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Placement Management Guideline
Document Change History
Version / Start date / Effective date / End date / Change and location1.0 / 10/08/2016 / 12/09/2016 / 01/07/2019 / Original version of document
Summary
The Placement Management Guideline (‘Guideline’) is issued under item R of Schedule 1 to the Empowering YOUth Initiatives (‘EYI’) Funding Agreement 2016-2018 (‘Agreement’). The Guideline sets outadditional requirements for Your Initiative to the extent that it involves placing Participants in ‘Unpaid Non-vocational Placements’ as defined in this Guideline.If Your Empowering YOUth Initiative does not involve Unpaid Non-vocational Placements, then this Guidelineis not relevant to Your Initiative.
If you are unsure whether this Guideline applies to Your Initiative, please contact the Initiative Officer specified in item D of Schedule 1 in Your Funding Agreement.
Summary of Process
For any Unpaid Non-vocational Placement arranged through Your Initiative, Youmust, in accordance with the requirements set out in Your Agreement and this Guideline, ensure that:
(i)appropriate WHS practises, insurance(s) and Supervision protocols are in place, and that any required checks have been completed;
(ii)You have entered into a Host Organisation Agreement with the relevant Host Organisation;
(iii)a Risk Assessment has been undertaken for each relevant Participant; and
(iv)You have entered into a Placement Agreement with the relevant Host Organisation and Participant.
Policy Intent
The Empowering YOUth Initiatives is a Commonwealth Government programmethat seeks to help disadvantaged and vulnerable young people aged 15-24 to find and a keep a job through innovativeInitiatives which differ from existing employment services. Participation in the Empowering YOUth Initiatives (including participating in any Placements as part of a particular EYI Initiative) is on a voluntary basis. Participants do not need to be registered with Employment Services Providers (including through jobactive, Disability Employment Services or the Community Development Programme)in order to participate in an EYI initiative.
Disclaimer
This Guideline is not a stand-alone document and does not contain the entirety of Your obligations under the Agreement or in relation to Placements. You must read this Guideline in conjunction with Your Agreement and any reference material issued by Us under or in connection with Your Agreement.
Where this Guideline is not consistent with Your Funding Agreement, the obligations in Your Funding Agreement take precedence over this Guideline.
Relevant References
Reference documents relevant to this Guideline include:
- the Funding Agreement entered into by You with Us
- Risk Assessment Template for Placements
- Host Organisation Agreement Template
- Placement Agreement Template
Explanatory Note and Interpretation
In this Guideline, ‘must’ means that compliance is mandatory and ‘should’ means that compliance represents best practice.
In this Guideline:
a)subject to (b), and except where otherwise specified, all capitalised terms have the same meaning as in the Agreement; and
b)where the Agreement does not use a term specified in the table below, or where the Agreement uses the same term but defines it differently, the definition in the table below applies for the purpose of this Guideline.
Employment Placement / means the status of a person who is in paid work under a contract of employment or who is otherwise deemed to be an employee under relevant Australian legislation;Host Organisation / means an organisation that hosts a Work Experience Placement, Vocational Placement, Employment Placement or Volunteer Placement;
Placement(s) / means Work Experience Placements, Volunteer Placements, Vocational Placements, and/or Employment Placements;
Supervision / means the action or process of directly monitoring and managing Participants participating in Placements, and Supervise has a corresponding meaning;
Supervisor / means a person who has the responsibility for the action or process of directly monitoring and managing Participants engaged in an a Placement;
Unpaid Non-vocational Placement / means a Work Experience Placement and/or a Volunteer Placement;
Vocational Placement / meansan unpaid placement undertaken by a Participant with a Host Organisation as part of accredited training (including schooling), where requirements for risk management, WHS and insurance are met by the organisation delivering the accredited training or education and/or the Host Organisation;
Volunteer Placement / means an unpaid placement of a Participant with a Host Organisation where:
a)the Participant does work for the benefit of someone else;
b)the Participant and the Host Organisation do not intend to create a legally binding employment relationship;
c)the Participant is under no obligation to attend the Host Organisation’s workplace or perform work; and
d)the Participant does not expect to be paid for their work.
Work Experience Placement / means an unpaid placement of a Participant with a Host Organisation where:
a)the main benefit of the placement is to the Participant (rather than to the Host Organisation);
b)the Participant and the Host Organisation do not intend to create a legally binding employment relationship; and
c)the Participant is receiving a meaningful learning experience, training or skill development.
Placement Management
Process
/Details
Types of Placements and Overview of Process
/ Some Empowering YOUth Initiatives involve the placement of Participants into the followingPlacements:(i)Employment Placements (including paid work trials and paid internships);
(ii)unpaid Vocational Placements (including as part of accredited education and training courses);
(iii)unpaid Volunteer Placements; and/or
(iv)unpaid Work Experience Placements.
