Department of Education fined over incident at Armstrong Creek School

The state government must cough up more than $30,000 after a staff member of a Geelong school was unable to access an emergency phone.

Armstrong Creek School was the site of an workplace safety incident that resulted in the education department being fined $25,000. Picture: Alan Barber

The state government has been slapped with a hefty fine following a safety breach at a Geelong school in 2022.

Lawyers for the education department appeared in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, having earlier pleaded guilty to a single charge under the state’s Occupational Health and Safety Act regarding its failure to provide a safe working environment.

A second charge was struck out upon the guilty plea.

Armstrong Creek School. Picture: Alan Barber

Magistrate Simon Guthrie ordered the department to pay a fine of $25,000, plus $7856 in costs.

In sentencing, Mr Guthrie briefly outlined the circumstances and agreed facts of the incident.

The court heard the incident took place at Armstrong Creek School, a P-12 school located on Central Blvd, on May 17, 2022, in a class for secondary students with disabilities or higher needs.

The behaviour of one student “escalated” on the day, the court heard.

Normally, staff members would be able to seek assistance via an emergency telephone in the classroom.

However due to the student’s behaviour, the phone was inaccessible and a staff member had to resort to calling for assistance on her mobile phone.

WorkSafe, the state’s Geelong-based workplace safety regulator, took the department to court, asserting there were reasonable and practical ways it could have reduced the risk of “occupational violence”.

Mr Guthrie told the court the defence had accepted the department was aware of a risk, and some measures had been taken prior to the incident to mitigate it.

However, those measures didn’t reduce the risk to an acceptable level, Mr Guthrie said.

Mr Guthrie said, on the evidence: “It’s fair to say there are other safety measures that didn’t seem entirely onerous (and could have been implemented).”

WorkSafe brought about the action after an incident at Armstrong Creek School. Picture: Supplied.

In their submissions, Mr Guthrie said the defence set out their existing procedures and ongoing commitment to safety, both at Armstrong Creek School and at schools across the state.

Following the incident, a number of further safety measures had been implemented at the school, including further and specialised training, as well as the implementation of “specific recruitment and structural roles”, the court heard.

Mr Guthrie said he took the “significant steps” the department had undertaken as evidence of remorse.

He said general deterrence was a factor in sentencing, and stressed an organisation like the education department needed to have an ongoing commitment to the reduction of risk.

Mr Guthrie said but for the guilty plea and defence submissions, he would have handed down a fine of $40,000.

No conviction was recorded.

Originally published as Department of Education fined over incident at Armstrong Creek School