Department of Education & Training Vic & NSW suspension of research in govt schools

The ongoing challenges of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic necessitate this temporary suspension until further notice.

The Vic DET’s Research in Schools and Early Childhood (RISEC) Committee and the NSW DET’s State Education Research Application Process (SERAP) Committee supports education settings as they manage the increased workload related to the return to on-site learning.

Please note that:

(a) Researchers, including those with RISEC approval, should not contact schools, early childhood staff, or children to commence, continue, or recruit for research and evaluation activity; and

(b) The department will not accept new RISEC applications or requests to amend existing RISEC approvals.

The department is considering exemptions from the suspension on a case-by-case basis for the following types of projects:

(c) If your research or evaluation activity is in partnership with or commissioned by the department, please discuss the next steps with your contact officer in the department; and

(d) If your research is part of an undergraduate or postgraduate research degree (e.g. PhD, Masters, Honours), contact research@education.vic.gov.au (for Vic govt schools) or det.serap@det.nsw.edu.au (for NSW govt schools) to discuss the next steps.

For the limited number of research activities that have been exempted from the suspension, please note that vaccination requirements apply:

(e) Schools and early childhood settings must collect, record and hold vaccination information for all visitors working on-site. Only visitors who have provided information that they are fully vaccinated or medically excepted persons can work on-site after 29 November 2021 (for both Vic and NSW schools); and

(f) Please ensure you can provide vaccination information upon request by the school or early childhood setting.