This Guideline sets out additional requirements for Your Initiative to the extent that it involves placing Participants in unpaid Work Experience Placements and/or Volunteer Placements, which are collectively referred to in this Guideline as ‘Unpaid Non-vocational Placements’.The requirements in this Guideline do not apply to Employment Placements or Vocational Placements.
Work Health and Safety
/ Before arranging for a Participant to be placed into an Unpaid Non-vocational Placement, You must satisfy Yourself that there is a safe system of work in place, including that the Host Organisation is complying with relevant work health and safety requirements to ensure that each potential Placement is safe for Participants.You must take all reasonable steps to minimise the likelihood of injury to Participants at the Unpaid Non-vocational Placement location. You must provide Participants with all things You have identified as being necessary to undertake their Unpaid Non-vocational Placement safely including, but not limited to, appropriate and adequate:
- training and Supervision;
- personal protection equipment and clothing;
- on-site facilities (access to drinking water and toilets); and
- processes for reporting any work health and safety issues and any other concerns.
SupervisionRequirements
/ You must ensure that, for Participants in Unpaid Non-vocational Placements, each Host Organisation maintains a high level of Supervision with regard to the health, welfare and safety of Participants.Where Unpaid Non-vocational Placements involve contact by Participants with children, the elderly, disabled or otherwise vulnerable people, You must ensure there is a higher level of Supervision of the Participant. This may mean there needs to be a higher ratio of Supervisors to Participants.
Insurance
/ The Department purchases personal accident insurance, public and product liability insurance to cover Participants participating in Your Initiative, including when undertaking an Unpaid Non-vocational Placement with a Host Organisation. Our appointed Insurance Broker is also able to assist with any questions or concerns relating to Our insurance coverage, including regarding any policy exclusions.As part of conducting a risk assessment before arranging an Unpaid Non-vocational Placement, You must liaise with the Host Organisation to determine what level of insurance coverage is in place. If the Host Organisation has sufficient insurance which covers Participants, then it is not necessary for You to purchase additional insurance. However, You shouldnot assume that the Host Organisation will have appropriate insurance. For example, in some circumstances the insurance held by the Host Organisation may only cover employees of that Host Organisation and not persons undertaking the relevant Unpaid Non-Vocational Placement.
If a Host Organisation does not have their own appropriate and sufficient insurance, You must either:
- purchase insurance for the Placement from Your own funds;
- negotiate for the Host Organisation to purchase insurance from their own funds; or
- not refer the Participant to the Unpaid Non-vocational Placement.
Checks
/ You must establish whether the nature of an Unpaid Non-vocational Placement requires Participants and/or Supervisors to have checks, such as checks required under Working with Children Laws. Placements that require checks include those where:(i)legislation requires checks to be conducted;
(ii)the Placement is subject to industry standards or legal requirements that a Placement can only be carried out by people who have not been convicted of particular crimes;
(iii)the Placement is specified by Us as requiring checks; and
(iv)the Participant or Supervisor will have regular or unsupervised contact with children, the elderly, disabled or otherwise physically vulnerable.
You must arrange, and pay for, or You must ensure the Host Organisation arranges and pays for, any checks to be completed before allowing the Participant or Supervisor to participate in, or Supervise, the Unpaid Non-vocational Placement.
You should contact, or You should ensure the Host Organisation contacts, the relevant organisation in Your State or Territory to have checks completed. Checks must be completed in accordance with the relevant state and territory rules and regulations.
You should take, and should ensure the Host Organisations take, appropriate action once the checks are completed. If the check uncovers an issue that might reasonably impact on the Participant’s suitability for a Unpaid Non-vocational Placement, You must assess whether the Participant should be referred to a more suitable Unpaid Non-vocational Placement or whether the relevant risk(s) can be mitigated or adequately managed. If referral to a more suitable Unpaid Non-vocational Placement is not possible, or the relevant risk(s) cannot be mitigated or adequately managed, You must terminate or not proceed with the Unpaid Non-vocational Placement.
The results of checks are personal and confidential. You mustnot disclose the information to other parties unless given permission by the Participant (in relation to checks undertaken of the Participant) or Supervisor (in relation to checks undertaken of the Supervisor).
You must ensure that any checks that have been conducted are still valid if a check is required for further Unpaid Non-vocational Placements in the future. Further checks must be conducted where required or where an initial check is no longer valid.
You must only place Participants in Unpaid Non-vocational Placements as allowed by law.If the law does not allow a Participant to be placed in a particular Unpaid Non-vocational Placement, You must not place that Participant into that particular Unpaid non-vocational Placement. Instead, You must either place that Participant into an alternative Unpaid Non-vocational Placement or not proceed with an Unpaid Non-vocational Placement for that Participant. For example, if an Unpaid Non-vocational Placement involves tasks that can only be undertaken by a licensed person and the Participant does not hold the relevant licence (for example, an electrician’s licence or a bus driver’s licence) then You must not place that Participant into that Unpaid Non-vocational Placement. Similarly, You must ensure that Participants do not participate in Unpaid Non-vocational Placements if it will cause a breach of visa conditions.
