Tertiary / ResLife

Residential Life — Incident Response Procedure

Pastoral Care Code 2021Privacy Act 2020

Purpose

To ensure Resident Advisors and ResLife staff respond to incidents consistently, safely, and in compliance with the Pastoral Care Code 2021.

Scope

All residential halls, RA team members, ResLife Managers, and any staff responding to student welfare incidents.

Procedure steps

1

Immediate response

Attend the scene. Ensure immediate safety of all parties. Do not leave an at-risk student alone. Call 111 if there is risk to life or serious harm.

2

Assess & triage

Identify the nature of the incident (medical, behavioural, welfare, maintenance). Apply the appropriate response level: Level 1 (monitor), Level 2 (intervene), Level 3 (escalate).

3

Notify supervisor

Contact your ResLife Manager or on-call duty staff. Never handle a Level 2 or Level 3 incident alone. Log the time of notification.

4

Document in StarRez

Record a case note within 2 hours of the incident. Include: date/time, persons involved, observations, actions taken, referrals made. Do not include speculation.

5

Referral & follow-up

Connect the student with appropriate support: Student Health, Counselling, Campus Security, or emergency services. Schedule a follow-up check within 24 hours.

6

Debrief

Complete a written debrief with your supervisor within 48 hours. Identify any systemic issues or policy gaps.

Legislation

Pastoral Care Code 2021 s11Institutions must have systems to identify and respond to student wellbeing needs
Privacy Act 2020 s22Personal information collected during incident response must be handled in accordance with information privacy principles
HSWA 2015 s36Officers must take reasonable steps to ensure the organisation has, and implements, appropriate processes for receiving and considering information regarding incidents

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