes (other than for the purposes of Part 5) a special purpose school; head of an approved learning program means— (a) if the learning program consists of secondary education—the principal of the school at which the program is provided; or (b) in any other case—the person, or person of a class, prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph; local council means a council constituted under the Local Government Act 1999; merit, in relation to a selection process, means— (a) the extent to which each of the applicants has abilities, aptitude, skills, qualifications, knowledge, experience (including community experience) and personal qualities relevant to the carrying out of the duties in question; and (b) if relevant— (i) the manner in which each of the applicants carried out any previous employment or occupational duties or functions; and (ii) the extent to which each of the applicants has potential for development; model constitution means a model constitution published under section 10, as in force from time to time; non‑Government school means a school that is registered under the Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Act 2011 that is not a Government school; officer of the teaching service or officer means a person appointed as an officer of the teaching service under Part 9; parent, of a student or child, includes— (b) a guardian of the student or child; and (c) a person standing in loco parentis to the student or child; preschool means a place at which education services are provided to children who have not yet attained the compulsory school age (and preschool education will be taken to have a corresponding meaning) but a reference to a preschool, or to preschool education, will be taken not to include a reference to the provision of primary education to such children at a school; principal of a school means— (a) in relation to a Government school—the person for the time being designated by the Chief Executive as the principal of the school; or (b) in relation to a non-Government school—the person for the time being designated by the governing authority of the school as the principal of the school; promotional level, in relation to a position in the teaching service, means a classification level for a position declared by the regulations to be a promotional level for the purposes of this Act; public sector has the same meaning as in the Public Sector Act 2009; public sector code of conduct means the public sector code of conduct under the Public Sector Act 2009, as in force from time to time; reclassify includes alter an entitlement of an officer of the teaching service to an increment of remuneration; registered student exchange organisation means a person or body registered as a student exchange organisation under section 85; repealed Acts means the Education Act 1972 and the Education Act 1915; responsible for a child or responsible for a student—see subsection (2); SAET means the South Australian Employment Tribunal established under the South Australian Employment Tribunal Act 2014; school means a school at which primary or secondary education or both is, or is to be, provided (whether or not preschool education is also provided at the school); school‑based preschool means a preschool established under this Act as a part of, and providing preschool education as a program of, a Government school; special purpose school means a special purpose school established under Part 6; special school means a Government school established for the benefit of a particular class of children who require some special form of education, treatment or care; stand‑alone preschool means a preschool established under this Act that is not a school‑based preschool; student, in relation to a school or approved learning program, means a student enrolled at the school or in the approved learning program; teacher means a person who gives, or is qualified to give, instruction in 1 or more of the following: (a) preschool education; (b) primary education; (c) secondary education; teaching service means the teaching service constituted under Part 9 (and, for the purposes of this Act, a reference to the teaching service will be taken to include a reference to the teaching service as constituted under the repealed Acts); term employee means an employee appointed for a specified term; working with children check means a working with children check under the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016. (1a) To avoid doubt, a disability that is otherwise covered by the definition of disability in subsection (1) includes behaviour that is a symptom or manifestation of the disability. (2) For the purposes of this Act, a person is responsible for a child or student if the person is— (a) a parent of the child or student; or (b) a person of a class declared by the regulations to be included within the ambit of this subsection for the purposes of this Act, however, a person will be taken not to be responsible for a child or student if the person's guardianship or custody of, or responsibility for, the child or student is excluded under any Act or law. (3) For the purposes of this Act, a reference to a school, preschool or children's services centre includes, unless the context requires otherwise, a reference to a campus or site other than the principal site at which services are provided by the school, preschool or children's services centre. (4) For the purposes of this Act, a reference to participation in an approved learning program includes a reference to attending at the place or places at which the approved learning program is conducted. (5) For the purposes of this Act, a reference to the effective service of an officer of the teaching service is a reference to— (a) — (i) in the case of an officer to whom section 111 applies—the period (if any) of the officer's continuous service in the teaching service determined in accordance with that section; or (ii) in any other case—the period (if any) of the officer's continuous service in the teaching service; and (b) any other period that is, by determination of the Chief Executive, to be regarded as forming the whole, or part, of the officer's effective service, but does not include any period that is, by determination of the Chief Executive, not to be regarded as a period of effective service. (6) A reference in any other Act to the employing authority under this Act or a repealed Act will be taken to be a reference to the Chief Executive. 4—Application of Act to non‑Government schools (1) The following provisions of this Act apply only to Government schools: (a) section 9; (b) Part 5; (c) Part 6; (d) sections 62, 63 and 64(5); (e) Part 7 Division 3 and Division 4; (f) Part 9; (g) Part 10; (h) Part 11 Division 1; (i) Part 13 Division 1 and Division 2. (2) A provision of this Act not referred to in subsection (1) that is expressed to apply only to Government schools will be taken not to apply to a non‑Government school. (2a) A provision of this Act that is expressed to apply only to non‑Government schools will be taken not to apply to a Government school. (3) Each other provision of this Act (not being a provision referred to in a preceding subsection) applies to Government and non-Government schools. 5—Interaction with other Acts This Act is in addition to, and does not derogate from, any other Act or law. 6—Minister may acquire land The Minister may, subject to and in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act 1969, acquire land for the purposes of this Act.