Risk Assessments
/ You must undertake a risk assessment:- at the time You arrange an Unpaid Non-vocational Placement(s); and
- prior to placing a Participant into that Unpaid Non-vocation Placement.
The purpose of the Participant-specific risk assessment is to identifyif the Unpaid Non-vocational Placement is suitable for that Participant that You propose to put into the Placement.
You must ensure both the risk assessments are completed by a Competent Person who understands the risk assessment process.
In preparing these risk assessments, You should take into account the role of the relevant Host Organisation as well as the tasks and duties the Participant(s) will be undertaking. You must consult the Host Organisation when completing the risk assessment to ensure the assessment is correct.
A Risk Assessment template is provided at the end of this Guideline. Please note this template is optional. You may create Your own risk assessment template, providing it allows You to meet the requirements of this Guideline and Your Funding Agreement.
Identifying and Assessing Risks
/ When identifying and assessing risks, You should consider the following factors:(i)the environment in which the Unpaid Non-vocational Placement takes place;
(ii)for a Participant-specific risk assessment, the Participant’s personal circumstances (as per the template for Individual Participant Placements);
(iii)the level of Supervision;
(iv)the nature of the risk;
(v)the cause of the risk; and
(vi)potential consequences of an incident.
Where You or a Host Organisation will be transporting Participants to and/or from a Unpaid Non-vocational Placement, this must be included in Your risk assessment of the Unpaid Non-vocational Placement.
After identifying the risks, You must determine, in consultation with the Host Organisation, appropriate methods to mitigate or adequately manage the identified risks.
You must review risks on a regular basis and take appropriate action, or ensure the Host Organisation takes appropriate action, where required to ensure those risks continue to be mitigated or adequately managed. You must retain records of each risk assessment and any action taken in accordance with each risk assessment. You must provide the relevant records to Us on request.
If You and the Host Organisation cannot identify or adequately manage a risk that is identified in the risk assessment, You must terminate or not proceed with the Unpaid Non-vocational Placement. If this occurs, You must notify Us and the Host Organisation.
Host Organisation Agreements
/ You remain responsible for ensuring that all Unpaid Non-vocational Placements are delivered in accordance with Your Agreement and this Guideline, and any relevant legislation or law.Host Organisation Agreements between You and Host Organisations ensure that both parties understand their rights and obligations in relation to the Unpaid Non-vocational Placement(s).
A Host Organisation Agreement between You and a Host Organisation may apply to one or more Unpaid Non-vocational Placements that the Host Organisation has agreed to the provide.
You must discuss the Host Organisation Agreement with the Host Organisation and document the Host Organisation's obligations, including:
(i)details of the proposed Unpaid Non-vocational Placement(s) and its associated tasks;
(ii)the Participant’s needs and capabilities;
(iii)details on the Supervision being provided;
(iv)the Host Organisation’s needs and capabilities;
(v)the reporting of Participant attendance; and
(vi)work health and safety requirements, including the mitigation of risks identified through the requiredrisk assessments, and incident reporting.
The Host Organisation Agreement template for Unpaid Non-vocational Placements can be found at the end of this Guideline. Please note, this template is optional. You may create Your own Host Organisation Agreement template, providing it addresses the above matters and any other matters that need to be addressed in order for You to comply with Your obligations under Your Agreement.
Placement Agreements
/ Placement Agreements are agreements to be entered into between You, the Host Organisations and the Participant for the purpose of ensuring that all parties understand their rights and obligations in relation to a particular Unpaid Non-vocational Placement. The obligation to enter into a Placement Agreement is in addition to the requirement to enter into a Host Organisation Agreement.The Placement Agreement includes specific details regarding the Placement and enables You and the Host Organisations to reaffirm Your respective obligations under the relevant Host Organisation Agreement, the Agreement, and this Guideline.
You must discuss the Placement Agreement with the Host Organisation and the Participant and ensure that it includes:
(i)details of the proposed Unpaid Non-vocational Placement and its associated tasks;
(ii)the Participant’s needs and capabilities;
(iii)details on the Supervision being provided;
(iv)details of any relevant insurance(s);
(v)the Host Organisation’s needs and capabilities relevant to it providing the Placement;
(vi)the reporting of Participant attendance and the consequences of not commencing in a Placement within the required timeframe; and
(vii)processes for incident reporting, feedback and complaints; and
(viii)work health and safety requirements, including the mitigation of risks identified through the Risk Assessment, and incident reporting.
The Placement Agreement template for Unpaid Non-vocational Placements can be found at the end of this Guideline. Please note, this template is optional, You may create Your own Placement Agreement template, providing it addresses the matters above and any other matters that need to be addressed in order for You to comply with Your obligations under Your Agreement or this Guideline.
Managing Unpaid Non-Vocational Placements